Abstract

Hurricane “Wilma”, the second most powerful hurricane ever to hit the Mexican Caribbean, stroke the northeast coast of the Yucatan Peninsula between 19th and 21st of October of 2005. It caused considerable damage on the tourism infrastructure of Cancun and within the city itself. It also had a tremendous impact on the coral reef formations of three areas which combined conform the Federal National Park Isla Mujeres-Cancún-Nizuc which surrounds the world famous tourism resort of Cancun. The results of a rehabilitation program are shown here, in which more than 65 trained instructors participated. The steps followed are presented as an example for future events and for the generation of contingency plans for this kind of events. In addition, the costs of the overall project are described and it is explained how federal funds were used for this program. Experience shows that this kind of programs is useful, especially because damage occurred within a protected area with one of the highest visitation levels in the world. It is also shown how the project is used for educational purposes for tourist visiting the rehabilitation sites in the protected area instead of closing the area for natural recovering

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