California Turtle and Tortoise Club
TURTLE ACTION NEWS
May to June 1998
Greenpeace Denounces X'cacel Hotel Development
6/22/98 Mary Whitlow reports that today, Greenpeace Mexico demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Spanish hotel consortium Melia, from X'cacel, Quintana Roo. X'cacel is one of the most important nesting beaches for loggerhead and green sea turtles in Mexico and the Caribbean.
Greenpeace's flagship Rainbow Warrior is touring the area, and one of the first actions denounced Melia's intention to build a 450 room luxury hotel which threatens the future of the nesting beach.
Greenpeace activists departed on board zodiac boats from the Island of Cozumel, where the Rainbow Warrior is anchored, and arrived in Cancun beach in front of the hotel Sol - Melia. They displayed signs reading "MELIA SEA TURTLE KILLER" and "MELIA GET OUT OF X'CACEL". Meanwhile, hundreds of schoolchildren, wearing sea turtle masks, marched in front of the hotel asking for the protection of X'cacel. Fher, vocalist of the popular Mexican rock group Mana, joined in the protest.
X'cacel is located about 100 km south from Cancun and it has two small beaches about 2.5 km long. It has the highest density of sea turtle nests per kilometer of beach (160 nests/km) in the entire region and its 86% hatchling survival rates is one of the highest. Recent DNA studies on Quintana Roo's loggerhead sea turtles have determined that they are a unique nesting aggregate within the Caribbean, making its conservation a priority for the whole region.
Unfortunately, powerful economic interests won over the demand made by environmental NGOs, scientists and community for the protection and conservation of X'cacel. In February 1998, the fiduciary "Caleta de Xel-ha y del Caribe" (FIDECARIBE) announced the sale of 45 hectares of X'cacel to the Spanish consortium Melia.
The area where Melia plans to build its hotel is mainly tropical dry forest, mangrove and coastal dune bush. It is this vegetation, along with the necessary characteristics like temperature, humidity, slope, no obstacles, grain size, etc., that make the beach at X'cacel an ideal nesting site for sea turtles.
For more information read our 2/26/98 and 5/8/98 articles on this story. Please help by writing and expressing your concerns to the following Mexican officials. Tell them that all 311 hectares of X'cacel need to be protected!
M. EN C. JULIA CARABIAS LILO (Secretary of the environment, natural resources, and fisheries)
PERIFERICO SUR 4209 6º PISO
COL JARDINES DE LA MONTAÑA
MEXICO D. F. 06500
tel. (5) 6280606, 6280607 and 6280608
FAX (5) 6280609 carabias@servidor.dgsca.unam.mxING. MARIO VILLANUEVA MADRID (Governor of Quintana Roo)
CALLE 22 DE ENERO S/N 2º PISO
PALACIO DE GOBIENRO
CD. CHETUMAL 77000
MEXICOLIC. OSCAR ESPINOZA VILLAREAL.
SECRETARIA DE TURISMO
AV. PRESIDENTE MASARIK 178-8
COL. POLANCO, MEXICO D. F.MELIA MANAGEMENT FOR AMERICA
MR. EVAGRIO SANCHEZ
1000 BRICKELL AVE, SUITE 500
MIAMI, FL. 33131
FAX: 305-358 5166 evagrio.sanchez@solmelia.es
Melia's FAX at headquarters in Spain: 34 (9) 71 22 44 08
NMFS Announces Publication of U.S. Pacific Sea Turtle Recovery Plans
6/6/98 The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced the publication of Recovery Plans for U.S. Pacific Populations of the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), green turtle (Chelonia mydas), East Pacific green (Chelonia mydas), and the olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea).
Copies of the recovery plans can be downloaded (in pdf format) from the National Marine Fisheries Sea Turtle Page.
President Clinton Seeks Senate Ratification of the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles
5/26/98 On May 8, 1998 the Presidents of Costa Rica and Panama signed the International Agreement for the Conservation of Caribbean Sea Turtles. The President of Nicaragua is expected to sign the agreement soon. This regional agreement is a valuable and needed step in the preservation of endangered sea turtles, particularly migratory species such as the green sea turtle which regularly move among the territorial waters of different countries. President Clinton is now seeking U.S. Senate approval and ratification of the Convention. The White House Press release follows. For more information on the Convention visit the Caribbean Conservation Corporation web site where you can view a copy of the Agreement.
THE WHITE HOUSE May 22, 1998
To The Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, with Annexes, done at Caracas December 1, 1996, (the "Convention"), which was signed by the United States, subject to ratification, on December 13, 1996. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of the Secretary of State with respect to the Convention.
All species of sea turtles found in the Western Hemisphere are threatened or endangered, some critically so. Because sea turtles migrate extensively, effective protection and conservation of these species requires cooperation among States within the sea turtles' migratory range. Although the international community has banned trade in sea turtles and sea turtle products pursuant to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the Convention I am transmitting is the first multilateral agreement that actually sets standards to protect and conserve sea turtles and their habitat.
In section 609 of Public Law 101-162, the Congress called for the negotiation of multilateral agreements for the protection and conservation of sea turtles. In close cooperation with Mexico, the United States led a 3-year effort to negotiate the Convention with other Latin American and Caribbean nations. Once ratified and implemented, the Convention will enhance the conservation of this hemisphere's sea turtles and harmonize standards for their protection.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Convention and give its advice and consent to its ratification.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
Update on Proposed Hotel Development at Xcacel, Mexico -- Major Atlantic Sea Turtle Nesting Beach May Be Lost
5/8/98 As reported in an earlier story the sea turtle nesting beach at Xcacel near Cancun, Mexico has been sold for Hotel development. Despite allegations of graft and impropriety, the transaction has been allowed to progress and areas of the property have now been fenced off. Your letters are needed badly. Visit the extensive Xcacel page on the Turtle Trax site for translations of local newspaper articles and the addresses of the relevant Mexican Officials you should write to.
Florida Legislature Passes Resolution Recognizing the Threat That Fibropapillomatosis Poses to Sea Turtle Survival
5/8/98 A press release from the Sea Turtle Survival League/Caribbean Conservation Corporation reports that in the final week of the 1998 Florida Legislative Session, state lawmakers passed a resolution recognizing the serious threat that fibropapillomatosis poses to the survival of endangered sea turtles occurring in Florida waters. The resolution, which also encourages that more funding and attention be directed at studying the causes of the disease, was promoted by the Sea Turtle Survival League in an effort to raise awareness about the disease among decision-makers and the general public. Sponsors of the resolution included the two legislators who introduced the bills establishing the sea turtle license plate in 1995 -- Senator Howard Forman (D-Hollywood) and Representative Debbie Horan (D-Key West).
While the disease primarily attacks juvenile green turtles, it is now being found on loggerheads in Florida. Extremely high rates of the disease are being found on juvenile green turtles in Indian River Lagoon, which is located on Florida's east central coast near the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. Dr. Llew Ehrhart, University of Central Florida, now finds tumors on 40-60 percent of the juvenile greens that he and his students catch in the lagoon. Because the lagoon is such an important developmental habitat for young turtles from both Florida and other Caribbean nesting beaches, the STSL and others are very concerned with the spread of the disease in this area.
The STSL got the idea for the resolution from a similar measure passed in Hawaii last year. While the resolution will not accomplish very much on its own, it at least put the issue before lawmakers and encourages more funding for research into the disease. Now we can come back next year and get them to back up the resolution with direct funding.
To read the full text of the resolution go to Florida Senate Bill 2676.