📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
PROJECT: AMVIAC together with the Bacalar City Council, YZ Projects, the Emerge Bak Halal Foundation, the MIA Foundation and the civil association Ecology and Conservation Dharma A.C., carry out a photographic camp in the Bacalar Lagoon, with the theme "Preserving the 7 colors. The objective of this camp is to raise awareness among the local population, tourists and especially the participants, about the great importance of the Bacalar Lagoon worldwide. The Bacalar Lagoon, better known as La Laguna de los 7 Colores, is the second largest lagoon in Mexico, with about 60 km long and up to 2 km wide. It is a biosphere that houses different ecosystems such as jungles, savannahs, cenotes, prickly pears, dunes and wetlands with important extensions of mangal that connect the different bodies of water in the region. Thanks to the connectivity and ecological balance that exists between these ecosystems, this region is home to countless species of fish, reptiles, birds, invertebrates and mammals such as the otter. Also in this special lagoon is the largest colony of stromatolites in the world, considered living fossils for being the first species of life that appeared on the planet around 3,500 million years ago. All this range of life within the lagoon makes Bacalar unique worldwide, which is worth preserving. The tools that will be used to meet the objectives of the project will be photography and international volunteering, aligning the planned activities with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 2030, in particular goals 13 ( Climate Action and 14 ( Submarine life. Experts in the environmental and photographic areas will guide the volunteers through practical workshops and actions that allow the local population to be shown photographic images of the importance of protecting the lagoon.
💼 What the programme involves
Volunteers will use photographic themes to make visits to places of interest in the area. They will learn photographic techniques, use of parameters and exposure, angles and perspectives, landscape, night photography, nature photography, self-portrait and documentary photography. They will visit emblematic places such as the different cenotes of the lagoon, the wetlands, sites of geohydrological interest with influence on the lagoon system, the Kohunlich archaeological zone, the Fort of San Felipe and the recognized sites of the Magical Town of Bacalar. In addition, the volunteers will participate in actions of environmental protection, cleaning of spaces by the FundaciEn MIA Sustentable and in the "ReciclatEn" organized by the Bacalar City Council. The photographic results will be shown in an exhibition at the end of the camp and this will be open to the general public, thus contributing to the environmental actions undertaken at the local level by the Bacalar City Council and local organizations
🏠 Accommodation on site
Accommodation will be in a house with all facilities at disposal. Volunteers will prepare their own meals collectively. There might be some invitations to local restaurants from time to time.
📍 About the location
Bacalar is a touristic place which is under a mass development that carries out many problems for the lagoon and this is exactly the theme of the camp which needs to be addressed by the volunteers with the photographs they take. It is a also a very nice place to enjoy nature and there several possibilities to discover the local culture, environment and history.
ℹ️ Additional information
Be aware of the possibility for the group to participate in local actions that will complement their main photo tasks. They can be invited to join in cleaning activities, present their countries to local population, share best practices of environment preservation and so on. Interacting with the community is one of the main objectives of the camp and volunteering and photography will be used as tools to create community as well.