Yucatan mangrove ecosystem highly damaged

Mérida, Yucatán.- The lack of supervision and vigilance by federal agencies that allow hotels to clear mangroves has caused significant damage to the state’s coastal ecosystems, said researcher Jorge Herrera Silveira, head of the Marine Sciences Unit at Cinvestav-Mérida.

Herrera Silveira explained that the rise in sea level is causing greater pressure on the ecosystems of the Yucatan coast, which is aggravated by the growth of tourist developments, deforestation, impact on beaches, and an increase in population in high-risk areas such as marshes and wetlands invaded by irregular settlements.

The specialist spoke before a forum called “Impact of climate change in mangroves, mitigation of ecosystems and global warming”, in which he insisted on the need for greater awareness and social co-responsibility for the impact that humans cause on these ecosystems and natural areas.

He stressed that the Yucatan peninsula is suffering the effects of global warming with the rising seas, which put pressure on these ecosystems that are highly fragile, which cannot move due to the constructions and buildings of irregular settlements.

“The problem is not only seen in coastal areas, but also in cities and population centers that are built without planning, as happens in the favelas of the towns in the center of the country, where the growth of a river causes flooding,” he said.

He insisted that the high vulnerability of these spaces compromises the quality of life not only of human beings, but also of hundreds of species of flora and fauna that depend on these fragile spaces.