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The Ria Celestun Biosphere Reserve is located on the northwest of the Yucatan Peninsula, 90 kilometers from the city of Merida. Its surface includes mangroves, hummocks (petenes), dunes and coastal lagoons, as well as flooded grassland. Within the Reserve there are certain critical habitats such as the Yaltón estuary, used as feeding, reproduction and growth area by a great variety of species of fish, molluscs and crustaceans.

The biological, ecological and aesthetic attributes and the good conservation state of the main ecosystems of the Reserve are the base for the two main economic activities: fishing and tourism. Both represent important sources of income to different sectors of the society. Nevertheless, the coexistence of ecosystems with multiple natural resources has implied interactions, conflicts, different interests concerning the use of the natural resources which is lately causing a negative impact on some natural resources. For that reason, the management of these reserve zones is an enormous challenge which in the long term has to aim towards the sustainable management of the natural resources, together with suitable protection and preservation of the ecosystems, to benefit the local communities.

The strategic planning in the protected natural areas has evolved through the years, and at the moment it no longer is simply a task of monitoring, rather to become a process in which scientific experts, the local community with its experience and knowledge and the decision makers work together and promote a joint action. This process creates a defined program that is well planned, is conservation-orientated and promotes sustainable use of the natural resources in the long term.

The final strategic planning objective in the Ria Celestun Biosphere Reserve is to develop a strategy of sustainable management of natural resources in the short, medium and long term. to reach this objective a multidisciplinary effort is made that includes different approaches:

1. Ecological approach: Means that the site is a functional, ecological and self sustainable entity and that the productive activities affect neither the environment nor the community negatively.
2. Economical approach: In order that the site contributes to the well-being of the community, simultaneously guaranteeing protection of the critically important habitat, which is of importance for commercially valuable species.
3. Social approach: The Reserve aims to improve the quality of life of the entire community.