Yucatán’s Biodiversity Threatened by Tren Maya Project

YUCATÁN PENINSULA, MEXICO — The Yucatán Peninsula, one of Mexico's most biodiverse regions, represents a vital bank of life for the entire planet. However, according to critics, the current federal government and those of recent decades have shown no interest in the survival of future generations, placing this geographic zone in a severe water crisis as the jungle that sustains its freshwater reserves is being destroyed from all sides.

Various voices have warned that the decision to operate a freight train on the fragile tracks of the so-called Tren Maya is a misstep. Beyond the continued drain on the national budget, the risk of a railway accident is heightened by the peninsula's unique soil composition. Expert opinions on the matter have reportedly been silenced by the government of the so-called Fourth Transformation (4T).

This week, the international organization Greenpeace México, along with allied organizations, experts, and communities, denounced that the Tren Maya is not merely a tourism project but a mega-infrastructure initiative that paves the way for large-scale environmental devastation and dispossession in southeastern Mexico.

The international body denounces that the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has just authorized land-clearing activities for the construction of a multimodal terminal for the Tren Maya in Cancún, on a 261-hectare plot. This phase threatens to consolidate an extractivist model that puts the region's biodiversity, indigenous territories, and ecological balance at grave risk.

In a statement, Greenpeace México stated it now sees the situation clearly: the freight phase, designed to facilitate the mass transport of goods and natural resources, is beginning. The ocellated turkey, a point of cultural and natural pride for the peninsula, is now a victim of what they term "false development."

The government continues to insist that the Tren Maya is a project of "sustainable development" and "environmental respect," but this authorization shows the opposite, according to the group. A 261-hectare terrain will be destined for this purpose. This is equivalent to 261 soccer fields. If continuous, it could take up to 5 hours of continuous walking to cross a surface of this size.

The statement adds that 12 species are at risk, among them the ocellated turkey, an endemic and culturally important bird. The project is conceived not for local passenger transport but for freight infrastructure, which is identified as the project's true logic.

This reinforces the claims of communities across the Yucatán Peninsula and the "México al grito de ¡Selva!" campaign: that the Tren Maya is an extractivist and dispossession megaproject, not a community project. SEMARNAT is again acting as an environmental guarantor of ecocide, instead of halting the devastation, the organization said.

"From Greenpeace México, we demand a grand agreement to protect the Maya Forest from all the threats that assail it day after day," emphasized the international environmentalist organization.

Among the alleged fallacies of the 4T, it has an ally in a party that calls itself ecological, but its leaders are among those benefiting from the destruction of the Maya Forest, the article states.

This week, media outlets including Aristegui Noticias and CAMBIO 22 reported that Lourdes Medina, a lawyer for The Network in Defense of Water and the Maya Territory "To’one Ja’o’on" (We Are Water), and Wilberht Nahuat, a spokesperson, outlined the terms of a lawsuit they will file next Monday against the pig farming industry in Yucatán.

The lawsuit, to be presented to SEMARNAT, the National Water Commission (Conagua), and the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), demands environmental reparations, as well as administrative and criminal sanctions against the more than 500 pig farms operating in the state of Yucatán.

This network brings together more than 20 Yucatecan localities that are being directly affected by the pig farming industry, whose impact is not only environmental—through the contamination of aquifers—but also social and economic.

Since 2023, SEMARNAT conducted a study on the negative impact of the pig farming industry in Yucatán, but following the diagnosis, no concrete actions were implemented to address this problem, which now affects numerous communities, many located less than 100 meters from pig farms.

Therefore, on Monday, September 8, a formal complaint will be filed with SEMARNAT, Conagua, and Profepa demanding not only environmental reparations but also administrative and criminal sanctions against the more than 500 pig farming companies that have continued to operate irregularly and without heeding the recommendations of the corresponding authorities.