Photo of a jaguar from a game camera at Cuenca Los Ojos - Photo credit: Cuenca Los OjosGNPS Program October 16th: "Cuenca Los Ojos: Restoring and Rewilding One of North America's Great Wildlife Landscapes" – Presentation by Peter Winsor
To kick off its fall/winter season of evening programs, the Gila Native Plant Society has invited Peter Winsor of Cuenca Los Ojos to describe his organization's efforts to restore and rewild a great North American landscape. The program will be held in Room 111 of Harlan Hall on the WNMU campus at 7:00 pm on Friday, October 16, 2026.
Cuenca Los Ojos is both a conservation organization and a large nature reserve in the Sky Islands region of northern Mexico. The end goal of Cuenca's restoration and rewilding efforts is to have functional ecosystems where bison shape the grasslands, beavers restore streams and wetlands, pronghorn race across open plains, wolves reclaim their ecological role, and jaguars once again roam a connected borderlands landscape.
A future where healthy watersheds, thriving wildlife, and resilient human communities flourish together across one of North America's most extraordinary ecosystems. This presentation will address how long-term restoration efforts are being transformed into active rewilding, and what that means to the US-Mexico borderlands, including the Gila region.
Peter Winsor is the Conservation Director for Cuenca Los Ojos. He is a distinguished oceanographer and climate scientist with over 30 years of experience in research and conservation. Born in Sweden, he developed a passion for nature and outdoor adventures from an early age. He obtained his PhD in Sweden, then moved to the US in 2002. Peter taught at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, served as the Director of the World Wildlife Fund's Global Arctic Program, and owned a wilderness guiding company. He has published over 50 journal articles and book chapters, served on several prominent advisory boards, and was involved in United Nations climate negotiations with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In his spare time, he enjoys exploring wild places through such activities as caving, climbing, canyoneering, backcountry skiing, hiking, packrafting, and fly fishing. Peter now resides in Silver City with his wife Steffanie.
The program will be hybrid – in person and via Zoom – on Friday, October 16, 2026, at 7:00 pm. All are welcome. It will be live on the WNMU campus in Harlan Hall, Room 111. (Harlan Hall is at the corner of 12th and Alabama Streets in Silver City.) Those who prefer to attend online may request a Zoom link from
The Gila Native Plant Society is committed to promoting education, research and appreciation of the native flora of the Southwest; encouraging the preservation of rare and endangered plant species; and supporting the use of suitable native plants in landscaping. For information on programs, publications and membership, please visit www.gilanps.org.
