Sharing research with other islands in the Mexican Caribbean
Our work using traditional knowledge to understand the past existence of top predators on Holbox Island was challenged by COVID. An essential part of this approach was lost with elder fishers’ tragic departure, which has left a hole in our hearts and a loss of cultural heritage. Despite this, our SOSF grant allowed us to continue collecting traditional fishers’ knowledge on Holbox in a critical moment of contemporary history where human interactions changed worldwide.
Photo © Nadia Rubio
In April 2022, after Covid restrictions and social distancing regulations mellowed down, we developed a live community event to present our work on coastal exploitation on Holbox. This event was on Cozumel Island, where we are also starting to work on documenting the past existence of top predators. We are developing these events to communicate our results across islands in the Mexican Caribbean.
Photo © Nadia Rubio
On April 5th, we presented our work on Holbox Island to fishers, community members, government authorities, and students from the Universidad Autónoma de Quintana Roo (UQROO), Cozumel campus, where Mar Sustenable collaborates with Dr Oscar Frausto the Leader of the Laboratorio de Observación e Investigación Espacial. The event was a great success and allowed for an interchange of knowledge regarding fishing sites and fished species among two iconic touristic islands in the Mexican Caribbean. Both face contemporary threats to biodiversity conservation due to increasing tourism. We presented our scientific work with our environmental activities developed on Holbox Island. As times get better with COVID, we will be creating more live community events to disseminate our work to broad audiences. Stay tuned for our new adventures.
Photo © Nadia Rubio