BY FERNANDO RODRIQUEZ
Los Cabos residents are no strangers to tourism and development. The Corridor highway connecting the city of Cabo San Lucas with San José del Cabo is packed with hotels, condos and construction sites. They just keep building and building and pouring more cement into more and more developments.
“Even though the Corridor is already so dense, residential, hotel and commercial development is continuing nonstop,” said Zachary Rabinor, the founder of Journey Mexico, a Mexico-based company that offers luxury travel trips and home rentals throughout the country. “People love the beautiful oceanside resorts and properties with lots of services nearby including restaurants, shopping and nightlife.” The sunny year-round weather in Los Cabos — with little rain to speak of — and an abundance of activities like fishing and golf are also big draws,” added Mr. Rabinor.
“Right after Odile, getting a permit to build was very inexpensive so the number of hotels and residential units multiplied quickly,” said Ramiro Palenque, the owner of a local realty company that is an affiliate of Christie’s International Real. The East Cape town of Los Barriles and Capo Pulmo, located an hour and a half north of the International Airport, have long remained off the grid, where resort hotel development has remained largely under control as locals lobby to keep their little piece of paradise free from the developments which can adversely affect the region’s eco-system.
The East Cape is also home to Cabo Pulmo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site that’s famous for its snorkeling and scuba diving. In 1994, Cabo Pulmo became a victim of its own success, as overfishing left the town destitute.
“The problem of overfishing was what made us think about changing our activities, and start dedicating ourselves to ecotourism,” said Maria Castro, a Cabo Pulmo community leader. Seeking a radical change, the town petitioned the federal government and had itself declared a national park.
“It was a very tough decision because we lived and ate from fishing. We saw a solution around the corner, and we knew that if we worked hard, we would see the results sooner.”
Thirty years later, Cabo Pulmo is one of the world’s premier destinations for ecotourism.
“The diving is tremendous for the quantity of fish that you see at any time. It’s just really teeming with life,” added Mrs. Castro.
“Cabo Pulmo’s success has seen its population swell from just three families in 1995 to more than 100 residents today,” said Alasdaier. Baverstock. But it seems like every few years, Pulmo residents have had to fight developers to preserve its focus on conservation against projects that will cause irreparable harm. In 2012, the community won a battle against Spanish developer Hansa Baja’s plans to build a massive resort convincing then-President Felipe Calderon to cancel the project to protect the marine environment.
“In my role as one of the community leaders, I have been fighting against many of the big developers who will arrive and destroy what we have worked so hard to build. It’s not that we are opposed to development. We need it. But not of this size, because there’s no way our region can support something of that size. It doesn’t fit here,” said Maria Castro. Locals say their dedication is critical for the environment and Cabo Pulmo’s future generations.
The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) issued a resounding “NO” to the massive coastal tourism project that threatened Cabo Pulmo National Park. Although the environmental permit for the controversial project was revoked in 2012, the company behind the scheme never abandoned a legal challenge aimed at reviving Cabo Cortés. As a result, the tribunal court in Mexico City ordered SEMARNAT to revisit the decision by which the project’s permits were withdrawn. SEMARNAT’s decision closed that door definitively, which sent a clear signal that those types of proposals are simply not acceptable. While the decision was cause for celebration for Cabo Pulmo, it was also a reminder of how fragile our planet’s marine ecosystems are and the perseverance and political grit necessary to protect them from potentially harmful developments.
Now, a proposed 1,500+ acres Baja Bay Club tourist development that would feature a golf course, 442 villas, and 275 hotel rooms on an oceanfront site less than a mile from Cabo Pulmo National Park is facing strong opposition from environmental organizations. Groups like “Cabo Pulmo Vivo” and the Mexican Center of Environmental Rights (CEMDA) argue that the resort could have devastating effects on the nearby reefs and marine life.
They have expressed concerns about the potential dumping of salt and chemicals from desalination processes back into the ocean, which would harm the pristine local marine ecosystems. Additionally, there are serious concerns about pollution from inadequate sewage treatment if the resort does not build a proper plant or fails to operate it effectively. The local Cabo Pulmo and regional BCS La Paz environmentalists are calling for more sustainable development practices to ensure that Cabo Pulmo’s rich marine biodiversity is protected. Not only will the wild, frontier-like atmosphere be replaced with the crowds and bustle of another mega-resort, but by most scientific assessments, a unique ocean ecosystem will be destroyed.
The only coral reef in the Gulf of California, an estimated 20,000-year-old and one of the oldest on North America’s Pacific coast lies off of Cabo Pulmo’s shore. Parts of the shallow coral mountain lie just 10 miles offshore, sheltering 226 fish species. In addition are sea turtles, dolphins, tiger and bull sharks, and migrating humpback and blue whales. Despite Cabo Pulmo’s remoteness and relative obscurity, developers always seem to come back with projects and plans that would adversely affect the beloved area.
The efforts against resort developments through the decades have paid off: A study released by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in August 2011 found that Cabo Pulmo’s “biomass” — total weight of living species — increased by 463 percent from 1999 to 2009. The report credited the park’s success largely to the enforcement of protective regulations by local boat captains, dive masters and other locals.
Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, one of the report’s authors, wrote in a Scripps article about the study, “No other marine reserve in the world has shown such a fish recovery.” Residents have noticed an increase in the number of fish, including a monumental spike in the number of sharks. Some species are migrating from other areas to the now-healthy reef.
Environmentalists, backed by scientists from Mexico and around the world, have continually brought Cabo Pulmo’s plight to UNESCO’s attention. The Natural Resources Defense Council and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, Jean-Michel Cousteau, the legendary marine biologist’s eldest son and president of the Ocean Futures Society; Greenpeace; the World Wildlife Fund; and Mexican movie and TV stars, have all gone before the courts to voice their defense of keeping Cabo Pulmo safe and free from construction developments.
To learn more about the effort to stop development at Cabo Pulmo, go to the Wildcoast website. The international conservation organization, which works in California and Latin America, offers volunteer opportunities and is collecting petition signatures. This time around, Mexico’s authorities can get it right from the start by listening to people who know the region and its natural resources best — the communities who live there and the scientific experts who have dedicated years to their study. A project that threatens one of the country’s and the world’s crown jewels must simply not get the green light – no matter how many times or who proposes it.
