00:00We need to start thinking on tourism on a different way, to make it sustainable, doesn't
00:11matter if it's a huge destination or little cabins on the jungle, everything has to be
00:16sustainable.
00:26I like to differentiate between a tourist and a traveler.
00:34A tourist comes and pretty much is looking for the same they have back home and what
00:41I conceptualize as a traveler is someone that comes and cares about the culture, the nature,
00:51wants to get to know what's happening there.
00:55Tourism has changed so much about Tulum, sometimes in ways we cannot see.
01:01I realized because of all the changes happening it was important to organize.
01:07I feel responsible to do something.
01:10My name is Carla Acevedo, I'm the president of Tulum Sostenible.
01:14We bring awareness to conscious travel in Tulum.
01:20A lot of the problems that we have is the lack of planning, the lack of infrastructure
01:25for the quantity of people that is living here and coming to visit.
01:29Now there is a new airport in Tulum and a new train connecting us to Cancun.
01:35What happens is people continue coming and then you have more people living here, more
01:40people consuming products that are going to create waste.
01:44So we were meeting with people from different backgrounds to think about the problems but
01:50more than thinking about the problems, thinking about solutions.
01:56We are on top of the largest underground fresh water system in the world and it's being polluted
02:03by improper waste management, especially from tourist lodgings.
02:09The problem is not tourism, the problem is how we do tourism.
02:12I'm Gonzalo Merediz, I'm the director of Amigos de Siancan, a local NGO.
02:16We promote the sustainable development through nature conservation in this region of Mexico.
02:25Right now we are in a biosphere reserve, in the Siancan Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage
02:29Site designated by UNESCO, a very important place, like 1.5 million acres of land and
02:37an ocean protected by the Mexican government.
02:42The water is round, about 1.5 kilometers in diameter and what you see around are wetlands,
02:50savannas and mangroves.
02:52From the jungle it helps to capture water that infiltrates the soil, flows until it
02:57reaches these wonderful wetlands and eventually to the reservoir.
03:04If you don't have infrastructure to treat the water, the water with pollution is going
03:09to continue going to the underground river system.
03:12People diving or swimming in the cenotes now are getting sick from the water.
03:24The pollution that's affecting these lakes and even the cenotes is directly related to
03:30improper water treatment.
03:40It's important to bring solutions to people so that we can start dealing with different
03:46issues.
03:47For example, waste management and energy.
03:51Energy is a huge challenge in Tulum because, again, the infrastructure is very behind.
03:57For many years, those hotels were running on diesel and gasoline.
04:03The energy is a huge challenge in Tulum because, again, the infrastructure is very behind.
04:09For many years, those hotels were running on diesel and gasoline.
04:33Another problem is that we do not have a sewer system in Tulum.
04:41You have to do your own treatment plant or system in your business.
04:46It's really important because part of the beach area is off-grid, so it's a responsibility
04:50for every hotel, every business, to treat their own water.
05:02This is the main part of our water treatment that we have, and we have the whole rest of
05:16the treatment plant on the other side.
05:20There's a lot of greenwashing that happens, but having a biologist on staff makes sure
05:24that what we are doing is actually what it says it is.
05:32Tulum is not just sun and beach, parties, music.
05:36Tulum also has this cultural part.
05:39It's the Mayan culture.
05:41Nojol.
05:45Shaman.
05:50Laquen.
05:52My name is Juan Canul.
05:54I'm a biologist and director of La Selva al Mar.
05:59This is a consultant who is in charge of advising the tourist sector, the government
06:05and communities on the issue of sustainability.
06:20I am fortunate that my blood is Mayan.
06:24I am fortunate that my blood is Mayan.
06:27We are here in the town of Cobá, in the municipality of Tulum.
06:31It's a place where you can find about the Mayan culture, as well as you can find different
06:38dishes, local gastronomy.
06:54We're standing here in Mayan land and there is a lot of knowledge and a lot of beautiful
07:01traditions that we can learn from them.
07:23Tres consejos para que un turista pueda venir a Tulum es ir a lugares que en verdad puedan
07:28asegurar que son sustentables, conocer la cultura maya y respetar el destino.
07:34I'm optimistic.
07:36We believe in a complement, in a healthy balance and harmony that you can have everything.
07:42When we come together as a community to follow a vision, to follow an idea, to follow a project
07:51and how many powerful things can happen.
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