Development Challenges on the Baja California Peninsula: The Escalera Náutica

Abstract

The primary allure of the Baja California peninsula is its unspoiled natural beauty. For decades, the region has struggled to balance conservation of its natural resources with ever-increasing pressures to generate economic development. Tourism projects, often looked to as the answer to maintaining this balance, face the inherent challenge of exploiting the peninsula’s precious natural landscapes without endangering their often fragile existence for use by future generations. The Escalera Náutica project, a plan to develop a chain of 24 marinas to provide North American yachters with the means and motivation to make the long journey south to Baja California and Baja California Sur, faces the challenge described previously on an unprecedented scale. Without careful scrutiny, expansion of institutional infrastructure, and enforcement of existing environmental laws, development of this magnitude and the resulting influx of people will undermine the rare ecology and stark natural beauty that make the peninsula unique.