Environmental Groups Warn of Setback in Environmental Justice Over Bachoco Poultry Farm Ruling in Yucatan

Merida, Yucatan — Human rights organizations, environmental groups, ejidos, and Maya communities in the Yucatan Peninsula are warning of a potential setback in environmental justice over a draft judicial ruling that could prevent indigenous peoples and agrarian communities from challenging potentially polluting projects unless they first prove environmental damage.

The concern centers on the draft ruling for Amparo en Revisión 47/2025, currently under review by the Collegiate Court on Criminal and Administrative Matters in Yucatan. The case involves permits granted to the Akutzá poultry project by Bachoco, located in the municipality of Peto, near the border with Quintana Roo.

According to the organizations, the draft ruling would dismiss a lawsuit filed in 2023 by communities and ejidos from Quintana Roo, supported by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (ProDESC), on the grounds that they failed to demonstrate a legitimate interest to challenge the environmental and construction permits for the farm.

The document argues that the communities did not provide sufficient evidence of environmental harm caused by the project, particularly regarding potential impacts on groundwater and the Laguna de Chichankanab, a Ramsar-designated wetland of international importance.

However, the organizations maintain that the communities did establish their connection to the territory, as they are members of ejidos and indigenous peoples who depend on the ecosystem for agriculture, water supply, and daily use.

They warned that if this criterion is upheld, the case would be closed without a court ever examining the merits — that is, without determining whether the farm could cause adverse or irreversible environmental impacts in a region considered highly vulnerable due to the karst characteristics of the peninsula’s aquifer.

Contradiction with Recent Supreme Court Rulings

The organizations noted that the draft ruling departs from recent precedents set by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation.

They recalled that in May, when resolving Amparo en Revisión 451/2025 concerning the Environmental Technical Standard for pig farms in Yucatan, the Supreme Court recognized that Maya communities have a legitimate interest to go to court when seeking to protect their territory, the environment, and their collective rights.

In that ruling, the Supreme Court determined that the communities’ arguments must be examined on their merits and that access to environmental justice should be interpreted broadly when indigenous peoples are involved.

The organizations also argued that the draft ruling ignores principles enshrined in the Escazú Agreement and Mexican environmental law, which establish that in cases of environmental risk, it is up to authorities and companies to prove there is no danger of harm, not for communities to prove actual damage in order to access the courts.

A Case That Could Set a Precedent

The conflict comes amid the expansion of the poultry and pig farming industry in the Yucatan Peninsula, a region where experts have warned about the vulnerability of the aquifer due to the rapid infiltration of pollutants into cenotes, underground rivers, and water tables.

According to data cited by ProDESC, the Akutzá project involves a hatching egg production farm on nearly 300 hectares in Peto.

The organizations said the Collegiate Court’s decision could have repercussions beyond this specific case, as it will determine whether communities can seek justice to prevent environmental damage or whether they must wait for harm to occur before their rights are recognized.

“Just a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court recognized that Maya communities have a legitimate interest to go to court when seeking to defend their territories from the impacts of the pig farming industry. It would be deeply contradictory to now validate a criterion that requires communities to prove damage that is nearly impossible to demonstrate before a judge even examines the merits of the case,” said Guillermo Torres Domínguez, legal coordinator of ProDESC.

In response, the organizations called on the magistrates to guarantee effective access to environmental justice, apply the principles of prevention and precaution, gather evidence ex officio when indigenous peoples are involved, and recognize the legitimate interest of the communities that filed the lawsuit.

Signatory groups include ProDESC, Greenpeace Mexico, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA), Kanan Human Rights, the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Forestry, the Utsil Kuxtal Human Rights Center, and various organizations that are part of the OSC Space.