A Network of Community Weather Stations Supports Vulnerable Livelihoods

From grass roots, useful tools for fishermen, beekeepers, restaurateurs, and farmers

Thirteen community groups from across the Yucatán Peninsula gathered in Río Lagartos to form an innovative network of community weather stations designed specifically for fishermen, beekeepers, farmers, and tourism operators.

The project represents an unprecedented effort to transform weather data into practical tools for local livelihoods. Fishermen can now plan safer trips by predicting wind patterns and storm systems. Beekeepers receive advance warning about flower bloom cycles and weather conditions that affect honey production. Tourism operators gain crucial information for planning visitor activities. Farmers get precise rainfall and temperature data to optimize planting schedules for traditional milpa crops.

The communities worked with meteorologist Juan Palma, who specializes in operational meteorology and climate monitoring infrastructure, along with support from WWF Mexico and the UNDP Small Grants Programme. The three-day workshop focused on station maintenance, data connectivity, and how artificial intelligence can transform raw weather measurements into actionable guidance for community members.

Palma, possibly Yucatán’s best-known weather forecaster, previously worked as an operational meteorologist with Mexico’s National Meteorological Service. He now serves as chief meteorologist for Meteored, has spent over 15 years promoting climate science education throughout Mexico. He has expertise in designing cyber infrastructure for meteorological monitoring and applying European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) models to regional meteorology. He has also served as head of the meteorology departments for various media outlets.

“This is a pioneering project in Mexico and around the world,” Palma said. “Meteorological science is no longer just for experts; it now reaches all interested parties. I celebrate this network of committed communities and invite more people to come together and understand their climate environment for the common good.”

Local Applications Drive Innovation

Abel Novelo from the Sisal community, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northwest of Mérida, explained how data from community weather stations supports their mangrove restoration efforts. “The stations are very important for learning how to interpret data, predict the weather, and improve our activities,” he said. “For example, to restore mangroves, the information helps us find balance in the swamp, understand how much rainfall has occurred, and the impacts of the drought.”

From Komchén in Hopelchén, Campeche, Everardo Chablé Huehuet highlighted the community weather stations’ role in territorial defense. “They are useful for identifying wind currents and supporting environmental complaints in cases of bee mortality,” he said. “For traditional milpa farmers, they are a great help in the cultivation of diverse species.”

Traditional milpa farming, practiced throughout the Yucatán Peninsula for centuries, involves rotating crops of corn, beans, and squash. Climate variability increasingly threatens these sustainable agricultural practices that have sustained Maya communities for generations.

Silvia Canul Díaz from Tzucacab operates her station at the PUUC state biocultural reserve in southern Yucatán. As a beekeeper, she praised the practical value of having community weather stations in her corner. “It will help us improve management, determine if there will be enough blooms, among other things,” she said.

Climate Crisis Threatens Traditional Livelihoods

Eduardo Gómez de la Cruz, representing the Majomut coffee cooperative from Chiapas Highlands, warned about mounting challenges facing coffee cultivation. “Due to the climate crisis, coffee could sadly become a luxury item,” he said. “Seasons allow us to anticipate risks and apply bio-inputs to prevent pests.”

Coffee production across Mexico faces increasing pressure from rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns, forcing farmers to adapt cultivation methods or relocate to higher elevations.

Andrea Núñez, the first female nature guide in Río Lagartos, inaugurated her community-operated weather station during the workshop. She emphasized its importance for community tourism in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which encompasses 60,348 hectares (149,100 acres) of critical wetlands along the eastern Yucatán Peninsula coast.

“Local information is key to better planning trips for visitors,” Núñez explained. “It will also allow us to understand how the climate crisis is affecting the reserve’s biodiversity and take action to conserve it.”

The Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve serves as the only nesting site in Mexico for Caribbean pink flamingos and provides crucial habitat for endangered sea turtles, including critically threatened hawksbill turtles.

Global Framework, Local Implementation

The UNDP Small Grants Programme, implemented through the Global Environment Facility, has provided over $724 million to more than 26,000 community projects worldwide since 1992. In Mexico, the program operates as a full-sized project managed by UNDP’s Communities, Livelihoods and Markets cluster, making it one of 15 mature country programs globally.

Sébastien Proust, national coordinator of the UNDP Small Grants Programme in Mexico, concluded the Río Lagartos gathering by thanking participants for their commitment to citizen science. He expressed hope that the weather station network will expand throughout rural and coastal Mexico, enabling communities to make informed decisions about fishing, ecotourism, beekeeping, and agroecology.

According to La Jornada Maya, the participating communities pledged to maintain their stations properly and share data within their communities. WWF and UNDP reiterated their long-term commitment to supporting the network, with goals of contributing to local-level climate crisis responses.

The network of community weather stations addresses growing climate variability across the Yucatán Peninsula, where temperatures have increased by nearly 0.2°C since the 1970s, according to scientific analyses. The region faces challenges from intensifying hurricanes, altered precipitation patterns, and rising sea levels that threaten coastal communities and archaeological sites.

For communities across the peninsula, from fishing villages along the Gulf of Mexico to coffee cooperatives in highland Chiapas, accurate weather forecasting increasingly means the difference between thriving and merely surviving in a changing climate. This grassroots network puts the tools of climate science directly into the hands of those who need them most.