Lake Chapala is a dedicated site of international importance under the Ramsar International Treaty on Wetlands of UNESCO
Lake Chapala. Photo: Arturo Ortega.
Editor.– Did you celebrate Lake Chapala Day this year? Chances are you did not, since despite being established by official state decree in 2014, the initiative has largely been forgotten. Jalisco’s Lake Chapala Day is supposed to be commemorated on February 2 each year, but the authorities at both the municipal and state levels appear to have forgotten it, and so the day passed unobserved by both lakeside municipalities and their inhabitants.
Originally, promoters of Lake Chapala Day sought to highlight the importance of the lake both for lakeside inhabitants and the state. They also intended it to bring attention to the need to protect and conserve the lake for the future.
«It is the obligation of the municipalities, in coordination with the Executive Branch, to celebrate the State Lake Chapala Day through activities that promote awareness of, and appreciation for, the importance of the area. This to be achieved through festivities and strategies that engage and educate the public,» states the ignored decree.
February 2 was selected to commemorate Lake Chapala Day as it was on this day in 2009 that Lake Chapala won designation as a Wetlands of International Importance, or Ramsar site. The goal of the Ramsar convention was to promote the preservation and sustainable use of essential wetlands around the globe.
The state initiative was presented by Jesús Palos Vaca, the local deputy of the 17th district and member of the Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM) and resident of Jocotepec. The decree was published in the Official Newspaper of the State of Jalisco in December 2014.
Translated by Rebecca Zittle
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