Climate change and the natural phenomena during 2020 could be the main reasons.
The production of honey in Tulum experienced its lowest production in the last 20 years and went from a 30-ton annual harvest to a one-single ton in 2020.
Aniceto Caamal Cocom, president of the Center for the Safeguarding of Uses and Customs, informed that climate change is one of the main causes.
The production of honey in this part of the state is located in a particular way in the Mayan Zone of the municipality of Tulum, where the communities near Cobá continue with the work they inherited from a long ancestral tradition.
According to Caamal Cocom, honey production, besides being an economic activity that allows communities to earn money, is an indicator of the health of the ecosystem, which is why he called for environmental mitigation and recovery measures.
“At least last year, we thought that the crisis situation would be temporary, but the truth is that it is already a reality, so it is urgent that governments, businesses work to recover what was lost with ecosystems,” said the interviewee.
Much of the honey production, particularly the Mayan melipone, is exported to Europe where a kilogram of this product reaches a cost of up to one thousand pesos.
Before the resounding drop in production, a dozen producers in the area had begun an alliance with suppliers in France, where there was a plan to use the honey in cosmetic products because of its high attributed properties.
