This is Mexico's magical cloud forest.
El Triunfo cloud forest is one of the wettest places in the country.
But it's in danger.
Mining, deforestation and climate change
are threatening the forest and its community.
The forest is one of the most biodiverse places in Mexico.
And, it’s the last refuge for hundreds of rare species of animals and plants.
Now this community is trying to save it.
Miguel Méndez and his family have lived in the forest for centuries.
He works as a tour guide and local bird expert
and sees first hand the threat that climate change
poses in this special reserve.
But locals like Miguel are not ready to give up on El Triunfo.
He believes that everyone who lives in this community
should fight to preserve it.
But when it comes to putting up a fight for El Triunfo,
few people do it better than the Popular Front of Acacoyagua.
In 2014 they forced the Canadian Cristina mine to shut down.
Amada Garcia is a member of the group.
She says that living near the mine had health implications.
The titanium mine operated in the area from 2004 to 2014.
The Acacoyagua community organized roadblocks,
but keeping the miners at bay wasn’t easy.
After months of resistance ,
Amada and her community were able to shut down the mine.
And life around the area is slowly bouncing back.
But the threat of mining is far from over.
The Mexican government has granted 20 permits
to mine either inside or in the buffer zone of the reserve,
and those projects could kick off at any moment.
What makes El Triunfo a cloud forest is its unique location.
The reserve sits on top of the Sierra Madre mountain range
in southern Mexico.
It runs parallel to the Pacific coast
and gets a constant flow of humid air from the ocean.
When the fog climbs up the mountains,
it turns into water.
Humid air also comes from the Gulf of Mexico.
This reserve gets an average of 98 inches of rain each year.
That is around 2.5 times more than Seattle.
The water collected in El Triunfo’s forests
flows into some of the largest rivers in Mexico.
Hundreds of species of animals and plants
have adapted to live in this wet environment over centuries.
Miguel’s approach to saving El Triunfo
is to teach people to love the environment
through Puerta a la Montaña, a bird watching business.
This is one of the few places in the world
where the endangered horned guan can be seen in the wild.
The quetzal also depends on this fragile ecosystem.
Miguel also teaches local youth how
to become bird watching guides themselves.
Many other native species, like the cloud forest tree frog,
gray fox,
spider monkey and jaguar,
are also threatened by the possible loss of their habitat.
Saving El Triunfo from climate change or miners
is not under the control of this community,
but they are committed to doing their part.