Filming the King Vulture in Mexico
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) hired our Mexican production company to work on a project at the Ejido Nuevo Becal in the southern state of Campeche. This project showcased our agency's passion for sustainability, conservation, and storytelling.
Our Client
Our client for this assignment was the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international non-profit organization that aims to provide responsible management of forests worldwide. Their mission statement is to "promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests." FSC certification lets customers know that their product comes from responsible sources.
The Assignment
Our assignment was to travel to the remote location of the Ejido Nuevo Becal in the southern limits of Mexico's Campeche state, near the border with Guatemala. An “ejido” is a communally owned area of land traditionally used for agricultural or forestry purposes. The ejido system began in the 1930s when the Mexican government started distributing land following the Mexican Revolution. Now, ejidos cover more than 65% of Mexico's 64 million hectares (158 million acres) of forest. Ejido Nuevo Becal is the only FSC-certified ejido in Campeche state.
The Ejido Nuevo Becal covers just over 51,000 hectares in the jungles of the Yucatán, of which more than 99 per cent is classed as “voluntarily assigned for conservation.”
During our five-day stay at the Ejido, our task was to explore the different sustainability and conservation initiatives in place, meet with and interview key stakeholders in the project, obtain a series of video and photographic assets of landscapes, wildlife, and people, and gather as much material and information as possible to tell the story of Nuevo Becal.
The FSC wanted us to pay special attention to the wildlife emblem of the Ejido, the enigmatic King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa). This threatened species is thriving at Nuevo Becal thanks to their conservation efforts. FSC certification has enabled the locals to protect their habitat and manage it solely for conservation purposes. Therefore, it was essential to obtain high-quality videos and photographs of the vultures and other endangered and threatened species living in the surrounding jungles.
A pair of Yucatan Spider Monkeys in the jungles of Ejido Nuevo Becal in Mexico.
Deliverables
The FSC hired our Mexican production company to film and edit two social media videos and create a suite of twenty-five post-produced, high-quality images of people, wildlife, and landscapes at the Ejido Nuevo Becal. Additionally, our brief included researching and writing a 1,500-word article detailing the Ejido's sustainability and conservation efforts and how they have benefitted from FSC certification. As a bonus, we included in our tender a segment for our popular YouTube series The Birders Show, highlighting the incredible bird diversity found at the Ejido (you can watch the video below).
The Team
Our team for this project consisted of our Head of Video, Julian Manrique, and our Content Manager and host of The Birders Show, Chris Bell. As a seasoned expedition videographer and photographer, Julian could produce all of the audiovisual material that our client wanted. At the same time, Chris researched the article, interviewed our subjects, and then wrote the article for the FSC. Our team provided natural history, videography, photography, and journalism expertise.
Keel-billed Toucans are one of the commonest and most charismatic species that can be seen at Ejido Nuevo Becal.
In The Field
We spent a total of four days at the Ejido Nuevo Becal accompanied by a representative of the FSC in Mexico, as well as the Commissar of Nuevo Becal, and two locals who acted as our guides and interview subjects. During those four days, we worked covered every aspect of the Ejido and its various projects, including sustainable forest management, germplasm, apiculture, rubber harvesting, and conservation.
We explored the Ejido, visiting each different working area of the forest and filming and photographing foresters, rubber harvesters, wildlife monitors, beekeepers, and other residents of the Ejido benefitting from its sustainable land management practices. We also interviewed all of our subjects for the social media videos and the article. During our research, a clear story emerged that would form the narrative structure of the article - a community united around a shared desire to protect and conserve the biodiverse forests that they call home while maintaining profitability at the same time.
The Elusive King Vulture
Our biggest challenge in the field was obtaining quality images of the shy and elusive King Vultures. There is a 500-hectare swathe of jungle in the Ejido that is entirely dedicated to protecting these vultures; this sector contains several large trees where they like to perch and congregate due to a permanent water source where they can drink and bathe even in the driest months of the year.
We hiked through the jungle at dawn, past the forgotten ruins of Mayan temples. We passed the muddy pawprints of a jaguar on the side of the trail before arriving at a majestic mahogany tree towering over a clearing in the forest. We identified the most likely spot to film the vultures from a pile of feathers at the edge of a small pool; a bare branch above seemed to be their favored staging post for drinking and bathing visits.
Our team is used to discomfort when filming wildlife, so Chris and Julian covered themselves in camouflage material near the pool and set in for a long wait. Finally, after three or four hours of sweltering jungle heat, biting flies, and many bouts of cramp, the vultures arrived and started to make their way down towards the perches. Julian obtained several excellent images of the magnificent birds, as well as plenty of video footage.
A curious King Vulture eyes up our photographer in the 500-hectare King Vulture sanctuary at the Ejido Nuevo Becal.
Bonus Footage and Images
Our experience filming wildlife and birds in the field allowed us to obtain spectacular images of rare and elusive species, including the Yucatan Spider Monkey, Black Howler Monkey, Bicolored Hawk, Ruddy Woodcreeper, and many more. Such was the quality of these images that our client selected many more wildlife photos than they originally asked for from our final selection.
Our videographer Julian also showcased his never-say-die attitude to filming, suiting up to film the Ejido's beekeepers at work and getting more than a handful of bee stings in the process. Anything for the right shot!
Photos
Image selection began the moment our team was out of the field. Of the hundreds of wildlife, people, and landscape images, we selected and edited a broad selection for the FSC. Of these, they selected twenty-five, featuring the remarkable variety of animals and birds that Julian had captured.
Videos
The hours of video footage were edited into two short social media videos focusing on the Ejido's wildlife diversity and sustainable forest management activities. These videos were overlaid with short and dynamic texts highlighting the work being done by the Ejido and the FSC. The texts were deliberately kept short since our digital marketing team's A/B testing on social media videos indicates that shorter texts perform better.
Article
The final article we wrote for the FSC tells the story of Ejido's FSC certification through the narrative device of a walk through the biodiverse forests in search of the King Vulture.
Read The Full Article Here: “Searching for the King Vulture in Ejido Nuevo Becal”
Contact us to learn more about our Mexican film production company.
Read about the journey which led to the creation our production company in Mexico. WhereNext’s founder Gregg Bleakney cycled the length of Mexico, in four months, during the course of his two-year marathon traverse of the Americas, from Alaska to Patagonia.