Chronology of Achievements
♥ 1998 – The Mexican Government declares an area of more than 11,800ha, land and aquatic, a Protected Natural Area, today known as Huatulco National Park.
♥ 2003 – The Convention on Wetlands (or Ramsar Convention) designates the “Wetlands and Corals of the Coastal Zone of Huatulco”, an area of more than 44,000ha covering land and sea, as Ramsar Site 1321.
♥ 2004 – The Equipo Verde Huatulco (Green Team Huatulco) is established; coordinated by representatives of the main social, economic, cultural, academic and governmental sectors, it implements short, medium and long term actions and programs, to position Huatulco as the leading sustainable tourism community in Mexico and the world.
CONANP declares 8,000ha of Santa Maria Huatulco’s land part of the Communal System of Protected Natural Areas
Huatulco adopts the EarthCheck Program for Environmental Administration, a system developed by EC3 Global, aiming to obtain the international Green Globe certification, a methodology created for the evaluation and certification of sustainability for the tourism and travel industry.
♥ 2005 – Huatulco, Sustainable Tourism Community – the destination receives the international Green Globe certification, being the first and so far only tourism destination on the American Continentto achieve this honor.
♥ 2005 – The EarthCheck methodology of evaluation and certification, as a process of constant improvement and best environmental practice requires an annual benchmarking and evaluation in which environmental impacts and conservation of natural resources are measured, compared and evaluated under strict international standards, including reduction in waste, energy efficiency, fresh and recycled water management, application of environmental regulations and the awareness raising among the general population of conservation efforts and practices.
♥ 2006 – The UNESCO designates the Municipality of Santa Maria Huatulco and the Huatulco National Park as a sole entity as Biosphere Reserve Huatulco, under their “Land and Biosphere” program.