Playa del Carmen Poplar Spared the Axe, Will Move to Highway 307 Median

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A poplar tree in the Colonia Zazil-Há neighborhood of Playa del Carmen will be relocated to the median of Federal Highway 307 rather than cut down, following a citizen complaint and an inspection by local authorities and utility crews.

The tree stands on Quinta Bis street at 40 Avenida. Municipal officials, along with personnel from the CFE (Federal Electricity Commission) and Teléfonos de México (Telmex), went to the site after residents reported that dry branches had begun falling, creating a fire risk because of nearby power lines.

Rafael Reynoso Valdez, president of the Mexican Association of Arborists of the Southeast, said the tree would be moved from the city center to a new location where it can keep growing.

“A poplar will be relocated from the center of the city to another area where we can give it life and avoid it being felled,” Reynoso Valdez said. “We want to save the trees that pose a threat of damage to real estate infrastructure.”

The new site is the median of Federal Highway 307 at the height of the Mayakobá hotel complex. Reynoso Valdez described the tree as one of the main sources of shade and landscape in the area.

The move comes amid growing scrutiny of tree removal in Playa del Carmen, where residents have protested the felling of older specimens in the city center and have filed complaints over construction near underground rivers.