On September 12th, the environmental organization Moce Yax Cuxtal informed that it was keeping record of the ‘La Calma’ project, which would be located next to the Sea Turtle sanctuary of Xcacel-Xcacelito.
And on September 17th, the construction permit for the “La Calma” Ecoresort in Tulum was definitely rejected by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) to protect the sea turtles nesting area.
The agency denied environmental impact authorization to the “Master Plan La Calma luxury ecoresort” project, which was planned to be located right next to the Xcacel-Xcacelito bay, in the municipality of Tulum, Quintana Roo, promoted by the company “Palmares del Country S.A de C.V “.
In a statement, Semarnat argued that the tourism complex would affect the reproduction of sea turtles in the area.
The institution pointed out that the land disposed for the project was partially invading a Natural Protected Area (ANP), the “Area Subject to Ecological Conservation, Sea Turtle Sanctuary, Region called Xcacel-Xcacelito”.
The Natural Protected Area is the site where the largest number of sea turtle nesting is reported throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, since white turtles, loggerheads and hawksbills lay their eggs there all year long.
(Photo: debate.com.mx)
According to Semarnat, the resort puts at risk the ecological continuity of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, as well as feeding, reproduction and nesting of the three aforementioned species, which are in danger of extinction.
The tourism project also contravenes the Natural Protected Area Management Program and is incompatible with provisions of the Territorial Ecological Management Program of the region called Cancún-Tulum, of the Marine and Regional Ecological Ordinance Program of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, of the Law General of Wildlife and with the Official Mexican Standards NOM-022-SEMARNAT-2003 and NOM-162-SEMARNAT-2012.
TYT Newsroom with information from debate.com.mx