She works for the PMRC — the Project for the Management of Coastal Natural Resources — funded by the US Bank for Development and tasked with looking after Bahía's stretch of coast. Seen purely through an environmental lens, she says, tourism here doesn't cause many problems. Tourists sometimes leave litter on the beach, but more bins and regular joint cleanups with the local population have kept it manageable.
The project she's proudest of centres on Isla Corazón, a mangrove island with an unusually large bird population. The idea is simple: introduce visitors to the ecological richness of the mangroves, with local fishermen ferrying tourists out and guiding them around — turning a stretch of coastline fishermen already knew intimately into a source of income that doesn't require pulling anything out of the water.
We even expect positive environmental effects from tourism, because money earned in the project can go straight into planting new mangrove forest.
She isn't worried about tourism disrupting the ecology here, though she says the project will keep monitoring closely rather than assume the best. Nor does she see much downside for the local community — if anything, tourism has widened the local market and created jobs in hotels and restaurants that didn't exist before. Her one complaint, and it's a mild one: some of the newer apartment blocks aren't particularly attractive to look at.
A mangrove forest, replanted with tourist money, doesn't care what the buildings on shore look like — but the birds seem to be staying regardless.