FOX GOVERNMENT WITHDRAWS PERMIT FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE BEACH IN...

In an unprecedented move, the Secretaria del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT) withdrew a permit granted to a development group to construct five hotels in the X'cacel and X'cacelito beaches near the town of Soledad, which is 60 miles south of the Cancun resort city in Quintana

Former Environment Secretary Julia Carabias had approved the permits for the US$200 million megaproject in November, just 20 days before the inauguration of President Vicente Fox's administration. Carabias was a member of former President Ernesto Zedillo's cabinet.

The resort had drawn strong opposition from environmental organizations, academics, and local small-business owners, who feared that the resort would encroach on the breeding grounds of the endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles (see SourceMex, 2001-01-31).

Environment Secretary Victor Lichtinger, who replaced Carabias, was already leaning towards revoking the permit at the beginning of this year but decided to study the matter for a few months. In August, the environment secretary went ahead and revoked the permit.

"This project cannot proceed because it would alter the hydrological conditions of the area, which would have severe impact on the coastal areas important to sea turtles," said a SEMARNAT statement.

In exchange for withdrawing its claim on the beaches in Soledad, the development group, led by Spanish consortium Sol Melia, agreed to accept a similar tract of land from the Quintana Roo state government in an area known as Costa Maya. Authorities accommodated Sol Melia because the developer had invested more than US$500 million in 11 tourism-related projects in Mexico over the past 10 years.

The rejection of the project at the Soledad beaches is consistent with Lichtinger's policies of restricting the rapid growth of development in environmentally sensitive areas. Earlier this year, the environment secretary issued a directive reducing the amount of hotel construction that would be allowed in the 112-km corridor from Cancun south to Tulum. Lichtinger also closed a number of beach developments in Guerrero state and other areas of the Pacific coast because they violated environmental norms or lacked permits.

Decision deviates from Fox's overall development policy

But the environment secretary's stance could eventually come into conflict with the policies promoted by his boss, President Fox, who has pledged to place a strong emphasis on tourism as a source of foreign exchange for Mexico.

Speaking at the International Tourism Congress in Mexico City in January, Fox promised to implement changes that would promote foreign tourism, ranging from increasing safety for foreign visitors to reducing red tape for tourist-related ventures and providing financing for tourist projects.

"Tourism is a national priority for this administration because of its ranking in terms of revenues and employment," Fox told participants at the congress. "[This sector] has huge potential for the economic and social development of our country."

Deputy tourism secretary Francisco Madrid Flores, who predicted that tourism could soon surpass petroleum as Mexico's largest revenue-producing industry, echoed Fox's statements in March.

Tourism accounts for 6% of Mexico's total jobs and provides billions of pesos in tax revenues for the government. The Secretaria de Turismo (SECTUR) said the sector reported earnings of US$4 billion in the first six months of the year, a 10% increase from January-June of 2000. A total of 9 million foreign tourists visited Mexico in January-June, an increase of 6% from last year, said SECTUR.

In June, the Fox administration made good on its commitment to promote huge tourist complexes by announcing support for three major projects, one in the Baja California Peninsula; another in Huatulco, Oaxaca state; and a third in Quintana Roo state.

The Fox administration is hoping the three projects would produce resorts that would become as successful as Cancun and Ixtapa. "Cancun is a symbol of success," said John McCarthy, director of the government's Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo.

But the Fox proposals, and in particular the Baja California project, have already drawn strong opposition from environmental organizations. Under the Baja California plan, named the "Nautical Route," the Fox administration has proposed to construct a series of 22 marinas, hotels, and golf courses in the Baja California peninsula to attract wealthy US boat owners. The administration would provide about US$210 million in public funds, which it hopes would attract about US$1.7 billion in private investment.

Homero Aridjis, director of the environmental organization Grupo de los Cien, said this particular project would lead to crowding and pollution and would harm the rich marine life of the Gulf of California.

"These megaprojects have a history of corruption and environmental damage," said Aridjis. "They were approved without the consent of local communities, and benefited only officials and a few of their friends."

Other critics suggest the Nautical Route project could be destined to repeat the failure of Puerto Escondido in Baja California Sur state, which was never completed because developers of a condominium-marina complex pulled out their funds.

"FONATUR is mired in a development model from the 1970s," said Serge Dedina, director of Wildcoast, a conservation organization that works with local communities to establish protected areas in Baja California. "What people want in the US is lower-end adventure and ecotourism." (Sources: The News, 06/12/01; Associated Press, 07/06/01, 07/16/01; La Jornada, 01/19/01, 08/02/01; El Economista, El Universal, 08/10/01; Los Angeles Times, 08/11/01; Novedades, 08/13/01; Notimex, 03/20/01, 08/20/01)