Cancún, Quintana Roo — An environmental group has filed a complaint with federal authorities over a large residential and hotel development in Mahahual, accusing the project of filling mangrove wetlands and causing beach erosion.
Grupo Gema del Mayab A.C. presented a popular complaint Wednesday with the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) over the Lahun Tiku development, located near kilometer 18 of the coastal road south of Mahahual, adjacent to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve.
The group alleges that the project has filled mangrove areas and installed geotextile tubes — sand-filled synthetic containers — parallel to the beach, stretching 150 to 200 meters. The infrastructure has caused a visible imbalance in the coastal ecosystem, the group said in a statement.
“The installation of fences in the sea (geotextiles) has caused beach erosion, loss of vegetation, and loss of sand where sea turtles nest,” the group said.
The area serves as a nesting site for several protected sea turtle species, including the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), all listed as at-risk under Mexican official standard NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 and on the IUCN Red List.
The group also reported that mangrove species on the property — including buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus), red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), white mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa), and black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) — have been filled. The filling and infrastructure alter the beach profile and violate the General Wildlife Law, the group said, and also affect habitat for the jaguar (Panthera onca), which has been reported feeding on domestic animals and sea turtles in the area.
Lahun Tiku is planned as a complex of 300 residential homes, 1,000 hotel rooms, 10 restaurants, a research center, a medical center, and chapels on a 200-hectare coastal property. The beachfront sand strip is about 60 meters wide, and half the property consists of mangroves.
Developers submitted the project to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) for approval in 2023.
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