Mexican State of Yucatán Coastal Report Card

The State of Yucátan on the Gulf of Mexico is full of natural and cultural treasures, but it faces many of the same pressures to coastal zones found world-wide: pollution, increasing development, and overfishing. Dr. Paulo Salles Afonso de Almeida from the Laboratorio Nacional de Resiliencia Costera, Unidad Académica Sisal del Instituto de Ingeniería de la UNAM is leading an effort to create a data-based report card, by which the ecosystem health can be monitored. Dr. Heath Kelsey and Ms. Jane Hawkey from IAN were invited in August to join that effort and conduct a preliminary report card workshop in the port town of Sisal in the State of Yucátan, Mexico. Scientists from UNAM, other Mexican academic institutions, and Mexican and international non-profit groups attended the two-day workshop, as well as a representative from State government. In plenary and break-out groups, activities designed to engage all participants resulted in a broad, overview of the coastal ecosystem – the "big picture". In addition, key values and threats were defined and locations mapped. While a qualitative assessment of the Yucatán coast was obtained during the workshop, participants agreed that the data-based report card planned for 2017 will be most useful for decision-makers and stakeholders alike.

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