The Islas Marías (or Mary's Island ) Biosphere Reserve (established 2010) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located in the Islas Marías in the municipality ( municipio ) of San Blas, Nayarit , Mexico. The 641,284.73 hectares (2,476.0142 sq mi) reserve includes ecosystems with a great wealth of species of biological, economic, scientific and cultural relevance. Its biological wealth is to be found in the dry forests of its landscape, in the mangroves , the succulent rosette scrubland , the reefs, coasts and pelagic environments it harbors.
12-546: Since 1905 the Islas Marías Federal Prison has operated on María Madre Island, using the island’s natural resources. The prison colony is mainly engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, forest harvesting and fishing. In this respect, in order to protect and conserve the reserve’s natural resources and the ecological processes that take place there, it is important to promote sustainable resource use and guarantee ecosystem conservation and integrity to enable
24-560: A free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0. Text taken from "UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory" . "Licensing page" . Islas Mar%C3%ADas Federal Prison The Islas Marías Federal Penal Colony was a penitentiary establishment of the Federal Government of Mexico , administered through the Federal Secretariat of Public Security . It is located on Isla María Madre,
36-678: A biosphere reserve but with the prison system still existing. The prison situation in Mexico became so critical that the government announced in 2004 that they were reactivating the Islas Marias prison to transfer 2,500 prisoners from prisons all over the country. On 18 February 2019, Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador , signed a declaration closing the federal prison on the Islas Marías, saying he wanted to promote "more schools and fewer prisons". Islas Marias Federal Prison
48-660: Is independent of the government and is exercised by an officer of the Mexican Navy. The first chaplain in Islas Marías history was prisoner Arturo Salcido, who was sentenced for trafficking of drugs. Salcido built the first temple, and assembled the first Christian Church in the prison. Secretariat of the Interior Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
60-399: Is manifest in its function as a reservoir to Mexico of endemic species. Fifty-four species of land and marine fauna are protected under some risk category and of these, 19 are endemic. Regarding the flora, 11 endemic or restricted distribution taxa have been recorded, together with six species (one endemic) that are included in a risk category according to NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2001. Furthermore,
72-645: The Secretariat of Communications and Transport , Post Offices , and the Secretariat of the Navy . Another group of settlers is made up of religious ministers and acolytes of the Catholic Church , nuns of the Order of Social Service, and invited teachers, technicians and their relatives. The colony is governed by a state official who is both the governor of the islands and chief judge. The military command
84-521: The escapes are due to corruption. For many years the prison was administered by the Secretariat of the Interior . Over the years the prison population has fluctuated from 300 to 3000 prisoners. In addition to prisoners, on Maria Madre island, there are employees of diverse institutions of the federal government, such as the Secretariat of Public Education , the Secretariat of the Environment ,
96-533: The northernmost and largest island in the Marías Islands archipelago off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Built in 1905, under the government of Porfirio Díaz , the prison of las Islas Marías was "the pride of the government" becoming the most modern prison model of its time, "escape proof", which operated as an alternative to house the delinquents, who due to their profile and background, could not be held in
108-581: The population of the Penitentiary Colony to remain on the island in the long term. One of the strategic lines established in the reserve’s Conservation and Management Plan is to include environmental conservation in the social re-adaptation process promoted by the penitentiary authorities, by involving the inhabitants of the penitentiary in natural resource protection and sustainable management activities. Because of its isolation for over eight million years, Islas Marías' importance as an ecosystem
120-403: The prison of Lecumberri . Until 1950, this prison colony was known as a feared detention center, due to violence, disease, and forced labor. It is calculated that the total number of prisoners to be housed there is above 29,000. During the government of Ernesto Zedillo , the government decided to modernize the prison system and Islas Marias was deactivated. On 27 November 2003, it was declared
132-794: The reserve is an important refuge, nesting and feeding site for large colonies of sea birds. The marine environment is highly productive, reflected in the great diversity of organisms to be found, such as coral reefs, reef-fish, sharks, rays, turtles and marine mammals. According to the National Biodiversity Information System of Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) in Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve there are over 945 plant and animal species from which 29 are in at risk category and 12 are exotics. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
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#1732772589187144-465: Was home to some well-known prisoners including: The prison has had at least 76 escapes in the last 25 years of which 29 took place in 1986 alone. According to newspaper reports the causes are minimum vigilance, shortage of guards and equipment. Among the most dangerous to escape were criminals sentenced for drug trafficking, 28 murderers, and kidnappers. Of the 76 escapees from the Islas Marías only 10 have been recaptured. According to one source 95% of
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