Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park

Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park
Map showing the location of Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park
Map showing the location of Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park
LocationCozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Nearest citySan Miguel de Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Coordinates20°17′37″N 87°01′29″W / 20.29361°N 87.02472°W / 20.29361; -87.02472
Area120 km2 (46 sq mi)
EstablishedJuly 19, 1996[1]
Governing bodySecretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources
Official nameParque Nacional Arrecifes de Cozumel
Designated2 February 2005
Reference no.1449[2]
Map

The Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park is off the coast of the island of Cozumel in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The Cozumel reef system is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the second largest coral reef system in the world.[3][4] Even though almost the entire island of Cozumel is surrounded by coral reefs, the park only encompasses the reefs on the south side of the island. It begins just south of the International Pier and continues down and around Punta Sur and up just a small portion of the east side of the island. The park contains both shallow and mesophotic coral reefs and extends to the 100 m depth isobar.[5]

This park is protected under the Ramsar Convention along with Manglares y Humedales del Norte de Isla Cozumel, they both are included in the UNESCO protected area called Isla Cozumel Biosphere Reserve, Mexico.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference declaration was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Parque Nacional Arrecifes de Cozumel". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  3. ^ Chollett, Iliana; Garavelli, Lysel; Holstein, Daniel; Cherubin, Laurent; Fulton, Stuart; Box, Stephen J. (December 2017). "A case for redefining the boundaries of the Mesoamerican Reef Ecoregion". Coral Reefs. 36 (4): 1039–1046. Bibcode:2017CorRe..36.1039C. doi:10.1007/s00338-017-1595-4. ISSN 0722-4028. S2CID 43249461.
  4. ^ Gress, Erika; Voss, Joshua D.; Eckert, Ryan J.; Rowlands, Gwilym; Andradi-Brown, Dominic A. (2019), Loya, Yossi; Puglise, Kimberly A.; Bridge, Tom C.L. (eds.), "The Mesoamerican Reef", Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems, vol. 12, Springer International Publishing, pp. 71–84, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92735-0_5, ISBN 9783319927343, S2CID 181668611
  5. ^ Gress Erika; Arroyo-Gerez Maria J.; Wright Georgina; Andradi-Brown Dominic A. (2018). "Assessing mesophotic coral ecosystems inside and outside a Caribbean marine protected area". Royal Society Open Science. 5 (10): 180835. doi:10.1098/rsos.180835. PMC 6227970. PMID 30473832.
  6. ^ "Isla Cozumel Biosphere Reserve, Mexico". UNESCO. 15 November 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2020.