AMA Saving the Oceans is a Holistic Nonprofit Foundation Raising Funds and Awareness for local Marine Life and the Community
The Organisation for Environmental Sustainability and Conservation,
Fundacion Iluminame seeks to strengthen the development of the young people of Los Cabos,
Gente Joven Por Un Cambio works for environmental education for children and young people and health
Taste Ecologico Cabo San Lucas works to recycle solid waste, channeling and using it
Huellas Verdes is a non-profit organisation for the cleaning up of beaches and rivers and environmental education for children
Yo Reciclo is a non-profit organisation dedicated to cleaning up beaches and rivers and managing recyclable material in Los Cabos.
Asupmatoma works for the preservation, care and reproduction of the sea turtle in Baja California Sur, in the Los Cabos area.
Building Baja’s Future Los Cabos is for environmental awareness, care and conservation in Los Cabos, building an environmental culture.
Cabet Cultura y Ambiente seeks to rescue sea lions, with a remote sedation technique.
The objective of Espíritu Santo Es Parte de Ti is the rescue of reefs and the protection and vigilance
Since November 2019, AMA has raised thousands of dollars for programs with activities in Baja California’s waters and communities, including COVID-19 relief efforts. AMA also supports social projects in education, arts, ecology, women’s and children’s issues, and for the elderly.
All backed causes are led by locals, experienced in and passionate about their respective fields.
AMA supports local marine conservation initiatives which are already taking positive action, such as: Mar Libre, Espiritu Santo Es Parte de Ti, ECO-R, Cabet Cultura y Ambiente, Building Baja’s Future Los Cabos, Asupmatoma, Yo Reciclo, Huellas Verdes, Taste Ecologico Cabo San Lucas, and Gente Joven por un Cambio.
Currently AMA’s goals include: a mission to save 45 sea lions from entrapment by fishing nets and a plan to release 5,000 turtles into the sea, hatched from eggs that had been endangered.
The release of 45 sea lions trapped underwater in discarded fishing nets near San Jorge island, in ...
The liberation of 1 million newborn endangered sea turtles into the sea in one single year.
The creation of a small museum near The Estero where tourists and locals alike can come and ...
Letter from Biologist Dra. Graciela Tiburcio Pintos
“Water makes up three quarters of Planet Earth, unlike other known stars, and most of this is taken up by the volume of the oceans.
Therefore together the oceans and seas form the most extensive water of our world, covering more than 70% of the earth’s surface; making them indispensable to the creation of life and essential for the survival of human beings.
Although from day to day we may not be aware of the importance they hold, the oceans carry out a wide array of functions which permit and promote the existence of all the species that populate the planet, above all, that of huamn beings. Over 50% of the world’s population live on coasts, and 75% will by 2025.
Firstly, we must highlight that the oceans are a font of biological food resources thanks to which billions of people worldwide are able to be sustained.
Moreover, they are a source of raw materials, minerals, precious metals, and even salt water, providing industrial and commercial uses.
Thirdly, their importance lies in that the oceans in themselves are an important energy resource, since beyond containing pockets of gas or petroleum, they produce renewable energy thanks to the strength of maritime movements and underwater currents. This is also known as Hydraulic Energy.
In addition, the oceans serve as a climate regualtor, since they absorb the planet’s excess heat and regulate the effects of climate change, exchanging gases with the atmosphere. But they also produce most of the oxygen on which we depend in the atmosphere (70%), even more than the woods and forests of the Earth’s crust. And if this were not enough, they provide more than 97% of the world’s water supply .
On a socioeconomic level, the oceans are also important, as they bring wealth and development, and support the whole world’s economic activities. Given that a great part of the world’s population live in coastal zones, the oceans are generators of labour and economic resources in tasks related with the sea, sharing fish, industry, trade, tourism or even the science that is dedicated to their study. Equally outstanding is the role of the oceans as routes of communication thanks to maritime transport and the geopolotical and strategic importance they have had throughout history.
Considering that a great part of the human population lives on the coast, many coastal communities also have a series of cultural values and beliefs assoicated with the ocean.
All we human beings depend on the sea, whether we live near or far from it. It plays a role in the social, economic, cultural and environmental balance of all the countries in the world. The oceans find themselves interlinked with human populations, the part of our planet which is the basis of support for all life on earth. When we look after our oceans and give them a future, we give the same to ourselves.”
• The collection AMA Designs by Sonia Falcone includes caftans, dresses, blouses, shorts and dresses ...
Through AMA Saving the Oceans, Sonia Falcone made an appeal to join forces to clean up ...
AMA Foundation participated in a medicine donation with Damas Promotoras de la Marina for the ...
On Thursday 12th November, Valerio Vela made his art debut in collaboration with Sonia Falcone opening their show, MANIFEST, a series of artworks they produced together, at Alfredo Ginocchio Gallery in San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur.
The five large and ten smaller artworks were inspired by the sea and the need for marine conservation. Since 44-year-old Valerio was a boy he has always been creative, singing (with El Divo Mexico at Monalisa restaurant), dancing and speaking three languages in addition to his artwork. Born in Naples, Italy in 1975, as a young man he worked with ceramics, creating vases in which he enjoyed arranging flowers. He then spent ten years in London, working with Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley before moving to Baja California and settling in Los Cabos. He met Bolivian artist Sonia Falcone through his brother Giammarco and his wife ‘Elu’ and soon became a great friend of AMA Foundation.
‘I met this incredible creature,’ he says of meeting Mrs Falcone – ‘and then I put my finger in the sky!!’ The pair soon formed a strong friendship and a partnership, participating together in a festival in which they wore aprons and sponges on their feet before putting on Achtung Funk music. They then filled small balloons with paint, prepared a gun and ‘shot like Rambo’ at a canvass…
The sale of the paintings in MANIFEST will fund the AMA DISABILITY PROGRAM CENTRE (see more on the program below). Valerio Vela will be President of the Centre. Valerio is the perfect example to children and young people afflicted with disabilities like Down Syndrome, by showing them what they can achieve and become.
AMA DISABILITY PROGRAM
MISSION: Working together to provide opportunities for those afflicted as well as community awareness regarding Down Syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities
RESEARCH: AMA will be researching and sharing the latest information on medical progress toward improving disabilities with a special focus on Down Syndrome and Autism.
AWARENESS: AMA will make the public, authorities and the parents aware of the fact that children and young adults with disabilities can have a normal life in order to facilitate their integration into society
EDUCATION: Children with disabilities will be helped to attend public or private school with tutors who will support them during their academic life.
FAMILY SUPPORT: Parents will be informed through seminars about the potential development of their child as well as the medical research advancements.
SOCIAL: Through a group of volunteers, children and young adults with disabilities will be brought together to enjoy several social activities (open air activities, cinemas, dancing etc)
WORK: AMA will solicit local entrepreneurs to hire individuals with disabilities and AMA volunteers will make sure that they learn their job functions and become independent in implementing their work tasks.
INDEPENDENCE: Children and young adults with disabilities will be taught real life situations such as cooking, personal hygiene, washing clothes, counting money, taking a bus, etc in order to become as independent as possible.
LIVING TOGETHER: In a second phase AMA will provide homes where young adults with disabilities can live together in small groups with a tutor supervising them to have a healthy life living independently, working, practicing sports, and interacting socially.
EVENTS: AMA will host occasional fundraising events, to include our individuals and families, with the following objectives, in order of priority:
1) Family and Fun
2) Awareness
3) Fundraising
FAMILY COUNSELING: AMA will work closely with the “families” of those afflicted providing guidance and counselling regarding community inclusion and when advisable, step in directly to assist in challenging situations.
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT: AMA is dedicated to the ongoing development of our afflicted individuals. We understand that instilling “purpose”, “self-esteem” and “self-confidence” is a never-ending process in becoming a valued member of the community. Many of our individuals will remain associated with AMA throughout their lifetime.
RESOURCES: Beyond our volunteers, AMA intends to provide through staff directly or third party relationships, access to health professionals, nutritionists, therapists and program managers, to name a few.
