Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Residents and businesses around Playa del Carmen are being asked to remove beach furniture at night due to the nearing nesting season. With the documented early arrival of sea turtles in Tulum already this year, officials in Playa del Carmen are preparing for a similar event.
The Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone (Zofemat) of Solidaridad began notifying people along the beaches, asking them to remove the furniture in the evening so at night, turtles can nest.
Lucy Ramos, Director of Sustainable Environment and Climate Change for the municipality of Solidaridad, says Zofemat has begun making the requests. She said that tables, chairs and loungers could be obstacles for the spawning turtles. She says those who fail to comply will be reported to the Federal Environmental Attorney’s Office (Profepa).
“We have worked in a coordinated manner with Zofemat. Those who do not comply with these measures will be turned over to the attorney general’s office,” she said adding that “the operations will be implemented as indicated in the program, as we have in the protection program,” emphasizing that some hotels hold weddings on the beaches at night.
Ramos explained that they are anticipating a very busy nesting season this year along Solidaridad beaches with an excess of 550 nests. By the third week in April, the municipality of Tulum had already located five sea turtle nests.
