Center for Biological Diversity

For Immediate Release, March 14, 2017

Contact: Randy Serraglio, (520) 784-1504, rserraglio@biologicaldiversity.org

New Story Map Shows What's Really at Stake With Trump's Border Wall

TUCSON, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity joined the Borderlands Project and other organizations today in launching “Embattled Borderlands,” a new story map project that details the various places, people and wildlife put in harm's way by border walls and militarization. The immersive web platform combines a decade of photo documentation and scientific data to highlight a region at the crossroads of destructive border security policies.

“The U.S.-Mexico borderlands are breathtakingly beautiful, richly diverse and highly threatened by walls and militarization,” said Randy Serraglio, conservation advocate with the Center. “Many people don't understand how special this region is, or the destructive disaster that Trump's proposals would cause. The Embattled Borderlands project will help change that.”

The interactive resource weaves together cutting-edge mapping by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), compelling narrative and stunning professional photography by the International League of Conservation Photographers to create a vivid portrait of a place at the center of one of our nation's biggest conflicts.

“Thousands of species contribute to a complex web of life in the borderlands, many of which — such as jaguar and ocelot — are found nowhere else in the United States,” said Serraglio. “The border region is fragile and vulnerable, and Trump's wall would do irreparable harm.”

“The borderlands are a melting pot of life and cultures, full of spectacular beauty and diversity,” said Serraglio. “It would be a tragic mistake and a monumental injustice to sacrifice this unique landscape and the life it harbors for Trump's cynical, unnecessary border security folly.”

Monarch Butterfly

Jaguar photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons/Cburnett. This image is available for media use.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

www.biologicaldiversity.org

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