24 years of Amigos de Sian Ka'an

As many of you know or have read in this blog Amigos de Sian Ka’an (ASK) are our local partners here in Mexico and we feel privileged as not many Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can count with 24 years of work towards Natural Resources Conservation in the Region as ASK have. Not an easy task indeed!

During these years ASK have launched different projects that aim to preserve different ecosystems and to empower rural communities of the Area especially in and around Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. Also, every year they present to all stakeholders interested i.e. board of directors, partners, scientists, academics, businessmen, public in general the results of the different projects they are working on.

We attended it and it became very interesting seeing the results as we were not familiar with all areas from ASK apart from the Marine conservation projects. As such we learnt that the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) department have created more than 3000 maps of different areas in Quintana Roo, that the Underwater rivers mapping is at 70% of progress and that there is an ongoing water quality research specially in Tulum area which is very interesting due to its development, we were also presented the current progress of the protection of a big piece of land that contains many ecosystems and is a key piece in the Mesoamerican biodiversity corridor and the progress on MARTI (Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative) guide of eco friendly or good practices in hotels as well as the great job that the community development program is doing while launching the first local jam brand.

After the results presentation we were invited to a nice cocktail party where we mingle with all stakeholders and some prizes were given to important people and donors like GVI Daniel Ponce-Taylor our Regional Director here in Mexico! Felicidades!!

24 years of Amigos de Sian Ka'an