International recognition for the Ciénega and mangrove reserve of the northern coast of Yucatán

The Ramsar designation for the Ciénegas and Mangroves Reserve of the North Coast of Yucatán was authorized from Geneva, which was delivered this World Wetlands Day.

PROGRESO, MX.- At the plaque presentation event, the head of the state Secretariat of Sustainable Development (SDS), Sayda Rodríguez Gómez, commented that Yucatán has 15 federal, state, municipal and private Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) and it is precisely on the coast where 50 percent of the population lives, who even take advantage of the natural resources they have for food and to activate their economy.

Sayda Rodríguez pointed out that there are 96,893 hectares of mangroves in the state and with this amount, it occupies the third place as the entity with the highest proportion of mangroves in the country. Currently the state has nine sites with Ramsar designation, such as Celestún, Ría Lagartos, El Palmar and Dzilam, and the Ciénegas y Manglares de la Costa Norte Reserve will now have this designation for its 54,776.72 hectares, distributed among the municipalities of Hunucmá, Ucú, Progreso, Ixil, Motul, Dzemul, Telchac, Sinanché, Yobaín, Dzidzantún and Dzilam de Bravo.

This newly designated area was decreed as a State Ecological Reserve on March 19, 2010 because it is a priority for ecosystem conservation, and 12 years later its now recognized as a Ramsar site.

The area in question has a diversity of ecosystems, i.e., coastal dunes, petenes, grasslands, lowland flooded jungle, and mangrove systems.

The official name of the treaty – Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat – focuses on the protection of wetlands, especially to provide habitat for waterfowl.

In this regard, Adán Peña Fuentes, head of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp), pointed out that this designation is important because in one way it protects the ecosystem and in another way it also guarantees that the people living in the area have an important natural and economic resource.

“The idea is that we remember the relevance of our wetlands. This is a recognition from Geneva, where the Ramsar commission meets, that is to say, from there we were authorized as a wetland of high value”, she explained.

She reminded that Mexico is the second country at international level with more wetlands, since it has 143 registered, while England has 175.

TYT Newsroom