It will take at least 20 years for the 1,500 trees that the Yucatán government plans to plant to repair the damage caused by deforestation during the construction of the Ie-Tram lanes to reach maturity, if their growth is guaranteed after planting.
Salvador Castell González, director of the organization “Va por la Tierra” (Fighting for the Earth), acknowledged that in recent days, the authorities have begun reforestation efforts in the area of 39th Avenue, east of the city.
However, he stated that trees planted in these campaigns, such as cedar, jicarito, balché, anacahuita, among others, take between 10 and 20 years to reach maturity or to reach the size of the trees that were cut down at the beginning of the year when the construction works began.
Furthermore, he criticized that when authorities talk about reforestation, they should ensure the survival of the trees planted during the campaigns, as “it is not the same to plant a thousand trees and have 900 of them die, as to plant 100 and have all of them survive.”
In that regard, he pointed out that according to official photographs, the holes made for the reforestation of the Ie-Tram project do not have sufficient depth, the appropriate distance between each tree, nor enough fertile soil for them to take root.
Additionally, Castell González mentioned that the Ministry of Sustainable Development (SDS) made a mistake in choosing a season of heatwaves to begin planting the new trees since, without receiving sufficient and constant water, they will also die.
The damage pointed out by Castell González was already starting to show in the areas where some trees were recently planted.
Not even seven days have passed, and some of the specimens are already wilting. There are even some that were uprooted from their holes due to the lack of depth caused by Saturday’s rainfall.
The areas where more trees will be planted in the coming days are already marked.
TYT Newsroom
