Development
Threatens Lone Coral Reef in Sea of Cortez
Cabo Pulmo (Mexico), June 4 (EFE) – Cabo Pulmo, the only coral reef in the Gulf of California [Sea of Cortez], and
the northernmost in the eastern Pacific Ocean, is in danger as a result of the permit granted by the Mexican government to
the Spanish builder Hansa to develop a huge tourist complex adjacent [to the coral reef].
The reef is about 20,000 years old, which makes it
one of the oldest in the American Pacific, and it is home to 226 of the 875 species of fish that exist in the Gulf of California,
according to official information.
In the area it is common to see four species of sea
turtles; dolphins; sea lions; whale, tiger and bull sharks; and it is a transit route of humpback and blue whales.
It was declared a protected area in 1995 by Mexican
officials, and today it is a national park with 7,111 hectares [27.5 square miles], 99% of them in the sea.
There is a small community of 80 residents on its
coast who take care of this natural heritage, and provide tourist services such as diving, water skiing, boating, sportfishing
and camping.
However, the Alicante (Spain) group Hansa Urbana,
with approval already granted by environmental authorities, will build an integrally planned massive tourist [resort] on an
area of 4,000 hectares [15.4 square miles] adjacent to Cabo Pulmo.
The tourist town, called "Cabo Cortés," will include
hotels, homes, condominiums, marinas, golf courses, shopping centers, a village for workers, a church, medical services and
an airport for private planes, among other facilities.
The director of the Cabo Pulmo National Park, Javier
Alejandro Gonzalez, said in an interview with EFE that the project's plans are to build up to 30,600 hotel rooms, or 10,200
more homes.
Gonzalez, an official with the National Commission
of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp), noted that said agency produced a technical report that concluded the Environmental Impact
Statement of "Cabo Cortés had inaccuracies on several points," and data that "was not validated."
According to Gonzalez, Conanp fears that after construction
begins on the marinas, which will berth boats and luxury yachts, "a significant sediment suspension" may be produced in the
water, and that in the future the boat traffic and greater number of visitors to the Cabo Pulmo area may exert "increased
pressure" on the reef.
In his opinion, authorities must be able to confront
these environmental risks of the development, to which he is not opposed.
A more negative view is shared by a group of environmental
NGOs that have formed a coalition to fight for the reef and to stop the development.
That group is led by the U.S. [NGO] Wildcoast; the
Mexican [NGOs] Niparajá, Pro Natura Northwest, Community and Diversity, [and] Friends of Cabo Pulmo; [and] academics from
Scripps Center in the U.S., and the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur.
One member, Mexican oceanographer Octavio Aburto from
Scripps Research Institute, told EFE that the value of Cabo Pulmo is that it is an ecosystem that helps to repopulate fish
communities "in areas adjacent to the park, which allows fisheries production that is the basis of some economies on the Gulf
of California to increase."
Aburto's calculations indicate that the reef has on
average five tons of fish per hectare, 60% of which are large predatory species such as sharks.
For her part Fay Crevoshay, the communications director
of the NGO Wildcoast, argued that the several golf courses the tourist citadel will have "use chemicals that will flow into
the sea when it rains and kill the coral."
She also said it is "schizophrenic" for Mexican authorities
[to have created] a national park, which they preserved for years, and then "they grant a permit to a developer in order to
destroy it."
"What will the next generations that come here, not
only from Mexico but from the whole world, see: a reef destroyed and dead," lamented Juan Castro, a leader of the community
that resides on Cabo Pulmo and that has been in charge of taking care of the fragile marine ecosystem for about 15 years.
EFE tried to get the opinion of Hansa Urbana in Mexico,
however those responsible for the firm's public relations were not available for interviews.
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EFE,
June 4, 2010, Yahoo! Noticias México
