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CEA Advisory Board holds its first meeting in Akumal
The first meeting of the new CEA Advisory Board was held in Akumal on August 16 through 18. The seven member board consists of experienced professionals from law, business, science, academia and the environment. The Board members are Dr. Robert Ginsburg Professor of Geology at the University of Miami, Lic. Gustavo Alanis , Director of CEMDA, the Mexican environmental law group, Dr. David Barkin, Professor of Economics at the Universidad Autonuma Metropolitana, Dr. Francisco Rosado May, from the Coastal Management Faculty at the University of Quintana Roo, Chetumal, Ma. Paul Sanchez Navarro, World Wildlife Fund International Headquarters in Switzerland, Dr. David U’Prichard, CEO of 3D Pharmacuticals in Philadelphia, PA, Mr. Micheal Mulgrew, former Director of CEA and, in an ex-officio capacity, Dr. Charles Shaw, current Director of CEA. click here for biographies of the Advisory Board members.
The Board reviewed the CEA mission and strategic plan, its organizational structure and its finances. Following two intense days of meetings, the Board identified four problem areas and offered recommendations.
Due to drop in the stock market, the philanthropic foundations, from which CEA has drawn much of its support, have suffered drastic decreases in income and, therefore, in the money available to fund projects. The Board recommended the following actions:
a) Persuade the hotels in Akumal to add to the room charge of each visitor a contribution of $1.00/person/day to the CEA Protection Program.
b) Seek large donors who will add to CEA’s endowment.
c) Examine ways to increase the return from the CEA property through increased rentals from tenants and the solicitation of new renters.
d) Continue to solicit foundation support for projects.
Tourism development on the Riviera Maya, as presently managed, is unsustainable. The development plan adopted by the government calls for quadrupling the number of hotel rooms in the area over 20 years, but it seems to be happening much faster. Under this plan the board recognizes that the assets of existing businesses are declining in value as the environment deteriorates. With the eventual opening of new tourism destinations, such as Cuba, the loss in value can be expected to accelerate. To counter this loss in value, the board recommends:
e) Akumal be repositioned in the market as a center of sustainable tourism.
f) CEA be developed as a center of research excellence through added facilities for research that will bring even more top biologists, physical scientists and social scientists to Akumal to study environmental problems.
g) It is urgent that a program of city planning be undertaken at once to prevent the wholesale contamination of the coastal aquifer.
h) Publish studies of the impact of the proposed growth as a first step toward persuading the government and developers that the plan is unsustainable.
The CeMIR project is CEA’s plan to control solid and liquid wastes and prevent contamination of the coastal aquifer and the ocean. The plan includes construction of community scale wetlands for treatment of sewage and sewage sludge. A site is needed and CEA has petitioned the State government for donation of a nearby quarry. So far CEA has been unable to persuade the State to help. The Board recommends:
i) Hire a lawyer to represent CEA in negotiations with the government.
j) Seek funds to purchase the quarry.
In order to move these programs forward CEA will host two workshops in the first quarter of 2002.
k) Workshop on sustainable tourism at Akumal that will include community and regional leaders. The workshop is to be led by a professional group that will offer its services to make each business green and make Akumal the destination for the eco-conscious tourist.
f) Workshop on urban development to specify the infrastructure needed to make the proposed support towns ecologically sustainable.
The first meeting of the Advisory Board has affirmed the fundamental soundness of the CEA mission and strategic plan. The Board has pointed out weaknesses, problems have been cast in a new light and a clear set of recommendations has been offered.
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