X´cacel is located 112 km south of Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico and has an total area of 311 hectares; of which 156 hectares is terrestrialenvironment and 155 hectares of aquatic environment. This area includes, X´cacel beach, one of most important nesting beaches for loggerhead, Caretta caretta , and green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, in Mexico. This studies’ purpose was to support and realize the proposal made by the Grupo Ecologista del Mayab (GEMA) in 1994 to declare X´cacel a protected natural area and establish the management strategy most appropriate for the site. In 1995 maps were used to determine the different types of vegetation and a detailed list of species most representative of the fauna and flora was created, using bibliographic review, direct observation and interview. We analyzed the impact of tourism on the area and evaluated an alternative, the increase of financial resources with tourism further controlled, the benefits of which would be the maintenance of the area, support of protection, research, conservation and environmental education activities. We propose that the area be considered a Managed Natural Reserve, according to the Union International for the Conservation of Nature (UICN), and protected area for wild fauna and flora with respect to Sistema Nacional de Areas Protegidas (SINAP).
The present state of the beach is fairly stable, despite the pressures of tourist development. The principle beaches of the area are owned by Fideicomiso Caleta de Xel-ha y del Caribe (FIDECARIBE), which was created to advance tourist development. X’cacel was owned by the federal government from 1972 to 1992, since 1993 it has been in the hands of the state.
In 1994 the Ecological group of the Mayab (GEMA) officially proposed incorporating X'cacel into the National System of Protected Areas (SINAP). The proposal includes the diagnosis asked for by the federal authorities, including the physical, biological, historical, cultural, investigation, legislation and socioeconomic aspects of the proposed area. The National Institute of Ecology has not answered GEMA’s request. At the moment, the importance of X´cacel’s beach is considered in the Management Plan of the tourist corridor Cancún - Tulum since it is in a zone of ecological protection (Gob. Est. 1994). The same document indicates that the FIDECARIBE lands are subject to low density tourism developments, with up to 10 rooms per hectare. FIDECARIBE controls 1,800 hectares from Akumal to Xel-ha including the main nesting beaches of the marine turtles. In 1996 Prezas updated this proposal and established the category of appropriate handling.
The purpose of the present work is to provide a general panorama of the proposal to consider X´cacel as a protected area.
Some of the species observed at X´cacel are considered under some kind of protection, either by the Mexican laws (Gob. Fed.1994) or by international norms (IUCN, 1988; IUCN, 1989). For the species of plants: the palm kuka Pseudophoenix sargentii, Chit Thrinax radiata, Hoo´loop Bravaisia tubiflora, subi'n Acacia dolichostach and mangrove (Rhizofora mangle, Avicennia germinans, Laguncularia racemosa and Conocarpus erecta). Within the species of fauna: the marsh crocodile Crocodylus moreleti, the boa Boa constrictor, the marsh turtle Kinosternon creaseri, Rhinoclemmys areolata, and the loggerhead and green sea turtles.
Along the entire coast of Quintana Roo, Zurita et al. (1993) registered 1,331 to 2,166 loggerhead turtle nests and 481 to 2,296 green turtle nests, of these 60% of the loggerhead and 45% of the green turtle nests were found on the beaches in the central part of the state. In the sea turtle tagging program in the central part of Quintana Roo, Zurita et al. (1994, 1997) indicated that an average of 269 loggerhead and 120 green turtles were tagged . Preliminary data of the maximum efficiency intercepting nesting turtles on the main beaches is 75% for loggerheads and 89% for green turtles during the period of 1987 to 1995. Márquez (1976) estimated 500 nesting loggerhead turtles and, 283 to 420 green turtles nesting in Quintana Roo (Ogren, 1989).
The relevance of conserving the main areas of these nesting colonies of loggerhead and green turtles, is based on: a) more than 10 years of investigation and conservation of these main nesting areas by the defunct Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo, b) the investigations made by Dr. Brian Bowen and his team from the University of Florida, who indicate that a substantial portion of the diversity of mtDNA found among green turtles in the Atlantic resides in this population, and similar arguments can be made about the loggerhead turtles of this area, c) eight years of environmental education activities have been carried out at this beach, d) and finally X’ cacel’s present state of conservation.
Considering the ecological importance of the area X’cacel and
the threat of tourist development the situation should be reviewed. The
representatives of the three levels of government (Federal, State and Municipal),
research centers, scientists with ecological knowledge and natural resource
management experience, conservation groups, and the representatives from
civil and private associations signed the document: Management Plan of
the Tourist Corridor Cancun - Tulum (Gob. Fed. 1994).
This document indicates the following :
"In the case of the realization of development projects or exploitation
in the zone of X´cacel the following risks to the integrity of the
ecosystem and the species in danger of ,extinction that live there, such
as marine turtles who depend on these beaches for their reproduction: a)
erosion of dunes b) disturbance of the vegetation that controls the flow
of water c) contamination and alterations of the physical, chemical and
biological characteristics of the beaches d) disturbance of nesting
female turtles and their nests e) disturbance caused by the artificial
illumination of the beach and adjacent areas f) disturbance caused by noises
generated by aquatic activities and g) disturbances in the reef and its
platform, potentially able to alter the water flow. The viability study
concludes that in the strip between the 60 m isobath and the Federal Highway
Chetumal - Puerto Jua'rez, there should not exist any type of development.
It is necessary to closely evaluate the proposal to include this coastal
strip and its associated forest in the National System of Protected Areas.
Finally, it is asked that in case the area is subject to sale, that conservationists
groups who have promoted the protection of the area and sea turtles are
given the right of first
refusal".
The UNEP/ACOPS report (1995) recommends permanent monitoring of the signed agreements, since there is a probability that this area will be sold for unsustainable tourist development which would cause ecological damage and is contrary to the above mentioned agreement.
Prezas (1996) analyzed the incidence of tourism in the area and evaluated alternatives such as a source of financing with controlled or low impact tourism, whose benefits would be utilized for the operation of the area and to support the activities of protection, investigation, conservation and environmental education. Following a simplified scheme to evaluate the suitable category of management for the protected area proposal by Mackinnon et al. (1990) and according to the natural values and suitable handling of the area. Prezas (1996) concludes that it should be considered as a Managed Natural Reserve, according to the proposed categorization by International Union Conservation Nature (IUCN), and that with respect to the National System of Protected Areas (SINAP), it can be considered an area of protection of flora and wild fauna. GEMA (1994) proposes the creation of a local administration to manage X´cacel which would keep accounts available for public inspection and possibly giving greater stability to the project.
All the legal mechanisms that have been realized to protect the area are based within the structure of the Mexican Inter-ministerial Commission for Marine Turtle Protection and Conservation created in 1993, through the establishment of the National Committee for the Protection and Conservation of Marine Turtles (Gob.Fed. 1993). This system of organization is reflected in the activities of the different institutions (SEMARNAP, INP, PRONATURA, Committee of Protection in Isla Cozumel, Ecological Group of Akumal, Amigos de Sian Ka ´an, Xcaret and others) to protect the marine turtles in Quintana Roo (Isla Holbox, Isla Contoy, Cancun, Reserve of the Biosphere of Sian Ka´an, Xcaret Eco.archeological Park, Akumal, X´cacel and 10 beaches along the central coast, Mahahual and adjacent beaches) with the purpose of stabilizing these nesting colonies. Nevertheless, the sale of X´cacel was announced in February of 1998 by the state government of Quintana Roo for the development of a "Eco- tourist" project; similar to the ones on Aventuras-DIF and Chemuyil beaches in 1997. At the time of this writing the sale is pending.
| Last Modified on December, 1998 |