The right of way, stations and complementary works of the Maya Train on Southern Section 5, which runs from Playa del Carmen to Tulum, in Quintana Roo, will clear 485.4 hectares of jungle.
The National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur) submitted the Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) to obtain the necessary authorization.
The document contains the details of the works to be carried out, as well as the possible damage to local ecosystems and the remediation strategies.
On March 6, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reported that in the 1,500 kilometers of road covered by the project, only 100 hectares of vegetation would be dismantled.
On April 24 of this year, after refusing the meeting with a group of activists against the project, the Office of Social Communication of the Presidency issued a statement, in which it was noted that the entire Section 5 contemplated the felling of 300 hectares of achual. However, the MIA contradicts that version.
Although the president has emphasized that only acahuales, a plant no more than one meter high, will be felled, the MIA document points out that in order to build the infrastructure of the Train in this subsection, secondary vegetation of medium subevergreen jungle will be dismantled, where there are species of flora considered endangered and protected by the Official Mexican Standard 059-Semarnat-2010.
The presence of aquatic vegetation such as mangroves and tulle in the area of influence is also recognized.
In South Section 5, in addition to the roads, it is intended to build two stations, three substations and a maintenance base; 30 wildlife passages, eight access roads and drainage works.
Construction work began in February 2022, without Environmental Impact authorization from Semarnat, as required by the General Law on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection.
Instead, the federal government relied on a presidential decree that declared infrastructure works to be of “national interest”.
The MIA presented by Fonatur for this section states that work will begin once proper authorization is obtained, for a period of 24 months.
The Presidency of the Republic also indicated in its statement of April 24 that there will be no damage to cenotes and underground rivers, but the MIA recognizes that the railway line passes over three karst areas and the cave system of the Tulum area, as well as a geological fracture.
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