Utah Organizations Unite to Celebrate Latino Contributions to Environmental Protection During Latino Conservation Week

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – In honor of Latino Conservation Week, Utah organizations are coming together to celebrate the significant contributions of Latinos to environmental protection. The week-long celebration, which begins on July 15th and ends on July 23rd, is an opportunity to highlight the unique and critical role that Latinos play in preserving the environment.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States, and they make up a significant portion of the country’s workforce in the agriculture and food industries. As such, they are often on the front lines of environmental challenges, such as climate change and pollution.

“Latinos have a deep connection to the natural world and a strong tradition of conservation,” said Meisei Gonzalez, Communications Director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate the contributions of Latinos to environmental protection during Latino Conservation Week.”

Throughout the week, a variety of events will be held across the state, including educational workshops, community clean-up projects, and outdoor activities, concluding with a fair. These events are designed to raise awareness about environmental conservation’s importance and encourage Latinos to engage in efforts to protect the environment.

MONDAY, JULY 17: IXIM, MAIZE, CORN AND CULTURA | 6 – 7:30 PM
TUESDAY, JULY 18: PM SABORES DE MI PATRIA: LA COMIDA ES CULTURA |6-8 PM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19: NIGHT AT THE AVIARY | 6 – 8:30 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 21: LATINO CONSERVATION WEEK DARK SKY EVENT | 8:30 PM
SATURDAY, JULY 22: PADDLE & POLLINATORS | 9AM – NOON
SATURDAY, JULY 22: LATINO CONSERVATION WEEK FAIR | 6-9 PM
FRIDAY, JULY 28: STANSBURY ISLAND CLEAN-UP & SNACKS | 9 AM – 11 AM

Latino Conservation Week is a national initiative started by the Hispanic Access Foundation in 2014 to encourage Latinos to get involved in conservation efforts and to promote the protection of natural resources. To learn more about events happening in Utah during Latino Conservation Week, visit the Tracy Aviary Latino Conservation Week website.

“We’re so excited to partner with environmental and community-based organizations to celebrate Latino Conservation Week,” said Frances Ngo, Tracy Aviary’s Conservation Outreach Biologist. “This is an opportunity to highlight the multifaceted connections that Latinos have to nature, the outdoors, and conservation! The broad range of events in Salt Lake City speaks to the diverse definition of conservation efforts in our comunidad. We also hope to come together to inspire future generations to continue this legacy!

Additional organization quotes.

“We are thrilled to be a part of celebrating the accomplishments of Latinos in the environmental and health fields. It is important to recognize the contributions of diverse communities in these areas, and we are honored to highlight these achievements.” —Alliance Community Services.

“We look forward to connecting Latinos with the federal public lands of Utah. Preserving and conserving these wild spaces is a way of asserting ourselves in our communities. My goal at SUWA is to help Latinos get to know and care for these lands.” —Diana Haro, SUWA Latino Community Organizer.

“We feel deeply connected to Mother Nature. I don’t want this heritage to die here, I want this to continue for our new generations, for them to become integrated into what the earth is, integrating into what this community is, because the more our new generations integrate, the bigger we can be too.” —Judith Magaly, Artes de Mexico en Utah and Wasatch Community Gardens’ Sabores de Mi Patria workshop co-lead

We are a part of Mama Nature. Our rivers are like the veins in my body. I pledge to keep it clean. If my veins are not clean, I’ll quickly die. Together, my community and I will continue cleaning our Jordan River—Gilberto Rejon Magana, Founder & Executive Director of Hartland Community 4 Youth & Families

###

About HEAL Utah
The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah) has been an environmental advocacy organization, watchdog, and strategic influencer in Utah since 1999. By empowering grassroots advocates, using science-based solutions, and developing common-sense policy, HEAL has a track record of tackling some of the biggest threats to Utah’s environment and public health – and succeeding. The organization focuses on clean air, energy and climate, and radioactive waste. HEAL uses well-researched legislative, regulatory, and individual responsibility approaches to create tangible change and then utilizes grassroots action to make it happen. www.healutah.org

About Alliance Community Services
Alliance Community Services is dedicated to improving Utah’s Latino community’s health and well-being by providing access to vital health and legal services. With a strong commitment to cultural awareness and sensitivity, the organization ensures that all individuals feel comfortable and supported. www.alliance-community.org

About Tracy Aviary
Tracy Aviary is the oldest and largest free-standing aviary in the country with over 150 species of birds at an AZA-accredited zoo. Tracy Aviary works to inspire curiosity and caring for birds and nature through education and conservation. Tracy Aviary’s Conservation Science Program was founded in 2011 to help further our mission. Our team works on various bird conservation and community science projects to help protect local wild birds and their habitats, inspire conservation action, and support grassroots efforts across the western United States and the Americas.
https://www.tracyaviaryconservation.org/

About Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
For forty years, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) has been the only independent organization working full-time to defend America’s redrock wilderness from oil and gas development, unnecessary road construction, rampant off-road vehicle use, and other threats to Utah’s wilderness-quality lands. Our mission is the preservation of the outstanding wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau and the management of these lands in their natural state for the benefit of all Americans.

About Sabores de Mi Patria
In schools and neighborhoods across the country gardens have become a powerful tool for promoting learning, healthy living, environmental stewardship, and social connections as well as highlighting cultural practices and histories. Wasatch Community Gardens and Artes de México en Utah are partnering to host a series of workshops that will increase participants’ understanding and appreciation of the cultural legacy of La Milpa- a unique planting ecosystem that nourishes not only the land and living ecosystem, but also nourishes culture and identity.