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CENTRO ECOLÓGICO AKUMAL
TENTH ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM
THEME: THE RIVIERA MAYA:
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND A SUSTAINABLE ECOLOGY
I. Centro Ecológico Akumal (CEA) solicits papers that present the results of scientific investigations on which to base a sustainable ecology for the Riviera Maya and the Yucatán Peninsula. The symposium will take place in Akumal, Quintana Roo, México at The CEA Center May 19-21 of this year. We request that you submit your abstract to Dr. Shaw no later than April 23, 2004. This will enable us to put the abstracts together and send them to you before the symposium.
The Symposium, which celebrates the 10th year of Centro Ecológico Akumal, will bring together scientists from disciplines, who have worked in Akumal and the surrounding region, to present their work and offer their insights concerning the potential impact of current economic development plans for the Riviera Maya. Future plans call for quadrupling the number of hotel rooms from the present 22,000 to 80,000 and include housing for 1.5 million new workers in six communities of 250,000 people each, spread along the tourist corridor, including one at Akumal. Sustainable environmental criteria are not being considered in any part of these plans. This symposium presents a rare opportunity for the scientific community to bring its expert knowledge to the attention of decision makers and possibly to influence the outcome of pending decisions with broad environmental consequences.
II. Interested participants will be asked to attend a plenary session on the last day of the symposium to draft a formal declaration describing the present condition of the local environment and suspected relationship to the present level of development. Participants will be asked to project the probable effects from the proposed expansion. The final document will be presented to regional offices of the Ministries of Environment and Tourism and placed in evidence at the meeting of the regional planning body, known by its Spanish acronym, POET. As a voting member of POET, CEA will then have a powerful tool for promoting policies that recognize environmental and cultural, as well as economic needs.
III. CEA will provide information on possible travel support, housing, transportation and the program in a subsequent announcement. Questions? Please contact Charles Shaw, CEA Science Coordinator at: ceasymposium04@hotmail.com.
Charles Shaw
Click here to read Second Call for Papers.
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