Environmentalist warns about ‘devastation’ in Cozumel’s “El Cedral”

COZUMEL — “The roads that are allowed to be built in El Cedral must be three meters wide, and only made when necessary, because this is an ecological reserve”, said the environmentalist president of the organization Sky, Land and Sea ( Cielo, Tierra y Mar: Citymar), Guadalupe Álvarez Chulim.

She explained that the UGA P1 does not allow buildings that affect the environment, so the road they are constructing is going to harm the natural resources significantly, because El Cedral is the habitat for many species such as wild hogs, pheasants, birds, reptiles, wild turkey, among others.

“A large number of chechen, zapates and chaca trees were devastated during the road construction, and these are three species listed in the Official Standard Number 059 as protected, the ejido commissioner should not have allowed those trees to be cut,” said Álvarez Chulim.

She stated that the fact that they are ejidatarios does not give them the right to harm the environment, because they have to respect the law, and the Municipal authorities should take action in this matter, but according to Álvarez Chulim, Municipal President Perla Tun Pech is not doing her job in terms of natural resources protection.

“The direction of ecology should the responsible of filing a complaint against the foreign company that built that road in order to take people to the cenote to dive”, she continued.

She also emphasized that the cenotes are vital to preserve the ecosystem, so if they are not properly taken care of, there could be irreversible affectations.

Álvarez Chulim accused the ejidatarios of allowing the degradation of the environment, and she said that they are aware of the territorial ordering program, but are not abiding the law.

Finally, she explained that if the City Council made the complaint, federal environmental authorities such as PROFEPA, would enforce the law, and she recalled that on March this year, the Biosphere Reserve of Cozumel was signed.

Source: https://www.lajornadamaya.mx/