Education center needs help to survive attacks
” With a 26year track record of letting folks know about the interaction of arid ecosystems, wetlands and wildlife biology in the western U.S.Mexico border region, CEDO is the only nongovernmental conservation organization in Puerto Peñasco. Its academic, research, and didactical programs are an important cornerstone of the community, especially now that Mexico’s secondfastest growing tourist destination is precisely here.
Puerto Peñasco’s reason for being is the fishing in the Upper Gulf of California, notably shrimping. The oncesleepy fishing village also holds a place in the hearts of snow birds and related foreign visitors who named it Rocky Point. Long before Puerto Peñasco’s current boom made it known as Arizona’s beach resort, CEDO was the main cultural attraction and motor of sustainable development initiatives here.
But now it looks like the very same boom that aims to capitalize on the appreciation for the natural wonders that CEDO teaches is undermining the research institute. Early this month, the Scottsdale, Arizonabased CliftonMeridian Corp. erected a chainlink fence at the entryway to CEDO’s main building. The action was the first in a series of threats that come as part of the company’s intended construction of 38 condominiums in the 16acre, US$1.5 million Fuentes del Mar development, being undertaken together with the Seawater Foundation. “
