Agua Clara Ciudadanos por Bacalar A.C., in collaboration with the German Cooperation for Sustainable Development (GIZ), coordinated the first bi-national meeting on water quality monitoring of the Lake Petén-Itzá (Guatemala) and Bacalar Lagoon (Mexico) on November 19 and 20, 2019.

The objective was to promote the dissemination of water quality monitoring data, with the aim of improving the management of both water bodies. Collaborators of the Territorial Dialogue Platform of Petén, Guatemala shared their experiences with academics, civil society organizations and representatives of Mexican government institutions.

This first meeting marked important progress in inter-institutional collaboration and public awareness. Decision-makers and experts in the field are called to action. The next step is a knowledge sharing meeting: towards the effective management of the Bacalar Lagoon, to be held on May 22, 2020. This meeting is expected to set out the rules for building a dialogue platform, compiling monitoring data and research results related to the problem of the Bacalar lagoon, and will serve as a first call for the integral protection of the lagoon.