Banco Chinchorro Marks 30 Years With Reef Restoration Plan

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — The National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Conanp) has launched a reef restoration and monitoring project in the Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve, marking the reserve’s 30th anniversary. The initiative will run through June 2028.

The program brings together 55 fishermen from the Andrés Quintana Roo, Langosteros del Caribe and Pescadores del Banco Chinchorro cooperatives for community surveillance and ecosystem recovery work.

The project is co-financed by Germany through the KfW development bank and carried out with support from the MAR Fund and the Espacios Naturales y Desarrollo Sustentable foundation (ENDESU). It covers four protected areas in southern Quintana Roo: Banco Chinchorro, the Xcalak Reefs, the Sian Ka’an Reefs and the Mexican Caribbean.

Restoration and monitoring actions

Key components of the plan include:

• Mangrove and coral restoration: Addressing ecosystem damage and strengthening post-storm response brigades.
• Technical training: Instruction in diving, early response protocols and environmental best practices.
• Biological monitoring: Establishing protocols to measure water quality and carry out a comprehensive reef health assessment.
• Beach cleanups: Sanitation of 1.5 hectares, during which 92 people collected 321 kilograms of waste.

Science, communities and institutions unite

During the anniversary commemoration, Conanp presented recognitions to the participating cooperatives and to El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Ecosur) for ten years of continuous spiny lobster monitoring. A commemorative plaque and a mural by artist Imer Hu were also unveiled.

Denisse Ángeles Solís, director of the reserve, said the progress strengthens collaboration between communities, scientists and institutions to protect marine heritage in the face of climate change.