Rio Lagartos Natural Paradise

Natural Paradise in Yucatán

Such is the natural and non-renewable resources that has this beautiful town , that in June 26, 1979 was declared a Special Biosphere Reserve , then it became a protected area by the Federal Government . The decree provides for the protection of 58.824 hectares of forest , dunes , mangroves and beaches , covering the communities of San Felipe , Rio Lagartos , Las Coloradas and El Cuyo. The region as a whole , has today a population of nearly seven thousand peoples , mostly engaged in fishing or working in the largest and most important salt industry of its kind in Yucatan.

In Rio Lagartos there is a population of about 22,000 Flamencos

Rio Lagartos is estimated to have a population of 22,000 flamingos throughout the coastal region of Yucatan, of which 18,000 are in the nesting area on the outskirts of El Cuyo. In that area is where the species reproduces and chicks grow to young adulthood and move to other areas of the central and feeding grounds. The large number of microenvironments made up of different ecosystems generate a great faunal diversity in the biosphere reserve. Hillocks, authentic islands of lush vegetation, emerge amid the savannahs and floodplains. For their contribution on freshwater is a meeting grown and confluence of spider monkeys, coati, raccoons and even deer and jaguars.

Mangroves are a very important for the ecosystem for their contribution of nutrients, being a natural refuge for a variety of fish, crustaceans and molusks and nesting site for various bird populations. In the period starting on November to February it is estimated that some 30,000 migratory birds come to this area in Ria Lagartos, where they find the ideal conditions to survive. The territory where the reserve is now in the past was apparently harbor the great Chichén Itzá, and from there they controlled the Mayan exchange of goods to central Mexico, Guatemala and other parts of Central America. The commercial importance lay in control of the salt produced, for their “unique hypersaline characteristics”.