Cuatro Ciénegas

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"Poza Azul" pool

Cuatro Ciénegas is a city and municipality in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. It stands at 26°59′N, 102°03′W, at an average elevation of 740 metres above sea level.

It is located in the state's desert region (Región Desierto). Cuatro Ciénegas is Spanish for "four marshes": the name was chosen by the first settlers because of the natural springs in the vicinity that create extensive areas of wetland and lakes.

Several failed settlements were founded here prior to the successful establishment of a town by Antonio Cordero y Bustamante on 24 May 1800. The settlement's original name was Nuestra Señora de los Dolores y Cuatro Ciénegas, which was later changed to Villa Venustiano Carranza, before finally settling on its current name.

The city is formally known as Cuatro Ciénegas de Carranza, in honour of its most famous son: Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico from 1915 to 1920, who was born there in 1859.

The municipality reported 12,154 inhabitants in the year 2000 census.

[edit] Cuatro Ciénegas Biosphere Reserve

Cuatro Cienegas is an official Mexican biological reserve. The biological reserves are small ecosystems with unique fauna and flora that are highly protected by government authorities. Recently, NASA stated that the biological reserve of Cuatrociénegas could have strong links to discovering life on Mars, since the adaptability of bioforms in the region was unique in the world. There are some 150 different plants and animals endemic to the valley and its surrounding mountains (e.g., Fouquieria shrevei and Terrapene coahuila), including some 30 aquatic species in the Reserve, 8 of which are fish (e.g., Herichthys minckleyi).

Live stromatolites inhabit Cuatro Cienegas' pools. These are cyanobacteria colonies, extinct in most of the world, linked to the origin of an oxygen rich atmosphere over 3 billion years ago.

Several environmental conservation leaders are working to protect the valley, including Pronatura Noreste. The organization owns a private reserve, called Pozas Azules, and has several ongoing projects that include the protection of native species, including stromatolites and the eradication of invasive flora and fauna, as well as community development and water efficient agriculture combined with organic techniques.