GVI MEXICO JUNE 2014, ISSUE 2

GVI MEXICO
JUNE 2014, ISSUE 2











Inside this Issue
Punta Allen comes to Pez Maya.
EFR training in Playa.
Pez Maya turtle monitoring
Symposium.
Equine Therapy and Integral
Care Center Concert
The Amazing Race - Playa
Edition
5 sites of MBRS Synoptic
Monitoring completed from
April to June.















INTRODUCTION
It has been three months since the
last edition of the GVI Mexico
newsletter and we have had a lot of
exciting developments.
The marine, community, and vet
programs at Pez Maya and Playa del
Carmen have been working at full
throttle to meet this trimesters
goals and we are proud to say it has
been a great three months.
With turtle season starting, the
Amazing Race Playa edition, and
many, many other fun activities we
have lots to tell you about. As ever
we hope you enjoy reading the

newsletter and welcome your
feedback!
PUNTA ALLEN COMES TO
PEZ MAYA
Among the many projects of Pez
Maya we have the community work
we do at the small fishing town of
Punta Allen. Every Monday the GVI
team travels 25 km south of Pez
Maya to teach English classes to the
adults and kids of this community.
We also organize different
workshops explaining environmental
issues relevant to the area and other
activities.
In the month of April GVI invited the

kids from the Ignacio Ramrez
Primary school to come to Pez Maya
and participate in a whole day of fun
activities while learning English and
becoming comfortable, in the
language that will become so
important for them, as they grow up
and seek to develop the town of
Punta Allen as a centre for Eco-
tourism activities within the Sian
Kaan Biosphere Reserve.
The kids came to base with parents,
uncles, aunts, cousins, and in some
cases even grandparents. The first
activity for the children was a
treasure hunt, during which they
rem

GVI MEXICO JUNE 2014, ISSUE 2





























with water and re-purpose them as lightbulbs in the
home. Punta Allen doesnt have artificial light except
during the hours of 19:00-22:00, so applying the
techinique showcased by the GVI team can illuminate
their darker spaces with the power of a 60 watt bulb.

First aid training for parents.
To end the day, the staff of Pez Maya donned its finest
theatrical gear and took the stage for one of the most
impressive productions the Sian Kaan has ever seen.
EFR TRAINING IN PLAYA
In April we delivered the Emergency First Responder
training course to our partners, Save the Children and
The Equine Therapy and Integral Care Center, in the
Playa community projects. Not only are we equipping
them with lifesaving skills, we are creating a safer
environment for the wider community. Knowledge is
empowering in all forms, but the critical knowledge of
how to potentially save a life or prevent death,
transcends this.
In conjunction with work related accidents and other
incidents of random nature, it is imperative that all of
the staff within GVI and our partners are equipped to
assist in these emergencies. By providing emergency
treatment you could be potentially saving their lives, or
remembered and learned new things about the animals
found in the reserve. Then it was off to the Beach
Olympics, where no learning was required!
The kids from Punta Allen ready to start the treasure hunt.
We discovered who could run fastest whilst super dizzy
from spinning around a pole, who could carry turtle eggs
(dont worry, they were limes painted white) to safety
whilst avoiding all the natural predators that turtles
might face. Off they then went to the Recycling
workshop where they were taught how to make
colourful baskets from PET bottles and string, to then
move on to the slightly less relaxing than you might
imagine, sand castle and painting competition.
While the kids were off having lots of fun, their parents
took part in two different activities with the staff. Firstly,
the First Emergency Responder course which provided
the people of Punta Allen with useful skills to respond to
medical emergencies in the school or home. These are
great skills for the people of Punta Allen since the town
is well over an hour from professional medical
assistance.
Secondly, the parents took part in a recycling workshop
showcasing the ability to re-use empty PET bottles filled

GVI MEXICO JUNE 2014, ISSUE 2



























Our new emergency first responders.
PEZ MAYA TURTLE MONITORING
SYMPOSIUM

GVI poster presented at the 34
th
Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle
Biology and Conservation.
The marine turtle conservation program in Riviera Maya
protects 13 beaches, covering 36 km of coast. These
beaches represent the most important sites for nesting
populations of the loggerhead and green turtle at
national level.

minimizing the lasting damage to their health.
Full house at the EFR training in Playa del Carmen.
With the help of three GVI members of staff we trained
all 9 ludotecarias from the Save the Children Ludotecas
in Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and 3 members of the
Special Needs School from the Equine therapy and
Integral Care Center throughout the month of April.
EFR teaches you how to respond to an emergency, what
you should do, who you should contact and how to
administer potentially lifesaving treatment until
professional help arrives. This training included how to
respond to emergencies with children. This is particularly
relevant for the ludotecarias who can deal with up to
100 children on a daily basis.
The EFR training was a chance to help improve the
organizations and ultimately make the projects safer for
everyone involved. The wider community of Playa del
Carmen benefits from having more people in possession
of these skills should some accident befall them.
After a challenging couple of days of training, our brave
recruits had to toil through an exam about everything
they had learnt, that they all passed with excellence.

GVI MEXICO JUNE 2014, ISSUE 2



























from this research many recommendations for the
future years could be established.
After the conference, the poster was hung on Pez Maya,
so volunteers and staffs have access to the different
information collected, as methodology, results,
conclusions, and recommendations.
EQUINE THERAPY AND INTEGRAL CARE
CENTER CONCERT
The Equine Therapy and Integral Care Center in Playa del
Carmen is our partner in the GVI health project. The
center receives children and youths with disabilities and
provides them with an education as well as physical and
occupational therapies, dependent on their needs.
The Center decided to hold the first of an ongoing
monthly series of concerts in order to raise funds that
will support to continue their operation. They chose to
host music concerts with the intention of bringing
knowledge and understanding of their needs through the
appreciation of music. The GVI Playa hub assisted by
offering ideas for the event, helping with ticket sales,
and offering volunteers to help out on the night.
GVI volunteers, Dani, Paul, and Christie, ready for the concert.
The concert was held on May 17th at the Center. The
musical guests for the month of May were the very
talented
In 2013, GVI partnered with Flora, Fauna y Cultura de
Mxico A.C. and Amigos de Sian Kaan conducting daily
nightly patrols in San Juan beach inside the Sian Kaan
Biosphere Reserve in order to contribute to the recovery
of species of sea turtles nesting on the coast of Quintana
Roo trough the gathering of data on nesting females and
more accurate results on the number of nests in the
zone. Every time a nesting turtle is observed the
following information is collected: time, species, curve
carapace length and width, scars, and tags. If the nest
was located in areas vulnerable to inundation or to
erosion, the nest was relocated in a safe area. Nests can
be classified in 6 categories: predated, destroyed,
inundated, unanalyzed, poached and protected.
Classification of nest categories for every year of survey.
As part of the turtle program, GVI participated in the 34
th

Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and
Conservation hosted by the International Sea Turtle
Society held in New Orleans, USA from the 12
th
to the
18
th
of April. The research done by GVI staff and
volunteers at Pez Maya was presented in a poster to the
different attendees. We had the opportunity to explain
what the turtle program consists of, and to promote the
volunteer program. This participation was a great
achievement as 2013 was the first year that GVI Pez
Maya started with its turtle monitoring program, and
from
GVI MEXICO JUNE 2014, ISSUE 2



























talented Orquesta de Cmara de Playa del Carmen.
Guests were in awe as the orchestra played pieces from
Vivaldi and Bach. Despite the rain on the night, the
event was a huge success with 64 people in attendance
and 3000 pesos raised for the Center.
The next concert will be on July 5th and then once a
month for the rest of the year. GVI are dedicated to
being a part of these events as well as continuing to
support and assist at the Center.
Presentation of the orchestra.
THE AMAZING RACE PLAYA EDITION
GVI loves mixing fun activities with altruistic actions. In
June we decided to raise funds for our local partners
(Save the Children, Cocos Cat Rescue, and The Equine
Therapy and Integral Care Center) in Playa del Carmen
with a mini challenge: The Amazing Race. On June 27
th

the volunteers had to find and complete challenges in
locations all over Playa del Carmen.
Our volunteers have been generously giving their time by
being on projects here physically; however, there are
larger aspects that can be covered by monetary
donations. Such things include replacing broken/flimsy
furniture for the children, supplying medicine or
equipment for the vets, and scholarships for children
whos
whose mums work in the school. As all of them have
worked in the projects and had fallen in love with the
people they were fundraising for, the fire burned even
more and it motivated them to bring their cause to those
back home. Through the GVI Charitable Trust fund, they
were able to create team fundraising pages and were
given an impossibly short time of 4 days to raise as much
as they can. Each person shared their page, told their
story, contacted their loved ones and crashed their social
media with updates. Race day arrived, and it was
revealed that they raised $2,434.45 in 4 days; smashing
the initial goal!
The GVI volunteers ready to start the challenge.
This year, the staff organized a mini-race in the style of
the popular television show, The Amazing Race. The
lucky 12 were split into 4 groups; blue, green, red and
yellow and the aim was to out-raise the other groups
before the race, and to out-race the other groups on the
day. The blue team won with a time of 1 hour and 45
minutes.
A special mention and thank you to our partners at the
Save the Children ludoteca, Special needs School and
Cocos cat rescue for being a part of our locations in our
race. Also a special mention to the staff that helped man
the posts; we even got the Country Director and Program
Coordinator involved! But most of all, a giant
congratulations to our incredible 12; Beth, Lauren,
Nandira
GVI MEXICO JUNE 2014, ISSUE 2



























Nandita, Julia, Freddy, Daisy, Dani, Kim, Katie, Alli, and
Hannah. It was a successful challenge, successful
fundraise and an incredibly fun day that hopefully they
will remember for the rest of their lives.
5 SITES OF MBRS SYNOPTIC MONITORING
COMPLETED FROM APRIL TO JUNE
One of the main objectives of Pez Maya marine
conservation project is to collect data to provide current
information on the status of the reefs in strategic
locations in the north of Sian Ka'an reserve for the
Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) Synoptic
Monitoring Program on behalf of our partners Amigos de
Sian Kaan and CONANP. Participants in the marine
program are trained in the MBRS methodology, through
the identification of fish, hard corals, invertebrates, and
algae. This trimester (April-June) we managed to
complete five out of eleven monitor sites for fish and
coral.
Volunteers ready to go monitoring.
The volunteers are trained in the four different
methodologies of MBRS: Point Intercept method for
percentage cover (PI), characterization of the Coral
Communities (CC), and belt transect counts for defined
fish
fish species, adults and recruitments / juveniles.
Volunteers go through extensive training both in and out
of the water, learning Latin names for corals, conducting
coral and fish identification tests, practice monitoring,
sizing, laying lines, etc. Training can take anywhere
between 4-6 weeks depending on ability, logistics and
weather.
For the April June trimester, the monitored sites were:
Pedro Paila 05 (PP05), Pedro Paila 10 (PP10), San Miguel
de Ruiz 10 (SMDR10), San Miguel de Ruiz 20 (SMDR20),
and Punta Yuyum 20 (PY20). Both coral and fish transects
were completed at these sites. Some of the results for
this trimester are shown in the graphic below.

Densidad por familia de peces
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
Acanthuri dae
Carangi dae
Haemul i dae
Scari dae
Lutjani dae
Monacanthi dae
Pomacanthi dae
Pomacentri dae
Serrani dae
Monitoring results. Density of fish key species families in PP05.
The dominant fish family is Acanthuridae with 84.55%,
this is due to the higher number of individuals of blue
tangs, ocean and doctor surgeon fish, which are most
common in the reef. Also these species often travel and
feed in schools which makes their presence in the
transect higher. PP05 presents a high predominance of
algae cover (74.50%) and a low percentage of hard coral
cover (7.33%).
The hard work the volunteers did during this trimester
allowed to collect the information for five different sites.
Moreover, all the sites were done for both coral and fish
giving us a clear idea of what is happening on the reef.

GVI MEXICO JUNE 2014, ISSUE 2











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