Join Condé Nast Traveler in Tulum as we meet the people working hard to ensure a more sustainable future for the Mexican municipality. Over the past twenty years, tourism in Tulum has skyrocketed as travelers flock to enjoy the beaches and ruins of the ancient Mayan port city. The dramatic increase in tourism has brought many environmental issues to the town, such as waste infrastructure struggles, water pollution, and greenwashing. However, through the efforts of many hardworking locals, Tulum is actively working towards a more sustainable future through wildlife conservation, waste and water management, and the preservation of Mayan culture.
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LifestyleTranscript
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.