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UNESCO, Fonatur create Scientific-Cultural Council to preserve heritage along Maya Train route

Mexico City, Mexico — A Scientific-Cultural Council has been created to preserve sustainable development along the Maya Train route. The new body, which was created by the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), will be in charge of designing a cultural tourism strategy for the Maya Train project.

“The purpose of this body is to integrate key actors and institutions at the federal, state, municipal and local levels in cultural, scientific and environmental matters in a forum for dialogue, analysis and orientation of the activities carried out by UNESCO for this sustainable development project,” Fonatur said in a statement.

Rogelio Jiménez Pons, head of Fonatur, mentioned that the Council will be a body that will go hand-in-hand with the UNESCO Accompaniment Program.

“Incorporating the vision and knowledge of the permanent members, as well as the guests from various areas, fosters inter-institutional dialogue with the academy. In this way, the results of the work carried out in the field by UNESCO are strengthened, ensuring their relevance and priority in the Maya Train project,” he explained.

“The purpose of an infrastructure project as important as the Maya Train is to preserve the culture that converges in the region where it will travel, so we have the mission of disseminating, investigating, and safeguarding this heritage, the work that we do hand-in-hand with Fonatur,” reported the Secretary of Culture, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero.

Frédéric Vacheron, representative of UNESCO in Mexico affirmed that the Council will be an important support mechanism because it will articulate the themes with which UNESCO works in this project, which he says are inclusive economic development, the strengthening of creative industries, cultural safeguarding, environmental sustainability, institutional communication and others that are based on decision-making based on scientific evidence.

“This council will ensure the systematization of knowledge, in a transparent way, by having guidance in educational matters and the commitments that Mexico has taken with UNESCO, with all relevant actors from government, academia and civil society,” he said.

The Maya Train will cross five southeastern states in Mexico which will be Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.