Residents report that real estate developers are removing sand from nesting areas
MÉRIDA, Yucatán.- The hawksbill turtle in Yucatán is a vulnerable species and is threatened by various factors, as reported by residents and neighbors of the municipality of Telchac Puerto, who denounced the extraction of sand from beaches where hawksbill turtles nest and lay their eggs.
They pointed out that the people involved in this activity belong to private companies, apparently, construction companies, which with the help of heavy machinery extract sandbanks.
Neighbors of Telchac Puerto explained that the worst part of the matter is that the area where this activity takes place is where hawksbill turtles usually lay their eggs during their nesting cycles.
Porteños indicated that these facts have already been reported to the mayor of the port, Alfredo Marrufo Díaz.
They indicated that they decided to publicly denounce the incident to see if any federal authorities, such as the Federal Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa) and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), would intervene.
The looting of sand by private individuals began several days ago, and they fear that the biological cycle of the turtles during their natural nesting period will be harmed.
They also asked for greater vigilance in the eastern coastal strip to avoid sand plundering and destruction of mangroves.
According to the State Government’s website, the Sea Turtle Protection and Conservation Program has been in action since 1990, and the Secretary of Ecology has three Sea Turtle Protection and Conservation Centers in the ports of Sisal, Telchac Puerto, and Dzilam de Bravo.
Likewise, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) places it in Appendix 1, which includes all endangered species that are or may be affected by trade.
This level of international cooperation is essential for the protection of hawksbill turtles given their wide geographic range.
TYT Newsroom
