Mexican Yucatan State Coast Report Card

In July 2016, IAN was asked by faculty at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) to assist with the development of an ecosystem health report card for the Yucatan State coastal zone on the Gulf of Mexico. This region has areas of mangroves and wetlands along the shore that provide nesting and nursery habitat for flamingoes, fish, and sea turtles. These habitats also support coastal fisheries and a tourism economy. However, the beauty and natural resources there have led to an explosion of coastal development. On 4-5 August 2016, Dr. Heath Kelsey and Jane Hawkey from IAN facilitated a preliminary report card workshop at the National Coastal Resilience Laboratory (LANRESC) in Sisal, Mexico, to begin the ecosystem assessment process. This newsletter, produced in Spanish and English, is the result of that workshop.

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