This year a heavy draught hit most of Mexico and was especially strong at the pacific cost. Here at Playa Viva we got at the most five mild rains through all the season, our north lagoon got dry for the first time, according to people that have lived in the area or the last sixty years.

This draught is an example of how we must increasingly take climate change into account while undertaking the ecosystem restoration projects at Playa Viva. Less rain this year meant less inland water running into the ocean. While this would normally create a difficult growing environment for our new plants, there is at least one example of an unexpected benefit.

The sandbar between Playa Viva’s estuary and the ocean didn’t open as wide as it normally would and it closed earlier in the year. This meant more water stayed in the estuary, bringing much-needed moisture to the lower part of the land where we have many newly-planted trees, including mangrove seedlings trying to take root. Hopefully this unexpected benefit of extra water will enable the mangroves and other new plants to get a strong healthy start so that they can thrive even in the heavy down pours and heavy currents that will come when this draught finally does break.