26 De Marzo De 2009
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REPORT OF TOURIST´S REAL ESTATE PROJECTS AND ITS POTENCIAL IMPACTS IN THE RAMSAR SITE OF CABO PULMO This report is intended to share information about the tourist´s real estate projects adjacent to the RAMSAR site Cabo Pulmo and request the Ramsar Secretariat to issue recommendations and a statement about the development policy of tourist-real estate expansion in the adjacent area with the National Park of Cabo Pulmo, a priority Ramsar site due its biological diversity in Baja California Sur. Derived from this information, we request the Ramsar Secretariat to conduct a Ramsar Advisory Mission, to make an assessment of possible damages to the site, to propose a “compensation package” for the loss of natural resources of the wetland, and recommend to include it in the Montreaux Record. The Ramsar site Cabo Pulmo is found seriously threatened by the development projects of Cabo Cortes and Cabo Riviera, tourist mega development with more than 30,000 rooms and three golf courses just a few kilometers from the National Park Cabo Pulmo, the best preserved marine ecosystem in the Gulf of California. In brief: Cabo Pulmo was decreted National Marine Park and Ramsar site due to the age of the reef, an habitat of species under an environmental protective risk category of the Official Mexican Standard NO-059- SEMARNAT-2001 of local mexican wild flora and fauna species. It is the only area with a coral reef alive in the Gulf of California, permanent and seasonal habitat of a rich diversity of fish species, crustaceans, mollusks, chelonian, birds and marine mammals. This is a very unusual case of a community that chooses for themselves to stop fishing and instaed, to protect the ecosystems and the environment of the area. The recovery of the reef in recent years has been a success in an international level1. - The Company Hansa Urbana presented to the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (“SEMARNAT”) for its study and evaluation, an Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) which contains the possible affectations to the ecosystems of the site in order to obtain the authorization to build and operate the denominated project Cabo Cortés within the Evaluation Procedure of Environmental Impact. The EIS was a document with poor information. This fact was confirmed by different areas of the environmental Mexican authority, in their technical opinions which were not taken into considerantion by the environmental ruled authority. - The Developing Company La Ribera obtained the authorization of environmental impact for the construction and operation of the project Cabo Riviera, near the Ramsar site Cabo Pulmo. The tourist real estate has 360 hectares, 581 lots, 300 hotel rooms and a treatment plant of activated sludge. The resolution did not support the construction of the marina, access and breakwaters canals; in spite of this, it was built and so far, the SEMARNAT does not have 1 Cabo Pulmo Marine Reserve. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uziq95f0PG0&feature=fvsr 2 information about the possible environmental feasibility of the last structure. - The main risk that this project implies for the reef of Cabo Pulmo, would be the discharge of pollutants, sediments dredged from the marina, oils from the boats, desalination plant brine, sewage; especially at times of the year when the currents run from north to south. - Another great risk is the social and environmental impact of what essentially would be a new urban center in an area that historically has had a very low population density. Around 50,000 people are expected to arrive (from a conservative point of view), in a place inhabited only by 120. - The oposition to Cabo Cortés and Cabo Riviera has strong communitary roots, in the locations of Cabo Pulmo and la Rivera, whose members have been some of the most important spokesmen of the Cabo Pulmo Vivo Campaign, a net of individuals, academic and civil social organizations concerned for the conservation of the protected natural area, Cabo Pulmo2. - In economic terms, Cabo Cortés and Cabo Riviera are not necessary projects for the economical development of the area. It is more important to strengthen the existing destinations such as Los Cabos, La Paz and Loreto, who have not completely overcome the crisis and continue with an ocupation underneath their capacity, more than the creation of new resorts. It is urgent that the Ramsar Secretariat gets involved as soon as possible in this matter, due to legal and administrative mechanisms, mainly environmental impact evaluation review and/ or an invalidation trial of environmental impact autorizations, within the national field will not be solved within an appropriate time to avoid a significant impact to coastal wetlands and the reef of Cabo Pulmo. 2 Cabo PulmoVivo http://www.cabopulmovivo.org/ 3 I. BACKGROUND: CABO PULMO NATIONAL PARK As mentioned before, Cabo Pulmo is located in the municipality of Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, and was declared a Natural Protected Area by a Decree published in the Federation´s Official Journal on June 6th, 1995, with an area of 7,111-01-00 hectares. The coral reef of Cabo Pulmo is the only living one in North America3. The Decree mentioned above only allows activities related to the preservation of aquatic ecosystems and its elements, the research, recreation, environmental education and the use of natural resources in the protected areas. The conditions for these activities are determined in accordance with the attributions of the correspondent authorities. The community of Cabo Pulmo has made significant efforts in conservation of the site, for example they agreed on the ban of commercial mining activities within the national park, any construction of public or private real estate, and activities that can alter the natural conditions of the park. Due to efforts like these, after more than 15 years of preservation actions, the coral reef of Cabo Pulmo has recovered from overfishing and has become the marine area with the highest concentration of fish in the Gulf of California. On February 2nd, 2008, Cabo Pulmo was designated as Ramsar site number 1778. The Ramsar Information Sheet determines that the designation is justified under the criteria 1 (age of the reef), 2 (habitat of species under special protection under the National Official Norm NOM-059- SEMARNAT-2001 that provides a national standard on environmental protection to species of local Mexican flora and fauna), 3 (only area with a living coral reef in the Gulf of California) and 4 (permanent and seasonal habitat of different species of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, chelonian, birds and marine mammals) 4. The definition of wetlands is found in the article 1 of the Ramsar Convention, “…wetlands are those extensions of wetlands, swamps, peat lands and waters of natural or artificial regime, permanent or seasonal, static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salty, including marine water extensions which deepness in a low tide, do not exceed six meters”. According to these, reed and reef points of Cabo Pulmo have approximately a meter deep, they fit in the mentioned definition and this is why this site has entered in the Ramsar list of wetlands of priority international importance. 3 National Commission of Natural Protected Areas, web page National Park Cabo Pulmo http://pncabopulmo.conanp.gob.mx/ Consulted: January 19th 2011 4 Ramsar Information Sheet available at http://ramsar.conanp.gob.mx/documentos/fichas/86.pdf . Consulted: October 10, 2010. 4 II. REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN CABO PULMO AND THE NEGATIVE POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON THIS RAMSAR SITE The tourist activity in coastal areas is one of the most important economic activities for Mexico. However, the effects of tourism cause severe social and environmental impacts that threat the ecosystems and communities who live in those areas. According to this, the growth of the operation and construction of real estate settlements is noticed, tourist’s marinas, and golf courses in Baja California Sur. Until December 2009, the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (“SEMARNAT”) authorized two important and big developments in Baja California Sur, Cabo Cortés and Cabo Riviera, both projected in the adjacent area to Cabo Pulmo. II.1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REAL ESTATE PROJECT CABO CORTÉS On September 22nd, 2008, “SEMARNAT” authorized the construction and operation of Cabo Cortés, a residential-tourist development of 3.814 hectares adjacent to the National Park of Cabo Pulmo, promoted by the Spanish company Hansa Baja Investments. The project involves the construction and operation, in a first stage, of 3.655 hotel rooms, 7.816 homes, 2 golf courses with 27 holes, a marina with a capacity of 490 positions, a system of canals and lakes, a desalination plant, and other facilities. The project´s surface is 3,814 acres which influence the National Park Cabo Pulmo. Hansa Baja Investments has been promoted as a milestone for the development of the region, it is necessary to put into perspective the impact it will have as a competitor of other tourist destinations of the state. To get an idea of the magnitude of the project, Cabo Cortes offers "a maximum of 30.692 hotel rooms or the equivalent to 10.230 homes"5 when the current hotel demand in Baja California Sur is less than 18.000 rooms. Considering the great affluence of people that this tourist growth would attract, as further will be mentioned, practically a megacity would be being built next to a highly vulnerable are, just like the National Park Cabo Pulmo. Currently, however, there is no reference in the participation of governmental authorities neither in the design nor in the social effects, such as services for the construction and operation of such projects. Additionally, projects like Cabo Cortes move important quantities of workers, this causes competition conflicts for land, water and natural resources; they also create wastes, pollution; damage the landscape and the natural corridors; the population growth and the works of this great scale model place in a risky situation unique and vulnerable ecosystems like Cabo Pulmo.