Xcacel needs your help!

Xcacel is in danger again as Fideicomiso Empresarial Punta Carey wants to build a hotel in Xcacel - the most important green and loggerhead nesting beaches in Mexico.

Please write to the following and express your displeasure!

Juan Elvira Quesada

Secretario del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales

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Juan Elvira Quesada Secretario del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales PRESENTE I am writing to express my rejection of the project called Punta Carey, Carey Punta Business Trust, plans to develop in X'cacel, Quintana Roo. The project threatens the mangroves in the area, besides seriously affecting the Turtle Sanctuary X'cacel X'cacelito, whose beach is considered the most important nesting site for turtles in the Caribbean. Sea turtle conservation, protecting our mangroves and the diversity of life they support, should be a priority in Mexico. The destruction of the environment to build a tourist development will only lead to devastation and poverty. We therefore ask that the Secretariat office in respect to legislation and regulations on environmental issues in Mexico, to deny the authorization of the Punta Carey development. Sincerely,

THE HISTORY OF 10 YEARS OF FIGHTING TO PRESERVE XCACEL FOR TURTLES AND PEOPLE.

X'cacel is located approximately 100 Km. south of Cancun, in the tourist corridor Cancun-Tulum. Some of the protected species found in X'cacel's 311 hectares, besides loggerhead green sea turtles are the boa constrictor, marsh turtle, crocodile, Chit, Hoo'loop, mangrove, and subi'n. X'cacel along with the adjoining beaches of Aventuras-DIF and Chemuyil are the most important green and loggerhead nesting beaches in the state of Quintana Roo.

However, all 3 of these beaches have been sold to developers by Fideicomiso Caleta de Xeh-ha y del Caribe (FIDECARIBE). The Ecological Group of the Mayab (GEMA) in 1994 proposed officially incorporating X'cacel into the National System of Protected Areas (SINAP) and completed all of the necessary requirements, their request has gone unanswered. The Management Plan of the Tourist Corridor Cancun-Tulum (Gob. Fed. 1994a), was signed by the representatives of: conservation groups, sea turtle biologists and representatives of local, state and federal Mexican government. This plan includes the following phrase, "In case of the realization of development projects or exploitation in the zone of X'cacel the following risks to the integrity of the ecosystem and the species in danger of extension that live there, such as marine turtles who depend on these beaches for their reproduction : a) erosion of dunes b) disturbance of the vegetation that controls the flow of water c) contamination and alterations of the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the beaches d) disturbance of nesting female turtles and their nests e) disturbance caused by the artificial illumination of the beach and adjacent areas f) disturbance caused by noise generated by aquatic activities and g) disturbances in the reef and its platform, potentially able to alter the water flow". The Management Plan recommends that development should not be allowed between the federal highway and the 60 meters isobath, and if the property is to be sold that the conservation groups who have promoted the protection of the sea turtles and the area are given the right of first refusal.

Sea turtles conservation and research has been carried out over most of the coast of Quintana Roo. However, these three beaches (X'cacel, Chemuyil and Aventuras DIF) have the highest density of nesting activities and therefore have been the main focus of these efforts.

In the 1990's the Melia hotel group bought 3 of the 5 lots at Xcacel however, after the public outcry, Melia donated the land to the University of Quintana Roo.

Now (2009) two different Mexican groups have bought the lots overlapping the Northern and Southern limits of Xcacel. Clearly, if a resort is built on either of these lots it will have a devastating impact on Xcacel!

The lot that is located on the northern end of Xcacel was sold to the Punta Carey Business Trust.

Punta Carey Business Trust wants to build a development that at Xcacel which would affect the adjoining sea turtle sanctuary and wetlands. The environmental organizations Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambienta (Cemda), Grupo Cologista del Mayab (GEMA), Teyeliz, MOCE Yax Cuxtal, Defencers of Wildlife, Centro Ecologico Akumal and Greepeace Mexico have denounced the project and asked that the Secretaria de Medio Ambierte y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat) deny permission for the project.

X'Cacel-X'cacelito turtle sanctuary (1) is the main nesting beach in the Mexican Caribbean for green and loggerhead sea turtles, both of which are in danger of extinction. Xcacel is recognized as an important wetland by the Ramsar Convention. Xcacel is also known for having a high diversity of flora and fauna. For example, Kuka palm (an endemic species), chit palm, black and black mangroves are found at Xcacel and all of which as protected by Mexican environmental laws.

The project is an obvious danger to the sanctuary because the project does not have any beach access except the protected beaches inside the sanctuary.

"This project does not guarantee the protection of the turtle sanctuary due to the fact that does not take in consideration that it is adjoining the turtle sanctuary. There is not in any part of the developers' environmental impact study (EIS) that makes any reference to the impact that will be done by more than 400 tourists at the resort, plus the employees, the discharge of 124 thousand liters of waste water that the resort will generate and the lights that will affect the turtles, etc." said Juan Carlos Cantu, Director of the program Defenders of Wildlife

The developers plan on digging channels in the mangrove and building islands where cabins will be built. "The creation of the channels that they plan will affect the hydrologic flow of the mangrove; clearly a violation to the Article 60 of the General Wild Life Law and contravenes what is indicated in the decree that established X'cacel-X'cacelito as a protected natural area. (2). Also there is manipulation and false information about the land location, density and the destruction of the vegetation, therefore Semarnat has to deny the license according to the General Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection Law" declared Alejandra Serrano, a Cemda represetantive.

The Punta Carey Business Trust is a company established on December 5, 2007 with the solo purpose of buying and developing the land at X'cacel-X'Cacelito next to the Marine Turtle Sanctuary - they do not have any experience in sustainable projects.

"X'Cacel-X'Cacelito has also a very important social importance as this is the lone place in all of northern Quintana Roo where local people carry out environmental education programs as well as scientific investigation. It is also the only place where many local families can spend a day enjoying beach, cenotes, and tropical rain forest safely and without the fear that a hotel guard will ask them to leave" said Araceli Dominguez, president of GEMA.

The project includes the construction of 30 apartments, 104 hotel rooms, club house, beach services, security control access office and roads on 26.05 hectares that will be located on the northern boundary of the marine turtle sanctuary.

"Being such a fragile zone, the development even a low impact one, will disturb the ecologic environment of this area, hence unbalancing all the biologic and hydrologic process. Previously, other projects have been rejected and this should not be the exception, that is why we demand that Semarnat should not authorize Punta Carey, that they leave this area free for the citizens of Quintana Roo and to respect the endangered species and the turtle sanctuary" declared Alejandro Olivera Greenpeace coordinator of oceans and coasts.

Again we need your help to stop it.

PUNTA CAREY ENDANGERS SEA TURTLES AND WETLANDS AT XCACEL

-ONGs DEMAND THAT SEMARNAT REJECT THE AUTHORIZATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

Cancun, Quintana Roo.-In the 1990's the Melia hotel group bought 3 of the 5 lots at Xcacel however, after the public outcry, Melia donated the land to the University of Quintana Roo. Now (2009) two different Mexican developers have bought the lots overlapping the Northern and Southern limits of Xcacel. Clearly, if a resort is built on either of these lots it will have a devastating impact on Xcacel! The lot that is located on the northern end of Xcacel was sold to the Punta Carey Business Trust.

Punta Carey Business Trust wants to build a development at Xcacel that would affect the adjoining sea turtle sanctuary, because the project does not have any beach access except the beaches inside the sanctuary. The environmental organizations Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambienta (Cemda), Grupo Cologista del Mayab (GEMA), Teyeliz, MOCE Yax Cuxtal, Defencers of Wildlife, Centro Ecologico Akumal and Greepeace Mexico have denounced the project and asked that the Secretaria de Medio Ambierte y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat) deny permission for the project.

X'Cacel-X'cacelito turtle sanctuary (1) is the main beach in the Mexican Caribbean where green and loggerhead sea turtles nest, both of which are in danger of extinction. Xcacel is recognized as an important wetland by the Ramsar Convention. Xcacel is also known for having a high diversity of flora and fauna. For example, Kuka palm (an endemic specie), as well as the chit palm, black and black mangroves are found at Xcacel and all of which as protected by Mexican environmental laws.

The developers plan on digging channels in the mangrove and building islands where cabins will be built. "The creation of the channels will affect the hydrologic flow of the mangrove; clearly a violation to the Article 60 of the General Wild Life Law and contravenes what is indicated in the decree that established X'cacel-X'cacelito as a protected natural area. (2). Also there is manipulation and false information about the land location, density and the destruction of the vegetation, therefore Semarnat has to deny the license according to the General Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection Law" declared Alejandra Serrano, a Cemda represetantive.

The Punta Carey Business Trust is a company established on December 5, 2007 with the sole purpose of buying and developing the land at X'cacel-X'Cacelito next to the Marine Turtle Sanctuary - they do not have any experience in sustainable projects.

"Being such a fragile zone, the development, even if it was a low impact one, will disturb the ecologic environment of this area, hence unbalancing all the biologic and hydrologic process. Previously, other projects have been rejected and this should not be the exception, that is why we demand that Semarnat should not authorize Punta Carey, that they leave this area free for the citizens of Quintana Roo and to respect the endangered species and the turtle sanctuary" declared Alejandro Olivera Greenpeace coordinator of oceans and coasts.

"An 8 million dollar blackmail, openly offered to public officials for the approval of of Punta Carey en X'cacel, Quintana Roo, Mexico"

On the Caribbean coastal state of Quintana Roo, environmental groups have severely questioned the Punta Carey tourist development project in the area of X'cacel. X'cacel that is both a Sanctuary for Sea Turtles and a Ramsar site for the protection of wetlands. The attempt to gain approval of the project has now taken an scandalous turn since Michael Katz, the director of the Fidecomiso (Trust fund), announced that a gift of 8 million dollars will be given to Quintana Roo Governor Felix Gonzalez Canto for the construction of a turtle camp in X'cacel.

The anouncement of the 8 million dollar gift was made after the environmental groups made public the numerous legal, technical and ecological anomalies that this proyect presents, anomalies which would support the rejection by Mexican Environmental Protection Agency ( SEMARNAT ) of the project's Environmental Impact Statement .

"The anouncement of the 8 million dollar gift puts SEMARNAT against the wall and puts in doubt that the agency will be able to rigorously enforce the environmental legislation. SEMARNAT's Direction of Environmental Impact has a long history of granting authorizations unduly, but we will be watching them closely and will denounce any illegal wrongdoing regarding this case", said Maria Elena Sanchez, president of Teyeliz, A.C.

In a newspaper article, Mr.Katz made clear that the 8 million dollar "gift" would be at risk if the tourist project does not obtain the desired permissions from SEMARNAT (Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources) .1

"It is a shame and an embarrassment that this is occurs in Mexico. The authorities are to blame for the existence of such scandalous incidents by time and again overlooking the law. X'cacel should be a natural protected area by the federal government in order to stop the greedy and rapacious expectations of the tourist development financieers and investors whose only intent is to destroy this natural jewel of Mexico, " said Juan Carlos Cantu, director of Defenders of Wildlife of Mexico.

The state of Quintana Roo is not a stranger to the scandals of illegal tourist developments, as a matter of fact, this situation became famous when an American media network declared that in Quintana Roo "it's better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permition".

"The Punta Carey proyect is clearly deficient and it now it seems they will try to get the authorization by coercion. The 8 million dollars do not change the predatory nature of the project. This money does not change the fact that the promoter of this project is providing false information,nor does it change the fact that the promoter intends to open up 3.5 acres of canals through a protected mangrove, nor that the plans are to to inject into the ground water 33 thousand gallons per day of treated waste water and almost 90 tons per year of salt (a by-product from desalinization plant) that the hotel complex will generate . All this could negatively impact the hidrological flow of the region's mangrove ecosystem, aside from the fact that it will clearly violate article 60 of the Federal "General Law for Wild Life" , declared Alejandro Olivera, coordinator for the Greenpeace Coastal and Oceanic Campaign .

"Now we know the size of the bribes in Quintana Roo, it was not for nothing that the ex-Governor Mario Villanueva sold X'cacel in flagrant violation of the "Cancun-Tulum Ecological Regulations" . Since then, two projects have been rejected in the area and Punta Carey will be the third, despite the offer of the small 8 million dollar gift ," said Araceli Dominguez of GEMA ( Grupo Ecologista de Mayab).

"The project at Punta Carey does not comply with the legal requirements necessary for its approval and this 8 million dollar intent to bribe will not be enough for the SEMARNAT to grant it. If approval is granted, everyone will know the reason the project was accepted", said Alejandra Serrano Pavón, regional legal representative for the Mexican Center for Environmental Law in Quintana Roo. "Enforcement of the law in Quintana Roo seems to be ruled by bartering principles. President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa has indicated repeatedly that it is a national concern that in all fields, the law must be respected and abided by, and that we need judicial certainty in our country that the law in a not a negotiable manner. " pointed out Serrano Pavón.

The environmental organizations demand that state and federal authorities refrain from accepting these cohersions and bribes, abide by environmental law and reject the Punta Carey project as it does not meet the legal, technical, and ecological requirements for its approval.

In a time of financial crisis , it should be avoided the temptation to polarize conservation against economic growth.

The conservation of priority ecosystems such as the ones found in X'cacel is not only a matter of environmental importance but also a matter of economic well being. These ecosystems are the main attraction at the heart of this tourist destination and protecting them ensures the flow of visitors to the state.