La Manzanilla has become famous for various reasons but perhaps one of our towns main attractions is one we often take for granted. I'm talking about the
Cocodrylus Acutus natural habitat in our
estero.
Whether your just passing by and want to see some prehistoric creatures up close or your are staying in town and want to check out the changes and upgrades that are happening around the
manglar; this visit
has become a full on experience, from the
Cocodrilario were they keep the baby croc's (that you can actually touch!), to the bird watching towers and not to mention the hanging bridge over crocodile infested waters! All this for $5 pesos per person! (locals get in for free, sorry!).
OK this is sounding like a theme park! In reality this has been long in the making and is only the beginning of a big project.
In 1995, after the earthquake, a lot of the lagoon was lost because people started trowing their ruble from their destroyed houses after the disaster in to the lagoon, there was so much debris that it seemed like a good idea at the time to expand the town over the swamp lands, and that was not the only contributing factor, but later the
Municipio dirt filled and paved the main road to the
crucero, now called
Lazaro Cardenas, right over what used to be part of the lagoon. The body of water was divided and on one side they build the
Telesecundaria and the
Casino, and on the other they created more
lotes for houses
and farm lands. I think you can still see some of the remains of some Mangle trees next to were Restaurant Mayahuel is now located.
Finally some of the
Ejido members decided that something had to be done to protect this valuable habitat, that the lagoon was an asset for the town not an inconvenience or a land fill! They formed a group called CIPACTLI which in the native Nahuatl language means Crocodile. The group was conformed by local environmental enthusiasts people like Pepe Martinez, Morgan, the late Don Trini "Colores" (que en paz descance), Chico, Don Sebas and many others...
With help from the ITESO (The Jesuit University in Guadalajara) and government instances like SEMARNAT and CONAFOR their plans have materialised in to creating a Eco touristic attraction that also protects this area. They managed to officially declare the
estero an UMA (
Unidad de Manejo Ambiental). Also our wetland or
humedal was declared a RAMSAR site in August 2005 which is an international label that helps protect valuable ecosystems like this one in our La Manzanilla, due to their biological richness and also for being home to many aquatic migratory birds.
The effort to involve the community with this project continues, to help promote Environmental Education amongst the younger generation they have trained some of the local kids from the schools to give tourist a few important facts about our
manglar and the
cocodrilos.
So come support this great thing, pay your $5 pesos ask some questions to the kids, and really appreciate the value of this amazing natural habitat home to some pretty cool critters and a contributor to the worlds natural climate control.
This humedal is the home to 50 aquatic resident and migratory birds, 42 species of fish and other populations of amphibians and mammals, 3 main species of mangrove (blanco, botoncillo y rojo). It also holds one of the three largest American crocodile concentrations in Jalisco.
Special Thanks to Mar Aventura, Alberto Espinosa and Lin Magali Loza!
