'Did You Hear....' Category


sizzling event 2011

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Mayor opens new offices in Rocky Point Fire Department

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Mayor Alejandro Zepeda Rodrigo Munro accompanied by Rubén Gracia General Coordinator of Civil Protection in the State as well as Rubén Martínez Salido inaugurated the new office remodeling Fire Station Cmte Alfonso Sanchez Miranda ¨ ¨. In the presence of the elements of fire and then the Board meeting that makes up this instance, the Mayor performed the ribbon-cutting marked the beginning of operations of the renovated facilities. Zepeda Munro thanked the Board members, congratulating the ¨ · Who Smoke swallows are always there to safeguard the integrity of Puertopeñasquenses as it was during this Holy Week which together with the various agencies were able to white balance. ° This is being done is for the Fire Department but also for all the people of Puerto Peñasco I want to congratulate you all for your work and for always being there when you need them citizenship ¨, he said. On behalf of the Governor Guillermo Padres Elias, Ruben Rodrigo Gracia extended a big congratulations to all who make up the Fire Department for their work and make good use of resources which demonstrates the interest that has to work in benefit of Puerto Peñasco. Highlighted the work that has been been doing together, adding how important it is working in coordination with ability and enthusiasm by the public. The Head of the Municipal Civil Protection, Ruben Salinas welcomed those attending this significant event, which highlighted the work done so far is Puerto Peñasco for this department has an office development worthy of work. He thanked the efforts and the support from the Mayor who is always attentive and was able to listen to suggestions and needs that this unit has. He called on all his staff to continue their efforts by inviting them to put twice as dedication and commitment to continue watching and caring for all who live in our city. The event was also attended by the Secretary José Ramón Campos Santos, Trustee Attorney Noe Bañaga Farías, Fernando Andrés Sosa Day Sector Naval Admiral Luis López López Regidor, etc.

ROCKY POINT CHARTER FLIGHTS GLOBAL TOUR APRIL 15

Friday, April 1st, 2011


With the airways of Juarez. Queretaro and Tijuana, Peñasco is the closest beach destination

Will be tentatively on 15 April when he restarted for the second time the rate charter tourist flights, the Air Globar Mexican company, with routes Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Queretaro and Tijuana, Oscar Palacio Soto, representative of the Port Hotel Peñasco.
The dynamic is the same as the one held last year, said Stewart Hall, where charter flights from three different points of the Mexican Republic arrive in the Sea of ​​Cortez airport on Monday and Friday of each week, so that new account is opened the air travel market in the northwestern state.
He noted that thanks to the efforts of Mayor Alejandro Zepeda Munro, the state governor, Guillermo Padres, the coordinator of Tourism, Javier Tapia Camou and the company Global Air, you bet again to Rocky Point as a destination top tourist and where entrepreneurs from different sectors need to be united and ready to receive important air travel market.
“We have a strong promotional campaign in Ciudad Juarez, Queretaro and Tijuana for opening of tourist type charter flights company Global Air, April 15, so we’re betting a lot on tourism by air, the government state and the company chartered and conventions and we for our part we are in the logistics for transporting passengers, “said the representative of the hotel in Rocky Point.
Soto Palacio states that Puerto Peñasco is the closest beach destination to all the people out of Querétaro and the center of the republic in terms of flight hours, so you must take this situation certainly benefiting all sectors tour of the port.
He recognized that the new airport Sea of ​​Cortez is sacrificing economic revenue for this market is an embodiment air, so the hotel developers must do their part to attractive promotions, in addition to the population and service providers must improve care for the new tourist feel comfortable and safe in your care.
He noted the gratitude to the state government when these conventions and be a guarantee to the airline and the support of municipal authorities for facilitating the things that allow a greater influx of tourists in Puerto Peñasco and the opening for the second time in the tourist market air in this beach resort in northwestern Sonora

If facts don’t lie, is Mexico safer than the U.S. ?

Thursday, March 10th, 2011


By Patrick Osio
 
Here comes Easter break again and young people will be young people – high school and college kids will travel to distant places where the drinking age is either less than it is in the U.S. or where authorities don’t care to enforce minors’ drinking laws. For several decades Mexico has been one such place of choice where the legal drinking age is 18. Mazatlan , Acapulco , Puerto Vallarta and Cancun were the fly to favorite places and Rosarito Beach and Ensenada the favorite drive to places from Southern California . – But not this year, or for that matter neither was it last year.
 
Our government and the U.S. media have convinced most Americans that Mexico is not a safe place to visit as drug traffickers are fighting it out to see which gang will have the right to sell their illicit drugs to the very group that will not be visiting Mexico . They will have to wait until they return from Easter break to get their Mexican smuggled drugs at home.

 
But what really struck me was that the preferred country to visit this Easter break in lieu of Mexico is the Dominican Republic . It struck me because Dominica is rated as the number one country with the highest propensity for crime in the world. According to facts gathered by NationalMaster.com, their total crime per 1,000 residents (per capita) is 113.822 -Compared to the U.S. that is 8th in the world in total crimes at 80.0645 per 1000 residents, making chances of being a victim of a crime in Dominica better than 10%, and slightly less than an 8% chance of being a victim in the U.S. 
 
But here is the real clunker – Mexico, the country our government tells us not to visit and the media has a field day reporting any crime be it significant or not to further put the fear of God into staying away from there – well, it ranks 39th in total crime in the world with a per capita of slightly less than 13 crimes per 1000 residents that is a 1.3% chance of being a victim of crime in Mexico. 
 
So Mexico is out, Dominica is in, yet the chances of being a crime victim there is greater than in the U.S. and the chances of being a crime victim in the U.S. is greater than in Mexico . But, for our own safety we need to stay out of Mexico .
 
Have you ever felt like you’re being duped but you can’t quite put your finger on why – what’s the motive? Is it to keep us from facing some bitter truths?  We keep reading how crime is down, how safe we are compared to most other parts of the world. But is it true?
 
So here are some multiple choice questions for you:
 
Which country has a higher crime rate per 1,000 residents?
Mexico, b. Germany, c. Canada, d.  U.S.
Which country has the highest murders with firearms?
Mexico, b. El Salvador, c. U.S.
Of the following countries, which has the least number of drug offenses?
a. Germany, b. United Kingdom, c. Canada, d. Switzerland, e. Mexico
4. Which country has the most prisoners?
            a. United States , b. China , c. Russia , d. India, e. Mexico
(Answers: 1. d. U.S. , 2. c. U.S. , 3. e.  Mexico ,  4. a. U.S.-  Source: http://www.nationmaster.com)
 
In one of the only bright spots due to its recent gang related murders, Mexico , on a per capita, ranks as more dangerous than the U.S. occupying No. 24 and Mexico No. 6 in the world, but in total number of murders the U.S. is No. 5 and Mexico No. 6.
 
In fact, much of the crime data per capita 1000 population suggests that in many respects Mexico is safer than the U.S.: in assaults the U.S. ranks No. 6, Mexico No. 20; burglaries the U.S. No. 17, Mexico No. 34; car thefts U.S. No. 9, Mexico No. 22; fraud U.S. No. 18, Mexico No. 29; Rape (Canada No.5), U.S. No. 9, Mexico No. 17.
 
No doubt that at the expense of Mexico we are being duped. Is it to hide our insatiable appetite for illicit drugs and cheap labor, and so by pointing the finger of guilt to the biggest supplier of both we exculpate our actions or at minimum pacify our own guilt?
 
Maybe it’s time for “the home of the free, and land of the brave” to take note

CEDO (Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans) is proud to announce the declaration of Bahía San Jorge’s wetlands as Wetlands of International Importance

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010

As part of the celebration of World Wetlands Day on February 2nd, the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada, announced the addition of the wetlands at Bahía San Jorge as one of seven new sites in the List of Wetlands of International Importance of the Ramsar Convention in 2010.

During the memorial ceremony on the island of San Pedro, in Yuriria, Guanajuato, the Secretary said that with this designation Mexico is now second in the world, behind only the United Kingdom, in the number of Ramsar sites it currently has. One hundred and thirty one sites exist and cover a total surface of eight million, 915 thousand, 433.7 hectares. The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty, which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation on the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. Mexico joined the Convention on November 4, 1986.

The wetlands of Bahía San Jorge extend over more than 35 linear kilometers of coastline, from the northern tip of Estero Almejas to the southern tip of Estero San Francisquito. This Ramsar site brings together a combination of habitats, marshes, low intertidal mud, salt marshes, coastal dunes, sandy beaches, permanent shallow marine waters and wetland-terrestrial interface, connecting the earth system with one of the most productive marine systems world, the Gulf of California, and are in turn connected to the Sonoran Desert.

Currently, this area is of great importance for fisheries and aquaculture production, and for species, such as rays, guitarfish, shark, octopus, shrimp, and crab. Like other estuaries in the region, Bahía San Jorge’s wetlands serve as nesting, resting and feeding grounds for migratory and resident birds that are part of the Pacific Flyway, including species like the least tern, the American oystercatcher and savanna sparrow. The canals and marshes of the site serve as refuge and feeding areas for the larval and juvenile stages of fish and invertebrates, and as well as for feeding grounds for marine species. Bahía San Jorge also hosts a resident population of the bottlenose dolphin, an endangered species. There are also endemic species not found anywhere else in the world there, like the fisherman myotis bat.

The declaration of the Bahía San Jorge’s wetlands as Wetlands of International Importance increases support for conservation and sustainable use, which helps protect its ecological integrity, and continues to maintain important ecological functions and environmental services.

Source: CedoIntercultural. Gob

Projects aimed to speed up wait times at Az/Mexico border

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Three major Arizona-Mexico border stations, including one notorious for making truckers and tourists wait for hours – and even overnight – to cross back into Arizona, are finally expanding.

Construction is about to begin to enlarge the Mariposa Land Port of Entry at Nogales, the nation’s third-busiest border station, over the next 3 1/2 years, with the bulk of the money coming from federal-stimulus dollars.

A new station for trucks at San Luis, southeast of Yuma, is a few months from opening. And work is expected to begin soon on the Lukeville station that leads to Rocky Point.

Those improvements, which are expected to reduce wait times, along with a major seaport Mexico may build at Punta Colonet in Baja California, could boost tourism in Arizona, make the state more competitive and give it a large role in international trade, said Margie Emmermann, executive director of the Arizona Mexico Commission.

“Right now, one of the biggest obstacles to people using our region as a gateway and port of entry is the fact that we have a lot of outdated infrastructure and our process for using our ports of entry is just very inefficient,” she said.

Arizona companies did about $10.8 billion in trading by surface transportation with Mexico last year, ranking fifth among all the states, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Surface transportation includes trucks, rails and pipelines.

While the improvements will reduce wait times, Emmermann said there still could be waits because of extra security measures being taken since 9/11. Eventually, as inspectors get used to new technology being introduced, security delays could subside.

Depending on congressional funding, improvements also could come in the next few years to ports of entry at Douglas in southeastern Arizona and for a second border station at San Luis, known as San Luis 1, that is the principal entry point for hundreds of field workers who cross the border to work the produce fields in Yuma every winter.

Nogales

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held today on a $213 millionproject to modernize and expand the Mariposa Port of Entry at Nogales for those people heading to San Carlos.

Built in 1973, the station has become the main port of entry for fresh produce from Mexico. It is one of two ports at Nogales. The smaller Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry is used primarily for residents, shoppers and workers crossing between Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora.

The Mariposa station is considered a linchpin in the infrastructure needed for international trade among the U.S., Mexico and Canada and is part of the Canada to Mexico Trade Corridor, or CANAMEX, according to an environmental-impact statement completed in June.

The station has been too small for a long time.

“It was designed for about 400 trucks a day,” said Luis Ramirez, a Phoenix consultant working with the commission on the project. “We reached that in 1983.”

Truckers have said that they have to wait up to eight hours or even overnight to cross into Arizona, he said. Emmermann said it took her 4 1/2 hours to re-enter Arizona in December at the Mariposa station.

During the peak of the growing season, from January to March, as many as 1,400 trucks a day pass through Nogales, the environmental statement said. Delays not only cost drivers frustration, time and money, but can mean produce arrives in stores in a riper state.

Pedestrian crossings have more than tripled since 2002, reaching about 557,000 in 2006, and are expected to grow almost 200 percent by 2025.The environmental report also said the station offers miserable working conditions. Inspectors in one building can work only 90-minute shifts because of heavy exhaust fumes. Some inspection-lane booths are not under a canopy, forcing inspectors to work in the blazing sun in the summer.

The station will continue to operate during construction but Ramirez said the challenge will be to not lengthen wait times.

If it wasn’t for about $199 million in stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the project would have been delayed a year, and it would have been done in phases, he said. Now, it can all be done at once. It is the largest single stimulus project outside Washington, D.C.

Lukeville

Brian Levin, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said a three-month project to expand the Lukeville station from three to five lanes could start in December or January.

Two of the lanes will be reversible to handle greater crowds going south into Mexico on holiday weekends to Puerto Penasco and then switched to handle crowds coming back.

Lukeville handles about 800 vehicles on weekdays and up to 6,000 on holiday weekends.

Levin said waits have been reduced to a maximum of two hours on holiday weekends and the expansion should reduce those further.

San Luis

As the first community in the state to get a modern border station, Yuma is already seeing more businesses and expects to reap wide economic benefits, said Julie Engel, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp.

“We do want to be known for our international capabilities and what we can do for the economy in the state,” she said.

Even though it is not as busy as the Nogales station, San Luis was worked on first because it had become so dangerous, said Emmermann, who said lobbying for the improvements began in the mid-1990s.

Trucks and cars often mingle with pedestrians, especially the hundreds of produce workers who cross daily in the Yuma area during the winter.

So the San Luis station was split into San Luis 1, for pedestrians and non-commercial traffic, and San Luis 2, for commercial traffic. The $42 million San Luis 2 station, southeast of Yuma, is essentially done and is waiting for a comparable station to be completed on the Mexican side. Both are expected to open by the beginning of 2010.

The Arizona station will have the latest technology, such as heat scanners that detect humans hiding in vehicles. It will be able to handle at least 500 trucks a day.

Engel said it could draw business from Nogales and other border choke points.

The Arizona Department of Transportation completed a new limited-access expressway, Arizona 195, from the station to Interstate 8, so heavy commercial traffic can bypass Yuma.

Engel said two companies have already moved into Yuma County and plan to build near the new port after it opens. A third company, a solar manufacturer, also has expressed interest.

Mexico Beach Directory

Friday, August 21st, 2009

The directory that your Mexican business needs to be in. No matter what the size of your company; large or small, brand new or tried and true, this directory is like no other, and will be the right choice for you! With the current market conditions, we just aren’t seeing the tourism we saw 5 or 6 years ago and back further. You need to do the best for your business in Mexico, and stretch your budget as far as it will go. Getting more bang for your buck is the name of the game these days. There aren’t too many Mexico business directories out there, and that is where we have the corner market. With great Search Engine Optimization, Mexico Beach Directory will rank high on the major search engines, providing your company with a chance to be seen by thousands of visitors on a daily basis. You need to drive traffic to your site anyway you can, and Mexico Beach Directory will do just that for you. We are focusing on the beach communities of Mexico mostly, as this makes up a huge percentage of the market of tourism. Any business that you have in any of the beach communities of Mexico is welcome for submission. Whether it is real estate, restaurants, a hotel, or even services like dog grooming or concierge, we want to help you get more business!

Rocky Point Rally Moves Forward

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

On Monday June 29 a group of about 30 Rocky Point civic leaders met at the office of Realty Executives to discuss the status of the Rocky Point Rally. This Motorcycle rally has been a huge success, bringing thousands of riders to Puerto Penasco every year. The event coordinator and founder, Oscar Palacio led the meeting and expressed the need for everyone to work together to make sure this event continues to be a success.


The Rocky Point Rally is said to rival most any other motorcycle rallies in the rapid growth and or number of attendees each year. It is a wonderful cultural event that brings riders north from all over Mexico and south from as far north as Canada.


Most importantly the rally benefits the many charities of Rocky Point. All proceeds from the event are dispersed among the various charities of our community. For information on how you can get involved,  contact the OCV, (Penasco’s Convention and Visitors Bureau)

Vaya  con   Dios !

KENT B. WHITE
REALTY  EXECUTIVES
PUERTO     PENASCO
Local  044 638 112 0916
US Phone 602-288-8649
www.realtyexecsmexico.com

“EL PINACATE, PATRIMONIO NATURAL DE SONORA”

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Este vistoso lugar se sitúa en el gran desierto sonorense cuyas dunas se extienden hasta el estado de Arizona en Estados Unidos de Norteamérica: El PINACATE.

La majestuosidad de su zona comprende, desde sierras, volcanes, dunas y arroyos, hasta terrenos temporales que sobreviven de unas cuantas gotas de humedad. En sus 28,600 hectáreas de terreno se encuentran los más bellos y majestuosos conos volcánicos, a los que se pueden ascender para observar los cráteres, utilizados como miradores para deleitarse con el paisaje circundante y disfrutar de la bella coloración, sus diferentes tonalidades que produce la vegetación al contraste con los rayos del sol.

Para realizar el recorrido es necesario solicitar los servicios de un guía experimentado en los viajes del desierto, debe hacerse con extremo cuidado por los caminos ya existentes, y no intentar nuevas rutas; hay que señalar cual es la zona que está habitada y cualquier problema debe ser resuelto por el visitante. Por ello se recomienda llevar suficiente dotación de agua y utilizar un vehículo de doble tracción así llevar refacciones básicas herramientas básicas y gasolina de sobra.

El Area Natural Protegida que nos tocó investigar al equipo de Los Chivos de la Secundaria General No. 1 PLUTARCO ELIAS CALLES. Título: EL PINACATE, su categoría, RESERVA DE LA BIOSFERA.

Cerca de esta área protegida se encuentran ubicadas en algunas poblaciones como desde las cuales se puede llegar, tal como: SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, PUERTO PEÑASCO por mar, o por el estado de ARIZONA en los ESTADOS UNIDOS DE NORTEAMERICA (E.U.A.) llegando a SONOITA, SON.

Se llega por la carretera de SONOITA o bien desde el municipio de Puerto Peñasco por mar.

El área natural protegida se encuentra con una serie de cráteres volcánicos titulados en forma muy particular, algunos de ello son: cráter Badillo, Molina (el Trébol), Cerro Colorado, Volcán Grande, cráter Mc. Dougal, cráter Caravajales etcétera.

LOS CRATERES DEL PINACATE

Cráter Badillo.- esto es lo ancho y superficial y continua la cadena de los cráteres. Tiene quebraduras al revés de la pared norte. Las selecciones de varias zonas pueden ser vistas a lo largo de la pared del cráter

Cráter Molina (El trébol).- Este se encuentra exactamente al sur del cráter Mc. Dougal como su nombre lo dice, está ensamblado en tres en líneas siendo formado por la intensidad de tres cráteres más pequeños; al norte empieza el más grande, parecen ser pequeños círculos de maleza o copas de los cuales tienen muchos fragmentos de basalto.

Cerro Colorado.- Está ubicado exactamente al norte de la corriente de lava, y toma su nombre de color rojo del borde de las plantas y tierra. Es un círculo de plantas formado por vapor, que a través de ciertos pies del viejo río verde, desde el material del circulo de la maleza estaba húmedo cuando hizo erupción. El cráter podía tener ahora extinción de lagos y playas, exactamente al noroeste del cráter probablemente.

Volcán Grande.- Este tiene 3,200 pies de diámetro y 950 de profundidad. Se encuentra al Sureste del cráter de Molina, tiene el más grande círculo de cualquier cráter. El círculo es muy tupido, alcanzando desde el fondo hasta el nivel de altura de dos coníferas entre el cual permanece. Arriba la lava sólida, abajo el circulo de maleza.

Cráter Mc. Dougal.- Este es el más grande de todos los cráteres, se encuentra al oeste de Badillo. Su altura es arriba de 5,000 pies de profundidad, con su elegante círculo de maleza, con fragmentos de basalto los cuales en forma vertical se encuentran en las orillas del cráter.

Cráter Caravajales.- Esta a distancia del suroeste, del cráter de Mc. Dougal de las dunas de arena. Es un pequeño círculo de fragmentos de basalto, casi cubiertos de arena y un cono central marcando la última actividad volcánica allí.

En la zona de la reserva, la densidad de población es prácticamente cero, ya que en una superficie de 714,556 en donde habitan aproximadamente 200 habitantes.

La mayor parte de ellos se dedican a actividades agropecuarias como la ganadería extensiva y la agricultura de baja escala. El nivel de ingresos es bajo. Los habitantes tienen buena disposición en cuanto a la protección del área.

Descripción del área protegida.

El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar destacan por sus características físicas y biológicas únicas, por la presencia de un escudo volcánico, así como por las extensas zonas de dunas activas que lo rodean y por la mayor concentración de cráteres tipo mayor (HARTMAN 1989).

Año de declaratoria: 1993

Localización: ( 31°30′ – 32°30′n)(113°00′- 114°30′w)

Superficie: 714,556.5 Has.

Rango de elevación: 0-1200 msnm.

Comunidades Bióticas: División matorral desértico sonorense.
Subdivisión Valle del Río Colorado y
Altiplano de Sonora.

Provincia Fisiográfica: Planicie costera Noroccidental.

Biomas: Desiertos cálidos y semidesiertos.

Al noroeste del estado: Municipios de Puerto Peñasco, San Luis Río Colorado y Plutarco Elías Calles.

Coordenadas extremas: 3127-3222 latitud norte 11259-11423 longitud oeste.

Vías de comunicación: La principal vía de comunicación es la Carretera Federal #2, que une las poblaciones de Sonoyta y San Luis Río Colorado y se prolonga hasta el oeste de Mexicali y Tijuana; hacia el este de Caborca y Santa Ana y la Carretera Federal #8 de Puerto Peñasco a Sonoyta que sirve en su mayor pote como límite de la reserva.

Antecedentes legales

El 29 de marzo de 1979 se decretó como zona protectora forestal y refugio faunístico.

El 10 de junio de 1993 fue decretada Reserva de la Biósfera por el Presidente Carlos Salinas de Gortari. En el mismo año ingresó a la Red Internacional de MAB-UNESCO.

Antecedentes históricos

Hace más de un siglo habitaban la zona los Indios Pápagos. Todavía es posible ver los vestigios de ésa cultura. Cerca de los depósitos naturales de agua y en los antiguos senderos que llevan de pozo en pozo, de las montañas a las dunas del de cierto, se ven aún fragmentos de vasijas, pilas de conchas marinas, montones de piedras y círculos prehispánicos de rocas para dormir y figuras monumentales.

Tenencia de la tierra

La propiedad se distribuye de la siguiente manera: 36% es propiedad Federal, 63% es propiedad Feudal y 1% propiedad privada.

Población

Las cabeceras municipales de los municipios de Sonoyta, Puerto Peñasco y San Luis Río Colorado son los centros de población de mayor importancia de la región.

De acuerdo con el censo INEGI (1990), estas ciudades tienen una población de 7,944,26,101 y 95,461 habitantes, respectivamente, lo que representa el 88%

de la población de los tres municipios y el 112% restante se distribuyen.

Importancia

Las formaciones geológicas representadas por el escudo volcánico, los cráteres, los

derrames de lava y los conos cinéticos, los grandes campos de duna como: dunas crecénticas dunas en estrella y dunas paralelas. La gran diversidad de asociaciones

Vegetales y la rica flora en conjunción de los derrames de lava y las arenas del gran desierto, forman un paisaje especial que encierra variados monumentos naturales.

Amenazas

Las principales amenazas reciben es la extracción desordenada de los recursos naturales, la construcción de caminos y áreas de desechos sin la debida autorización y manifestación de impacto ambiental. Así como la cacería furtiva y la extracción de madera de palo.

! Cuidemos nuestro legado natural !

www.edu.com

RECIBE CEDO PREMIO POR PROYECTO NATURATE EN PUERTO PEÑASCO

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

De parte de la prestigiada Universidad del Valle de México entre más de 450 proyectos

El Centro de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos (CEDO) con su concepto Naturarte fue galardonado con el premio a uno de los mejores Proyectos de Impacto Social, promovido por la prestigiosa Universidad del Valle de México (UVM) en un foro realizado en la capital del país, en donde un total de 450 proyectos participaron en busca de los quince premios consistentes en un bono de 25 mil pesos cada uno y que otorgó la institución educativa, informó el investigador de este centro, Alejandro Castillo.

Naturarte ha integrado varios proyectos, personas e instituciones para el desarrollo económico de las comunidades y la preservación de seis humedales costeros, a saber: Bahía Adair, Estero Cerro Prieto, Estero La Cholla, Estero Morúa, Estero La Pinta, y Bahía San Jorge situados todos ellos en esta región del mar de Cortés, explicó el investigador.

Los fundamentos del proyecto consisten en la creación de proyectos ecoturísticos que sirvan de medio de sustento para los habitantes de los lugares, al tiempo que dan a los visitantes una experiencia de aprendizaje enriquecedora, recalcó.

El proyecto inició con una alianza con la Cooperativa Ostrícola Única de Mujeres quienes después de varias reuniones fueron capacitadas e instalaron un restaurante.

A mediados del 2006 este grupo de mujeres recibieron un nuevo financiamiento e iniciaron otro proyecto en un negocio de renta de Kayaks en el estero Morúa, dijo Castillo y así fue como surgió la idea de crear el corredor ecoturístico Naturarte detalló el investigador.

Este concepto hasta la fecha, dijo Castillo, ha beneficiado a 60 personas directamente y a otras cinco mil indirectamente, de allí la notable importancia de su creación, subrayó.

En este reconocimiento fueron copartícipes los puertopeñasquenses Claudia Guzmán y Abraham Souza quienes acudieron al Mueso de Antropología e Historia de la Ciudad de México, de donde trajeron esta noble distinción que les hizo la UVM, resaltó el investigador del CEDO Alejandro Castillo.

En otras actividades, Castillo también declaró que recientemente acudieron a la Reunión de la Alianza para la Sustentabilidad de Noroeste Costero Mexicano, realizado en San Blas Nayarit, en donde los desarrollares de esta región analizaron diferentes tópicos del impacto ambiental y la competitividad entre los polos del mismo giro.

En estas ponencias, dijo, se llegó a la conclusión de que los centros de desarrollo turísticos tienen el mismo modelo y que compiten entre ellos mismos, por lo que habría que hacer cambios de manera radical en el concepto original, ya que sólo así se podría hacer la diferencia y atraer al turismo, cada quien con sus propios recursos naturales de los que posee, subrayó Castillo.

Todo esto fue revisado por el Instituto Mexicano de Competitividad quienes hicieron esta dura crítica y anotaron las conclusiones de esta interesante jornada finalizó Alejandro Castillo, investigador responsable del CEDO.

www.puertopenascoonline.com