News
CONANP has answered. 7/April/2009
In answer to SAVE's letter to President Calderon demanding federal protection, the environmental ministry department of CONANP has responded that they agree the underground rivers and cenotes are a matter of national importance. However, their budget for 2009 has been completed and at present they have no resources to pursue the necessary studies.
Read it (pdf).
Recycling. 3/April/2009
A monthly recycling center opens in Puerto Aventuras on the first friday of each month. SAVE made a run containing three months of Aventuras Akumal recycling; glass, cans and plastic.
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Beach clean-up. 22/March/2009
In coordination with World Water Say, SAVE organized a clean-up on the limestone shoreline of Akumal Point. Volunteers picked up ten bags of trash and a geaotube in accesible areas. We are happy to report, three weeks later after large winds and waves, the shoreline was still in good shape
Public Launch of Aguas con los Cenotes. 19/March/2009
SAVE was invited to make a presentation about our pursuit of federal protection for the cenotes and underground rivers at the "Foro Estatal de Cenotes".
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"Ecotur" allowed to kill mangroves. January/2009
Why is it illegal to destroy mangroves in Mexico, yet developers like Grupo Posada are allowed to do so? In 2007, the inclusion of TER 60 to the General Wildlife Law “forbids any kind of activity that affects the hydrological flow of the mangrove, the ecosystem itself, its zone of influence, its productivity, capacity, reproduction zones and interactions.” (According to the Boletin Ambiental distributed by Celis Aguilar Alvarex Y Asociados, S.C.) Yet, in January SAVE, Canal 10 News and Respuesta all documented with video and photos mangroves bulldozed down and filled in with earth on the buffer zone of Playa Chemuyilito. SAVE filed a denuncia with PROFEPA per protocol. PROFEPA determined that the destruction was legal. We want to know why a window of greed opened and closed that allowed the mangroves to be destroyed around 2002, and why the permissions could still be valid?
Read more (pdf)
Cenotes
When Spanish conquistadors and explorers first reach the Yucatan Peninsula they were all intrigued by the strange ecology of the terrain, which appeared to have no rivers. They were soon to discover that rivers did actually exist, but were in fact underground, with the Peninsula now recorded as having eight out of the ten longest underwater cave systems in the world...Read more
Sea Turtles
Sea Turtles have swum peacefully through the world’s oceans for millions of year. Sadly, however, these beautiful reptiles are now threatened with extinction due to hunting, capture in fisheries, coastal over-development, beach degradation, and marine pollution. Sea Turtles, except for the short time that they climb on the sandy beaches to dig nests and lay their eggs, spend their time...Read more
Mangroves
Mangroves are woody trees or shrubs that found in coastal habitats in swamps, forests and plant assemblages (mangals). Mangrove plants are found in depositional coastal environments where fine sediments, often with high organic content collect in areas protected from high energy wave action. Mangrove plants are a diverse plant group, which are able to exploit a habitat... Read more