Five Zones in Playa del Carmen Lose Urban Jungle to Construction Boom

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Construction and land clearing are eating into the urban jungle in five areas of Playa del Carmen, environmentalist Laura Patiño warned, as she urged residents to help defend the green spaces that remain and to value the nature that drew many of them to the resort destination in the first place.

Patiño, president of the association Moce Yax Cuxtal, identified Chenzubul, Palmas II, Las Perlas, Punta Venado and a park in Mayakoba as the sites that have raised the most concern among residents. She said neighbors regularly approach the organization asking how to protect these areas and how to file complaints over the damage.

Reforestation Efforts Outpaced

Patiño argued that the pace of vegetation loss has overwhelmed the response capacity of residents and grassroots groups. Reforestation days that draw between 50 and 100 volunteers to plant 60 or 70 trees cannot keep up with the clearing that continues across the city, she said.

“We are in a very serious environmental crisis,” she said.

Concrete and Rising Heat

She also warned that replacing trees with concrete surfaces drives up urban heat and increases reliance on air conditioning, which in turn raises demand for electricity. Preserving vegetation, she said, must form part of decisions about how Playa del Carmen grows and about the living conditions of its residents.

Patiño called on residents to watch for damage in their own surroundings and to take part in caring for the natural spaces that still survive. Protecting the urban jungle requires broader community involvement on top of the reforestation drives that organizations already carry out, she said.