Yum Balam
Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Yum Balam | |
---|---|
National Commission of Protected Natural Areas | |
Official name | Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Yum Balam |
Designated | 2 February 2004 |
Reference no. | 1360[2] |
Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area (
Features
Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area is located near the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula in Quintana Roo's
The area provides a habitat for
History
The northern Yucatán Peninsula experienced significant destruction from Hurricane Gilbert in 1988, followed by a drought and severe wildfires in 1989. The environmental damage led locals to form an organization to petition for greater environmental protection from the federal government. The group called itself the Yum Balam Civil Association, using a phrase in the Yucatec Maya language meaning "Lord Jaguar" to refer to a jaguar god of nature.[4]
Discussions between local groups and government agencies led to the establishment of a Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area under the federal
Management controversies
Yum Balam is meant to be managed in cooperation with local communities and permits limited hunting and fishing by locals.[4] In practice, controversy has arisen over whether local communities and organizations have been properly involved in decision-making, with locals and some academics expressing concern in the 2000s that the reserve's development was benefiting outside businesses more than its resident communities.[3]
In 2018 a series of federal inspections led to the temporary closure or cancellation of a number of proposed or partially completed development projects on Isla Holbox that were found to be in violation of the regulations governing the protected area.
References
- ^ Protected Planet. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Yum Balam". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ^ a b c Berlanga, Mauro; Faust, Betty B. (2007). "We Thought We Wanted a Reserve: One Community's Disillusionment with Government Conservation Management" (PDF). Conservation and Society. 5 (4): 450–477. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ a b c Poot Balam, Sebastián (1998). "The Area de Protección de Fauna y Flora Yum Balam: The Initiation and Challenges of a Development Program for the Communities and the Environment in the Maya Zone of Northern Quintana Roo" (PDF). Yale Forestry & Environmental Studies Bulletin. Yale University. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ "Federal officials close 21 projects on Isla Holbox in three days". Riviera Maya News. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ "Development management plan published for Isla Holbox, Yum Balam". Riviera Maya News. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.