Mexico, February 10, 2014 Administrator McCarthy
Minister Aglukkaq Secretary Guerra Abud
Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation 393 St-Jacques Street West Suite 200
Montreal (Quebec) H2Y 1N9
Dear Administrator McCarthy, Minister Aglukkaq, and Secretary Guerra Abud:
We, the undersigned members of the international academic community and experts in different scientific fields, write to express our interest in seeing the Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (CEC) carry out a thorough investigation (Factual Record) of the citizen petition “SEM-13-001 Tourism Development in the Gulf of California," as a means of
improving the environmental impact evaluation tool in Mexico.
We are concerned that the rapid expansion of massive tourism infrastructure threatens the integrity of important sites for biodiversity in Mexico. In addition, the lack of clear policy and apparent abuse of discretion by Mexican authorities during environmental impact assessments promote a systematic violation of national and international environmental legislation, resulting in the destruction of coastal ecosystems in Mexico.
We have significant experience researching and studying ecological processes, biological communities and physiographic characteristics of the sites, ecosystem valuation,1 and habitat2 and biomass3 restoration. As researchers, we have provided data and scientific evidence to demonstrate the impacts of massive tourism infrastructure on the environment, lifestyles and traditions of coastal communities and the national economy.4 We have spoken in favor of environmental permitting that considers the critical habitats of species, which are the specific areas in which species carry out essential biological functions (feeding, reproduction,
socialization and rest).5
The Mexican government authorized the Paraíso del Mar and Entre Mares projects in the Bay of La Paz, Cabo Cortés in Cabo Pulmo and the Playa Espiritu Integrally Planned Center (CIP) in Marismas Nacionales despite lacking assurance that the buildings and necessary infrastructure for such projects would not harm protected areas and vulnerable species of flora and fauna in the Gulf of California, thereby violating the precautionary principle and environmental legislation. The approval of high impact projects such as these alarms us because they demonstrate
disturbing trends. For example, in some cases, environmental impact assessments do not present recent scientific literature and in many cases are based on false assumptions and incorrect information,6 indicating that consultants and proponents do not use the best available information, as required by Article 36 of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection. Moreover, the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources tolerates the use of incorrect data when it disregards scientific opinions during public
consultations and project information briefings.7 Nor do we see that the environmental approval of such projects reflects the application of the precautionary principle contained in Article 5 of
the General Wildlife Law and international treaties to which Mexico is a party, including the Ramsar Convention on wetlands of international importance.
In our view, the approval of these large-scale and high-impact projects was inconsistent with the protection and international recognition that has been granted to the sites mentioned above. Therefore, we respectfully request that the Council of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation:
1. Recommend the development of a thorough investigation (Factual Record) into the lack of effective implementation of Mexican laws and regulations during the evaluation of proposals for large-scale tourism infrastructure along the Mexican coast, and particularly in biodiversity hotspots such as Cabo Pulmo, Marismas Nacionales and the Bay of La Paz.
2. Make public the investigation mentioned in the point above (Factual Record).
3. Take into consideration our experience for technical and scientific clarifications in these cases, and especially with regard to the impact of the large-scale tourism infrastructure projects mentioned in the citizen petition SEM-13-001 Gulf of California Tourism Development.
We thank you for considering our views.
Sincerely,
Dr. Octavio Aburto-Oropeza Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Dr. Sylvia A. Earle
National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence Founder, Mission Blue
Dr. Héctor Reyes Bonilla
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur Dr. Andreas Andersson
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Dr. Rob Dunbar
The Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions Dr. Jeremy Jackson
Dr. Exequiel Ezcurra
Director, Instituto para México y los Estados Unidos Investigador Nacional SNI nivel III
Dr. Miguel Betancourt Lozano
Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo Dr. Edgar Mauricio Hoyos Padilla
Pelagios-Kakunjá Dr. James Ketchum
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste Pelagios Kakunjá
Dr. Mark Hixon
Hsiao Chair in Marine Biology Department of Biology
University of Hawai'i at Manoa Dr. Jorge Cortés
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología Universidad de Costa Rica
Dr. Xavier Basurto
Assistant Professor of Sustainability Science Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke University
Dr. Lorayne Meltzer Co-director
Prescott Collete Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies Faculty, Environmental Studies Program
Dr. Benjamin T. Wilder N-Gen director
University of California, Riverside Dr. Sula Vanderplank
Botanical Research Institute of Texas Mtr. Manuel Blanco y Correa
Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit Dr. Rafael Riosmena-Rodriguez
Dra. Dení Ramírez Macías
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur Tiburón Ballena México
Dra. Rocío Marcín Medina
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur Asociación de Investigación y Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos y su Hábitat
Dr. Roberto Carmona Lara
Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur Dr. Horacio Pérez España
Universidad Veracruzana Dr. Leonardo Huato Soberanis
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste Dr. Carlos Rafael Rea Rodríguez
Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit Dr. Leonardo Ortiz Lozano Universidad Veracruzana Mtra. Aimé Cervantes Escobar Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa Facultad de Ciencias Marinas
Mtro. Francisco Javier Tapia Hernández Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa Facultad de Ciencias Marinas
1 A key example of scientific work is the assessment of the importance of mangroves for fisheries in the Gulf of
California using a broad base of fishing and geographic data. See Aburto-Oropeza O., E. Ezcurra, G. Danemann, V. Valdéz-Ornelas, J. Murray and E. Sala. (2008). Mangroves in the Gulf of California increase fishery yields. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105(30): 10456–10459. Studies on the productivity of the Bay of La Paz can be found in Reyes-Salinas et al., Variabilidad estacional de productividad primaria y relación con
estratificación vertical en Bahía de La Paz, año 13, número 002, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Distrito
Federal, (julio de 2003), p.113.
2 Recognition of Cabo Pulmo as a robust marine reserve that regained its natural marine community after 18 years
without any extractive activity within the park can be found in Aburto-Oropeza, Octavio et al., Large Recovery of
Fish Biomass in a No-Take Marine Reserve, Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE (2011). For other work that
describes the protection of Cabo Pulmo as a local and international success based on a comparative study from 1987 to 2006 which revealed that the communities of carnivorous species grew in abundance and size, and that in general marine fauna is in an excellent conservation condition See H. Reyes-Bonilla1*, L. Alvarez-Filip. (2008). “Long-term changes in taxonomic distinctness and trophic structure of reef fishes at CaboPulmo reef, Gulf of California,”
Proceedings of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 7-11 July 2008. Session
number 18: Pp. 790-794.
3 Data on biomass growth and trophic levels in annual statistics are found in Aburto-Oropeza, O., Brad Erisman,
Grantly R. Galland, Ismael Mascareñas-Osorio, Enric Sala, and Exequiel Ezcurra (in review). “Largest recovery of fish biomass in a no-take marine reserve,” Plos One
4 The influx of tourism and the large population growth brought by large-scale tourism projects brings pollution and
increased pressure to reefs. Changes in water quality, temperature and salinity are well documented, for example: Bellwood, D.R. et al. (2004). “Confronting the coral reef crisis,” Nature 429, 827-833; and Mora, C. et al. (2006). “Coral Reefs and the Global Network of Marine Protected Areas,” Science 312; pp. 1750-1751.
5 For example, during the environmental impact assessment process of the Entre Mares projects, Dr. Rocio Marcín
notes that important scientific arguments on threatened and endangered species such as the bottlenose dolphin were not taken into consideration, although there were presentations during the information briefing. The record indicates that in the Bay of La Paz, the construction of marinas and boat traffic, and / or marine pollution affects species such as whale sharks and bottlenose dolphins. This site is part of the critical habitat of coastal bottlenose dolphins where mothers care for their young, teach juveniles to feed and protect them from predators, socialize and rest. See Autorización de Impacto Ambiental de Entre Mares (2009), exposición Delfines Residentes de la Ensenada de La Paz, Resultados de Tesis Doctoral, p. 62.
6
In the Environmental Impact Statement of Cabo Cortés (2008), the consultant states that currents in that region of the Gulf of California flow exclusively from South to North. This is one of the main arguments the document provides to support the claim that pollution to the Cabo Pulmo ecosystem would be minimal because the pollution would be driven north, away from the coral reef. However, there is scientific information published by the Scripps Institute and the Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), as well as empirical evidence from local residents, showing that the pattern of currents is in both directions, meaning that any discharge and soil removal on the coast will cause an increase in water turbidity and thereby directly affect the reef. See Trasviña Castro, Armando et.al., Observaciones de corrientes en el Parque Nacional de Cabo Pulmo, Baja
California Sur: mediciones Eulerianas en verano, otoño e inicios del invierno, en GEOS, Vol. 32, No. 2, disponible
en http://www.ugm.org.mx/publicaciones/geos/pdf/geos12-2/ObservacionesTrasvina.pdf.
7 For example, research data since 2004 show that each year between 20 and 73 juvenile whale sharks visit the Bay
of La Paz, its coastal waters are a breeding area where juvenile sharks find food and protection from predators. Currently whale shark watching in the Bay of La Paz is an important economic activity, according to the Department of Wildlife of SEMARNAT, 89 permits have been granted for observing and swimming with the species. This activity already represents conservation challenges to the species because monitoring shows that each year up to 60% of sharks are harmed by vessels and there is increasing boat traffic in the whale shark habitat. See
Macías Vázquez-Haikin A, Vázquez-Juárez R. (2012). “Whale shark Rhincodon typus populations along the west coast of the Gulf of California and implications for management”. Endangered Species Research. 18: 115–118. Page 13 of the Cabo Cortés authorization (2008), states that Dr. Hector Reyes Bonilla recommends analyzing potential plume conditions in winter, and assessment of impacts to the Tachuelas site, as well as taking into consideration the impact of sea level rise on the project. On page 13 of the Playa Espíritu authorization (2010), 174 written comments were identified. For example, there is a statement that the researchers hired to conduct the environmental assessment indicated that there is a risk of saline intrusion if a marina is constructed in the barrier. They also warn about alterations this would have on coastal transport.
