New Underwater Museum

Photo: Jason Taylor's sculptures, now in Mexico.

Mexico has plans to protect the regions coral reefs. The solution may seem a little strange at first; but, authorities are convinced that sinking approximately 400 figures made of concrete will save the reefs.

The figures will be submerged in the Caribbean sea near Cancun. The Sculpture Underwater Museum will be located at the Parque Nacional Costa Occidental. This park is located around Mujeres Island, Punta Cancun and Punta Nizuc.

This area attracts around 290,000 tourists a year. This brings alot of economic wealth which the locals don't want to lose; but, it also adds alot of pressure to the region's natural resources which the locals don't want to lose either.

According to Tierramerica, the idea is to drive tourist attention from the Mexican Caribbean sea's coral reefs onto the newly created museum.

The concrete statues will be PH neutral allowing the natural growth of algae and the unobstructed proliferation of invertebrates. The area will become an attractive haven for sea life providing scuba divers with an area away from the coral reefs that will give them a break.

Jaime Gonzalez Cano, director of the national park, is confident that this will act almost as a restoration of the natural coral reefs. He said to Tierramerica: "With this museum we will warranty a better distribution of the tourists and we will give the reefs some rest. It will be almost like a restoration because by being more healthy, the reefs will be stronger against hurricanes."

In just one short month, the first four statues should be in place. Two hundred and fifty should be in place by 2010. Jason de Caires Taylor, famous for his underwater art work, will be responsible for the sculptures along with other artists.

Via TreeHugger