Abstract:
The establishment of marine protected areas has become an important conservation tool in the effort to manage marine and coastal habitats. Many developing nations have decided to utilize
this conservation mechanism in an effort to protect their relatively unexploited marine
ecosystems. In several unique cases local communities have taken the initiative to protect their
natural resources. The focus of my research is Xcalak, a remote fishing village located on the Caribbean coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. In 1995 the people of Xcalak initiated an effort to protect their reefs and coastal resources from the impending threats of development and overexploitation. Five years later the national marine park, Arrecifes de Xcalak (Reefs of Xcalak), was declared by the Mexican government. The primary objective of my project is to
document this unique case of a community-based conservation effort and to promote future
cooperative management of the area by identifying all stakeholder groups involved in resource
management issues in Xcalak and revealing their interests in and goals for the area. In order to
obtain the necessary information I performed a series of focus groups with different sectors of
the Xcalak community along with qualitative interviews with representatives from involved
government agencies as well as academic and non-governmental organizations. I propose a
cooperative management regime for the marine park and hope the results of this research will
serve as a link between the involved stakeholder groups and promote cooperation in future
efforts to both develop Xcalak as a tourism destination and conserve its abundant and diverse
coral reef habitat.
