Playa del Carmen Residents Protest Bepensa Over Jungle Destruction

Playa del Carmen, MX — Approximately 50 residents from the Lol-Tun, Balam-Tun, and Lolka-Tun housing complexes protested this morning to denounce the company Bepensa, which aims to expand the construction of its perimeter wall by devastating the jungle adjacent to Xcalacoco Avenue.

The protesters gathered around 8 a.m., holding banners and signs, to demand that authorities take immediate action on the matter.

Gabriel González Alcantar, one of the organizers of the protest, stated that workers with heavy machinery are devastating the jungle daily on these Bepensa-owned lands.

He affirmed that a month ago, they reported this case to the Environmental Protection Agency (PPA) and the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), and as a result, the work was halted, but only for a few days.

He claimed that although these lands belong to Bepensa, to change the land use, the company needs to obtain an Environmental Impact Statement, in addition to protecting specimens of trees and other protected flora, which has not been done in this case.

He maintained that the company declares in its own Sustainability Report its commitment to environmental care; however, he said, this work contradicts those words.

He indicated that the devastated area is a biological corridor connecting the residential areas with the coastal strip, home to and a passage for spider monkeys, deer, birds, reptiles, small mammals, and pollinators.

He mentioned that members of Cenotes Urbanos have inspected the area and have detected caves with insectivorous bats, which provide an invaluable ecosystem service, in addition to finding species protected by NOM 059: Thatch palm (Thrinax radiata), Elephant’s foot (Beaucarnea pliabilis), and Spider monkeys (genus Ateles), whose integrity should prevent any clearing without rigorous environmental assessments.

He emphasized that the loss of this ecosystem will mean irreversible impacts on local fauna and flora; interruption of ecological connectivity; risks of contamination to the aquifer system; effects on community well-being and health; and violation of the human right to a healthy environment.

The protester demanded that municipal, state, and environmental authorities review permits and the Environmental Impact Statement, suspend the progress of deforestation works, conduct an environmental assessment that considers the ecological, hydrological, and faunal relevance of the site; modify and update Urban Development Programs and Plans to ensure the protection of remaining jungle areas within the city.

Additionally, he proposed establishing urban conservation zones that guarantee the permanence of these remnants of jungle as essential green areas for the community, as well as reaching a binding agreement with Bepensa for the conservation of this area.

“If we let that concrete slab settle, we know we will lose integration with the animals. Not only that: practically the reason we are alive. We are alive not just to make more money, we are alive to protect this land,” he concluded.