Which Ecosystems and Regions Does Viva Natura Cover?

Viva Natura covers three main ecosystem groupings, all in Mexico: the Mexican Pacific coast (reefs, rocky shores, and beaches), the seasonal tropical forests of Mexico's Pacific lowlands, and the remote volcanic islands of the Revillagigedo in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Together these span both marine and terrestrial habitats, and they are the settings for the project's field guides, documentaries, and field journals.

The three ecosystem areas

Mexican Pacific

Coastal reefs, rocky shores, and beaches of Western Mexico. This is the project's marine focus, and it is also the subject of the forthcoming 2026 bilingual field guide to more than 200 marine species of Mexico's Tropical Pacific — reef fish, corals, sharks, rays, crustaceans, nudibranchs, and other marine animals.

Pacific Forests

Seasonal tropical forests of Mexico's Pacific lowlands. This is the terrestrial counterpart to the coastal work, covering the forest habitats that sit inland from the Pacific shore.

Pacific Islands

Remote volcanic islands of the Revillagigedo in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. This is the most isolated of the three areas, and it rounds out the coverage with an offshore island setting.

Marine and terrestrial scope

The coverage splits across two habitat types:

The published field guide to the amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals of Western Mexico (230 species, 440 original full-color photographs) sits on the terrestrial side, while the upcoming marine life guide covers the marine side.

How the coverage is documented

Viva Natura describes itself as a long-term natural history project documenting Mexico's landscapes and biodiversity through field observation, photography, and writing, created by Petr Myska in 2001. Over the past two decades the fieldwork has extended beyond books into documentary filmmaking, broadcast contributions, and international publications — for example, Touch of the Blue Crocodile (2012), broadcast nationally by Česká televize.

The project also publishes field journals tied to specific regions and expeditions, including Mexican Tropical Pacific Explorations, Salish Sea Explorations, and National Geographic Field Notes. Note that the Salish Sea material falls outside the three Mexico ecosystem areas above — it reflects fieldwork and publication activity rather than the core regional coverage.

If you want to explore a specific area

Start from the ecosystem you care about rather than from the book list:

• Diving or reef life in Mexico's Tropical Pacific → the Mexican Pacific marine coverage, and the forthcoming marine field guide (due mid 2026).
• Land wildlife in Western Mexico → the Pacific Forests area and the available amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals guide.
• Offshore and volcanic island habitats → the Pacific Islands area covering the Revillagigedo.

For the marine guide, the site offers an email notification list for release; the site states it sends only a publication notice, with no newsletters or marketing emails.