Currently, the Protection Program (for the Refuge of Protected Marine Species) is under the revision of the authorities after the final draft went through public consultation. Although the final version is still unknown, it seems that this Program was not designed for the original intention of species protection as a whole, but only to regulate the commercial activities related to snorkeling with turtles tours.
This creates confusion amongst the users of the bay (swimmers, boat traffic, dive practices, scientific research, coral restoration, etc), especially regarding the delimited areas for the snorkelling with turtles. A vast majority of people have complained on several accounts regarding the unclear rules, poor law enforcement, the lack of action and knowledge of the on-site inspectors, the role some of the community members play in persuading the tourists to follow rules (bad manners and aggressive conduct towards the tourists), the constant display of disputes and fights between members of the abundant cooperatives, the high number of permit holders operating in an unsustainable way, the unclear manner and methods used to estimate the bay's carrying capacity and the inefficient buoy system that disregards safety, as there is no delineation to keep swimmers away from navigation channels.
In Mexico, there are a very few cases of species refuge areas and none of them have proven effective so far. An example is the "Vaquita Marine Refuge Area" in the Gulf of California. In 2012 a refuge was declared by the Mexican authorities to protect the Vaquita's dwindling population. Yet, despite the implementation of this refuge the Vaquita's continued drop in numbers indicates that it is ineffective and unsuccessful.
READ MORE ABOUT THE VAQUITA
The Protection Program for the Vaquita Refuge was used as a model to elaborate the Protection Program for the Akumal Bay Protected Marine Species Refuge. Seeing the results of the Vaquita Refuge leaves me with very little faith in the success of this regulation instrument here in Akumal.
As a complement to the Protection Program in Akumal for the non-extractive use of marine turtles (snorkelling with turtles), SEMARNAT, through the General Direction of Wild Life issues the tour permits based on individual Management Plans created by each operator. These plans should include information on the species subjected to exploitation (touristic activity), its environment, the way the activities would be performed in time and space, the number of tourists to be attended per day (a wish number not necessarily a scientific estimate), the staff employed and the equipment and installations utilized.
The activity of non-extractive exploitation of the marine turtles in the Akumal Bay has not been effective. As an example, the number of permit holders has grown exponentially in the last years from 5 permitted groups in 2015 to more than 30 groups in 2017. It is unknown what criterion the authorities applied to issue the permits. But clearly having more actors interacting with tourists, divers and boats in a reduced space of less than 20 hectares of a very fragile and extremely deteriorated ecosystem hasn't swayed the authorities' decision in issuing permits in a sustainable or scientific-based way.
To have a fully effective Refuge Area all three authorities (SEMARNAT, CONANP and PROFEPA) must be in constant coordination-knowing who is permitted to operate, effectively managing the refuge area and enforcing any violations. But when there are marginal coordinated efforts with what appears as minimal management of the protected area and poor communication and dissemination of information, deeper levels of confusion is created for all users of the Bay.
In this regard, the Biosphere Reserve could bring all the necessary elements for better overall management. Most recently, CONANP has carried out the first preliminary workshop with different sectors of the society to help create a better Management Program. CEA has participated actively providing information that can be used for better decisions and better management of the Akumal Bay with maps of the bathymetry, marine turtles distribution, high resolution imagery showing the presence of reef within the newly created circuits established by CONANP and a map of the seagrass abundance and distribution in conjunction with UNAM. By all means, we have tried to persuade the authorities of the rationality and value of such information and the need to incorporate scientific-based decisions into the Management Program.
We urge CONANP to reconsider the information that led them to establish the swim circuits and the regulations for swimming with turtles. It is worth clarifying that the swim circuits and the buoy system derived from the carrying capacity study concluded in December 2016 was not shared nor was there indication on how the carrying capacity or snorkeling circuits/routes were determined within the Protection Program.
Had CONANP used more accurate information to include in the Protection Program and the decisions to establish a buoy system, or SEMARNAT for the swim with turtle permits, we may not have the current layers of confusion we currently see in Akumal today.
However, we are facing a good opportunity to improve the decision making based on more technical and scientific information, especially that obtained from local, Akumal-based research and not based on other instruments or plans from elsewhere in the country.
The Management Program of the Biosphere Reserve of the Mexican Caribbean is underway. It implies the order of much greater and diversified amount of activities in more than 5 million hectares. It is a real challenge for the authorities. Therefore, it is imperative the process of its elaboration is inclusive, allows and promotes the active participation of all sectors of the society and includes relevant scientific information. This can be the solution to a better and more organised Akumal Bay.
Our role as NGOs is to work to improve conditions of life of the communities based on outreach activities, environmental education, research and support. This must be achieved in collaboration with the academia, research institutes, private sector, other NGOs, society in general, and the relevant authorities.
We are keen to pursue a better and close collaboration with all actors, especially with the authorities, however, a more scrutinized revision of all proposals is needed before their publication and implementation.
The Management Program of the Biosphere is said to be published by October this year. Ensuring the commitment of all parties to contribute to an effective instrument is a priority. By the end of the year we will be able to know the final version of the document and we will inform.
