Everardo Mariano Meléndez is a marine biologist by training, with a master’s degree in Sustainable Management of Coastal Zones. He was previously an academic at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur, where he specialized in fish, sharks, and rays. Since 2003 he has worked at the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), occupying several Natural Protected Areas, Flora and Fauna Protection Areas, National Parks, and Biosphere Reserves including Cabo San Lucas, Cabo Pulmo, Revillagigedo, Loreto Bay, Vizcaino, and Ojo de Liebre Lagoon Complex. He currently serves as Regional Director of the Baja California Peninsula and North Pacific office of CONANP. He manages 19 Natural Protected Areas, some of which host an important number of migratory birds of international importance and some endemic species. They collaborate to identify sites of importance for birds, maintain these sites in the best state of conservation to ensure the long-term conservation of these species, and above all to strengthen local capacities and involve local communities in the protected areas.