This protected area was created by the Municipality of Puerto Madryn in 2001 and two years later the Management Plan that through its objectives, establishes actions to conserve biodiversity and natural resources, educate and provide services and equipment was developed for public use of its visitors. During the whale season, we were visited continually media local, provincial and national press, where we have a great responsibility to spread this wonderful place in the most serious way possible. We are the “visible face” of the Doradillo. She coordinates a team of Municipal Wardens who are responsible for carrying out the field work, mainly the control and monitoring, environmental education and information to visitors throughout the year. The guys from Puerto Madryn receive the whales. We are pleased to carry out this environmental education program 10 years ago. A sustained program being conducted by the Municipality of Puerto Madryn and participatory because it includes voluntary school students 728 involved collaborating with recreational activities of children on the beach and are tour guides responsible for providing information during the trip to El Doradillo on the bus and after creating experiences with children to enjoy the wonderful behavior of whales in full reproductive stage and the environment in general. Everything is used.
While the center is the presence of whales, we interpretive walks where we talk about the flora, birds, guinea pigs and also took the opportunity to spread good environmental practices. We spread the importance of not leaving any residue in the protected area, not to use the vegetation of the area to fire, to care for the dunes and beaches. To respect and care paths as fragile as the Patagonian desert where the human footprint quickly leaves its mark place. Create environmental awareness among fourth graders is the main objective. During the educational talks in schools provide information on different topics such as conservation and protected areas, tourism, wildlife steppe, biology of the southern right whale and a special topic that is dedicated to the Doradillo. We transmit and disseminate important in children the values that Puerto Madryn has Doradillo as protected area, with the intention of achieving closer to the local community who are those most visit the beaches, mainly in summer.
“Knowing the place helps preserve it. So we also work in promoting the place out and into the community, so they do own to the Doradillo and they themselves decide to keep it. “Some time ago, I worked with a team of patagónicos concerning specialists in protected area management in the development of ISO standards for public use in protected areas. Last year the World Tourism Organization (OMT) chose the Doradillo to develop a specific course for Latin American and Caribbean concerning protected areas. It was an intensive one-week course with luxury speakers where all learned a lot and shared experiences. To finish work in groups and draw up proposals for public use with today’s Doradillo has to implement and improve services to visitors without affecting the conservation of the site. We are currently working with the National Tourism Quality System of the Ministry of Tourism of the Nation, to achieve more quality in each of the processes that we conducted in protected area management.
And we distinguish Management Guidelines and now we are on the revalidation of the Guidelines and the National Quality Award. Also within our work we receive and assist scientists who develop their research in the Doradillo. The Ministry of Tourism distinguished in Tourism Management Guidelines for Municipalities in 2010 and in 2012 was achieved revalidation. Family tourism and tourist accessibility are distinctions that our reporting center received in 2012. The following year the credit was for the environment with the award for Environmental Management Guidelines for the Municipality of Madryn and this year it was the turn of the Doradillo he achieved the distinction Accessibility Guidelines, the first distinction for a Natural protected area in Argentina. Having achieved this distinction means that the Doradillo provides services for all through the wooden walkways that allow quick and easy access to the beach for people with reduced mobility, the brochures in Braille and of course most importantly all rangers are trained in sign language and Braille language. When I started working, my office was the field itself. Every workday was relieving, taking data, taking pictures and talking to people, in winter and summer; with long coat or looking a shadow. Always with the management plan in hand, looking for ways to condition the area for visitors, trying to impact as little as possible. We also statistical records that serve as inputs for planning.
The rapid increase in tourism in protected areas registered in recent decades, has caused undesirable environmental impacts, with a growing concern for managers of protected areas planning tourist and recreational visits. Here I give work study by William Felgueras specially dedicated to the Doradillo and comes to environmental complexity, risks and tourism in Valdés Peninsula.
From Punta Flecha observatory of the Natural Patagonia Foundation, located at 20 meters high it is an ideal place to see them up close and hear the additional power through a hydrophone that this foundation has installed place. An interview on coastal whale watching underwent Rural Canal Adrian Rodriguez, a graduate in tourism in the Natural Patagonia Foundation also has on its educational program for children in 6th grade, which deepens the problem of desertification on the waste generated, filtration of water and care for the sea.
