@ Fonatur
One of the main megaprojects of the current president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – the Maya Train. Some see in it an economic improvement for the South of the country that will bring work and wealth to the population, others perceive it as a destructive force that will cause more harm than good.
The NGO Jaguar Wildlife Center, located in Quintana Roo, denounced that Section 5 North and South of the Maya Train will have various environmental and social impacts, such as the deterioration of nature and increasing scarcity of resources, as well as unequal development and social division. The project, which has an estimated cost of 180 million pesos, is “favoring the reduction of forest cover, the isolation of populations of flora and fauna, the interruption of biological corridors, the change of microclimates and the transformation of habitat”, the organization says. In addition, it will cause the destruction of “an immense reserve of fresh and pristine water that maintains an ecological and hydrogeological balance and that in turn sustains important ecosystems such as wetlands and the Mesoamerican reef, which are carbon sinks.”
According to Jaguar Wildlife Center, the Maya Train and its construction will not benefit the Maya population, quite the contrary. The beneficiaries will be the hotel, transport and restaurant chains. To demand a stop to the construction of Section 5 and to draw attention to the possible consequences, the organization launched a petition backed by more than 75 thousand signatures.
Likewise, it demands the consultation of the indigenous peoples on the Maya Train project, which, it states, has not been carried out until now.
For more information in Spanish:
Organizaciones ambientales reúnen firmas contra nuevo trazo del Tren Maya(Educa, 16 de febrero de 2022)
Organización ambiental reúne firmas contra nuevo trazo del Tren Maya(Aristegui noticias, 15 de febrero de 2022)
Ambientalistas y científicos piden consulta sobre el tramo 5 del Tren Maya (La Jornada Maya, 14 de febrero de 2022)
For more information from SIPAZ:
sipazen.wordpress.com 