Advocates Urge Quintana Roo Governor to Expand Xcacel-Xcacelito Turtle Sanctuary

Tulum, Quintana Roo — Environmental advocate Araceli Domínguez is calling on Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama to support an expansion of the Xcacel-Xcacelito Sea Turtle Sanctuary and to stop state-owned land from being turned over to real estate developers.

Domínguez, director of the nonprofit Grupo Gema del Mayab, said the change could be achieved by updating Tulum’s Local Ecological Land Use Program (POEL). The sanctuary council has already sent the municipality an expansion proposal, along with the requirements needed to set zero-density rules and environmental protection criteria.

She said the group formally asked Lezama to broaden the sanctuary’s protection in April of last year and has still not received a reply.

“Governor Mara Lezama, I come to you today with great sadness and great disappointment, because last April we sent you a letter requesting the expansion of the sea turtle sanctuary at Xcacel. To this day we have received no response,” she said.

Domínguez stressed the importance of safeguarding the 2.5 kilometers of coastline the sanctuary currently covers, noting that the nesting numbers there rival those recorded across Cozumel in an entire year.

“Protecting 2.5 kilometers of coastline means protecting a number of nests equivalent to all the nests Cozumel has in a year. All of Cozumel,” she said.

The request would extend protection to more than 46 hectares (about 114 acres) of land owned by the state government.

“What are we asking for, governor? That the expansion run from where the sanctuary ends to the other side of the highway — more than 46 hectares that belong to the state government,” she said.

She warned, however, that those parcels could end up in the hands of developers.

“Do you know what worries us? That AGEPRO is interested in developing that land with condominiums, villas, housing and hotels, and that would mean killing Xcacel-Xcacelito,” she said.

Domínguez argued that Tulum’s land use program offers a chance to lock in real protection and keep urban growth away from an area she described as strategic for sea turtle conservation.

“The options for protecting Xcacel have to do with updating Tulum’s local land use program. The sanctuary council submitted the proposal for this polygon with all the requirements so the program could set zero density and protection criteria,” she explained.

She urged the governor to decide in favor of conservation and of future generations of Quintana Roo residents.

“Please, governor, make sure Xcacel-Xcacelito is left for the people of Quintana Roo,” she concluded.