Around 2,700 meters (8,900 feet) above sea level, this viewpoint overlooks the highlands of Sierra Gorda. Pedraza Ruiz woke up at 4:30am to photograph the landscape in the morning light. The trees on the right are oaks and the plant in the middle of the photograph is an agave -- Mexico has the biggest diversity of both oaks and agave plants in the world. While it used to be very isolated, Ruiz says that over time, the area has become increasingly popular with tourists.
This creek in the Sierra Gorda highlands is located around 2,800 meters (1.7 miles) above sea level. According to Pedraza Ruiz, many axolotls live there. These amphibious salamander are very picky about clean water conditions and their presence indicates that the creek is healthy.
Roberto Pedraza Ruiz has taken countless photographs showcasing the beauty of his home in Mexico's Sierra Gorda, and the animals that live there. This bumblebee hummingbird, which gets its name from the buzz of its wingbeats, lives in the region's rainforests. At about 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) in length, it is one of the smallest birds in the world (second only to Cuba's bee hummingbird).
Mexico's military macaws are increasingly endangered due to human activity and the pet trade. Pedraza Ruiz says there were hundreds of macaw pairs in Sierra Gorda in the 1940s and 1950s, but now only 40 pairs remain. The macaws in this photograph live in Sierra Gorda year round. Pedraza Ruiz says he spots them mingling with visiting macaws that arrive from the north during the winter months. The military macaw is one of more than 300 bird species that live in the region.
Despite its name, the horny toad is actually a lizard. Pedraza Ruiz says this is the only one he has ever seen in his decades living in Sierra Gorda. "It had a lot of attitude, lazy with dignity, you have to respect them," he says. Native to desert regions in North and Central America, horny toads are rare and not easy to find. The species is another victim of a bustling pet trade.
Like the horny toad, this is the only serrated casque-headed iguana Pedraza Ruiz has ever seen during his decades living in Sierra Gorda. Found across the Central American tropics, the iguana has a tail that's usually three to four times the length of its head and body. According to Pedraza Ruiz, this particular one is around 40 centimeters (16 inches) long, including its tail.
Six years ago, Pedraza Ruiz received a phone call about a "golden monkey" feeding in orange orchards in a nearby town. Right away, he knew it was a kinkajou -- because there are no golden monkeys in Mexico. He snapped this photograph after capturing the animal and releasing it back into the tropical forest. A close relative of the raccoon, the kinkajou is not considered endangered, but it is threatened by human activity and habitat encroachment.
When Pedraza Ruiz released this margay back into the forests around 10 years ago, he captured the moment on camera. He says the animal was around one year old and had been poached and taken away from its mother. The margay is one of Mexico's six wild cat species, which are all found in Sierra Gorda. It spends a lot of its time in trees and is threatened by habitat loss.
Found only in Mexico, this rare species of cactus grows in the dry tropical forests. Growing up to 10 meters (32 feet) tall, they are pollinated by bats. In the past, the removal of limestone rocks destroyed cactus habitat, but the plants are now protected in a reserve looked after by Pedraza Ruiz and his team.
Pedraza Ruiz knows this ferruginous pygmy owl well -- it's practically his neighbor. "I know how to call him," he says. "I whistle and this small macho guy comes out to find out who is in his territory." By "small" he means about the size of an average avocado. Pygmy owls live in tropical lowlands and feed on large insects and small birds, rodents and lizards. While they are relatively common in Sierra Gorda, their future is dependent on the preservation of the forests.
Pedraza Ruiz calls this photo, taken at sunset during the winter, "The Tree Shepherd," because it shows a large pine tree appearing to take care of the little ones around it. Mexico has the richest diversity of pine trees in the world.
These sweet gum trees didn't exist here 25 years ago when Pedraza Ruiz was young. Now, dozens of them are rooted within 200 meters of his house -- the most protected area of Sierra Gorda, he says. In a relatively short time, the trees have grown to almost 20 meters (65 feet) tall.
Sierra Gorda is home to around 800 species of butterflies, including the ethereal glass wing butterfly which dwells in the region's cloud forests. The butterfly's delicate, transparent wings make them hard for predators to spot.
This cloud forest was one of the first forests protected from logging by the Sierra Gorda Ecological Group. Within the last decade, two species of magnolia that are new to science were discovered here and one -- the Magnolia pedrazae -- was named after the Pedraza Ruiz family. Shrouded in mist, cloud forests are home to many species endemic to the region. According to Pedraza Ruiz, his team once recorded a black bear and a jaguar with the same camera trap.
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