The General Directorate of Ecology of the municipality of Benito Juárez (Cancún), under the direction of President Mara Lezama, carries out the Program for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles on public beaches, to preserve the ecosystem.
With this program, more than 4,500 turtle eggs belonging to four different species have been saved, including four leatherback turtle nests, the first time this has happened, as it is a rare species in the area.
In this regard, information provided by the municipal agency, through its director Guadalupe Alcántara Más, indicates that, thanks to the Sea Turtle Protection Program, so far this season in Cancun 41 nests of four species of sea turtles have been preserved, protecting a total of 4,648 eggs: white turtle with 18 nests and 2,108 rescued eggs; loggerhead turtle with 15 nests and one thousand 689 eggs collected; hawksbill turtle with four nests and 478 eggs under shelter, while 373 eggs were deposited in four leatherback turtle nests.
This program is a high priority because these chelonians are classified under national legislation as an endangered species according to NOM-059-SEMARNAT- 2010.
Therefore, a tour was made on the 12 kilometers of beach in the nesting area, from the Hyatt Ziva Hotel to Club Med, in order to verify the profile of the beach, indications of traces of nesting females, nests in situ and placement of markers by the hotel sector.
The Protection and Conservation Program for Sea Turtles in the Municipality’s Beaches operates under a permit as a turtle camp with Official Letter SGPA / DGVS / 06516/19 issued by the General Directorate of Wildlife of SEMARNAT.