Jesse Marley loves Akumal.

Using money from his allowance, gifts and odd jobs, eight-year-old Jesse Marley, from Oregon, has become a CEA Member, after he and his family traveled through the Yucatán Peninsula and stayed in Akumal. He is concerned about the future of the area and feels strongly about supporting our efforts. Jesse loves the sea turtles and the ocean at Akumal.

Meet ten-year-old Julia, from New York state.

Julia also became a CEA Member. Julia uses part of her allowance each year for special causes and chose Akumal this year, to help protect the reef. She has traveled to Akumal several times and especially loves Yal-Ku Lagoon. Julia came to hear our presentations at the Information Center on coral reefs.

A family affair.

Julia’s 12-year-old brother, Russell, sent a donation to CEA from his earned allowance, with the hope that we continue to protect and improve the environment at Akumal. He thinks Akumal is a beautiful place and would like it kept that way. It was great to hear that he appreciates all that CEA does.

In a class of its own.

Finally, Miss Ana Mariscal’s sixth-grade English class, at the Grijalva Montessori School in Villahermosa, Tabasco, raised funds in the school to adopt a turtle at CEA. The class made bookmarks and ran a campaign to sell them, going from class to class in order to raise the funds. What a great initiative on their part!

Meet CEA Director Paul Sancez-Navarro

Paul Sanchez-Navarro is CEA's Director. Prior to that he was a Biodiversity Policy Advisor with WWF International (World Wide Fund for Nature) in Gland, Switzerland. He has broad experience in the environmental field, having served as Biodiversity Policy Advisor for both the WWF México Program and Pronatura. At the international level he supported conservation efforts around the globe by working to strengthen the environmental policy framework within the United Nations system, as well as by helping governments improve their management of the earth's natural resources and increasing non-governmental organizations' participation in the process. In addition, he has experience in magazine publishing and promotion as director of publicity and advertising for México Desconocido. Mr. Sanchez-Navarro has also been a teacher and has worked in the shipping business. His achievements include fundraising for a variety of projects in both México and globally, design of long-term policy strategies for three organizations, and participating in national efforts to improve México's environmental policy framework.

"All these efforts from young people are a great inspiration for all of us at CEA, helping us to remember why we are here working to protect the sea turtles and the reef, making sure the water is clean, among many other activities that go into protecting our ecosystem. Educating people about solutions to environmental problems becomes a lot easier knowing that tomorrow’s generations are on board today. Thanks to you all!"