A New Era Dawns for CEA It is February and many of those in Akumal are gearing up for “High Season,” a time when many visitors come to soak up the sun and escape from the wintry weather at home. This year we at CEA have been busier than ever preparing for our new Director, Paul Sánchez-Navarro. Before coming to CEA, Paul was a Biodiversity Policy Advisor with WWF International (World Wide Fund for Nature) in Gland, Switzerland. He has broad experience in the environmental field, having served as Biodiversity Policy Advisor for both the WWF México Program and Pronatura. At the international level he supported conservation efforts around the globe by working to strengthen the environmental policy framework within the United Nations system, as well as by helping governments improve their management of the earth’s natural resources and increasing non-governmental organizations’ participation in the process. Change is always bittersweet and one might ask how do you say good-bye to someone who has been a vital part of CEA since 1993? In our case we are very pleased to announce we don’t! Our Director, Charles Shaw, Ph.D., will remain at CEA and focus on his passion and utilize his expertise as director of the CEA Science Program. Please click here to read more about Charles and Paul. Click here to read about CEA’s Transition Tribute party. Making a Difference Our Webmistress, Lydia Pontius, is fortunate to spend most of her day communicating with some amazing people and knows first-hand how many people are concerned about this area which is home to the Great Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, diverse cultures, and magnificent fauna and flora. What makes for an interesting phenomenon is that while so many spend a good amount of time living along the coast―few call it home―the locals and tourists alike are rarely originally from this area. It is harder to get folks to make a difference if they don’t feel the roots or ownership for a place, even though they are truly concerned. That is something we together must work to change. She recently posted a question on a local bulletin board: “If you had one wish or prayer for our piece of paradise what would it be?” She found the responses intriguing. We would like to share some of the comments with you in the hope to inspire people to come together to make a difference. Click here to read more. Sea Turtle Expedition Akumal Dive Adventures and Centro Ecológico Akumal invite you to their annual Maya Riviera Sea Turtle Expedition July 22-July 31, 2004. Come join us for an exciting adventure studying the lives of hawksbill, loggerhead, and green sea turtles. The trip will be led by adventure tour guide Heather Froeming and Ivan Caballero, director of CEA’s Sea Turtle Program. Please click here to learn more. Battle Lines Being Drawn This past November, Jim Petersen was able to do a month-long volunteer stretch with CEA. Looking back on that time he explains, “I stood in The CEA Center those first days, looking out windows which framed a dazzling tropical beauty. And yet as the days passed, a sense of foreboding overcame me, a realization that all was not well beneath the waves.” Learn more about what brought Jim to Akumal and what his realizations and hope for the future are by clicking here. New Year CEA staff member David Nuñez recalls his New Year’s experience, a peaceful solitary sojourn, alone in paradise with the sounds of the jungle and the ocean as his only music. While others partied into the wee hours of the night, David welcomed in 2004 in a truly unique way. Click here to read the entire story. Cooperativa Orgánica Cooperativa Orgánica is going into gear with increased fresh organics, more that 1,000 kilos per week produced in high season, and the implementation of the recycling service now being offered by José Torres Lopez and Elimelec Hernández. Many exciting things are happening and as soon as we have some news we will be telling everybody the results of Cooperativa Orgánica's effort to place Akumal and Akumal Poblado apart from all of the rest of the resorts along the coast. Akumal is becoming the “place that is making a difference.” Click here to read what has been happening with this exciting program. EcoShop’s New Prints In an effort to aid CEA in its fundraising efforts, David Nuñez is developing a line of prints (and soon-to- be-available T-shirts). The idea is to split the profits between CEA and the local artist whose work gets published. We hope to have the T-shirts available within the next couple of weeks. And we hope that you will enjoy these products, and support us with your purchases. Please stop by The CEA Center’s EcoShop to see these new items or click here to find out more. Build a Solar Culture Where the Sun Shines Remember to mark your calendars for March 2004. Centro Ecológico Akumal and Grupo Fenix of Nicaragua invite you to be a pioneer in the development of a solar culture in the Mexican Caribbean, while you learn how to build a solar oven, as well as a solar water heater and battery charger powered by a solar panel. To learn more, please click here. CEA Wishlist CEA has volunteers who are interested in becoming nature guides. Some supplies are needed to help them learn about the flora and fauna of the region. We need somebody to donate and bring this book to us when they come to visit the Akumal area: Tropical Mexico: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide (A Volume in the Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guides Series) by Les Beletsky We will post requests for more specific titles in the future. We need pairs of binoculars. Whenever you get new ones, bring us your old ones, please! Thank you for your continued support of CEA and remember our on-line store is a great way to purchase items, become a member or make a contribution to the program of your choice; click here to visit. We now list our CEA Members and Contributors on our CEA Friends page. Please take a moment and make sure we have you listed. If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, or simply need to contact CEA, please click here.