Mexican communities ask court to cancel road in Sian Ka'an — Mongabay
In Mexico, local communities are seeking a final cancellation through the courts of a road project in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on the Caribbean coast. They also demand the restoration of areas damaged during the work. Environmental groups say the construction threatens mangrove forests, forest ecosystems, cenotes and dunes, Mongabay reports.
Road within the reserve
The Puerta al Mar project, or “Door to the Sea,” envisages a 54.6-kilometer road between the city of Felipe Carrillo Puerto and the coastal village of Vigía Chico. Of this length, 23.7 km are located within the reserve. The project also includes a parking lot, a storage area, a guard post, an electrical substation and water treatment infrastructure.
The project is the responsibility of Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense, Sedena, as part of the broader development of the Tren Maya railway project on the Yucatán Peninsula. Construction of the road began in 2023 under a decree by then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which accelerated the issuance of permits and licenses for Tren Maya and other projects designated as being in the public interest and important to national security.
Appeal to the court
In April, Mexico’s Environment Ministry, Semarnat, conditionally approved the environmental impact assessment for the project submitted by Sedena. At the same time, the agency said additional measures were needed to prevent damage to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
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After that, local communities filed an application for an injunction, demanding the project be permanently cancelled and areas damaged by construction be restored. The application, first filed in June, was rejected twice, including over questions regarding the applicants’ legal standing. It was filed by eight Indigenous residents of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, 83 residents of the coastal town of Punta Allen, six fishing cooperatives and one private company.
In early October, Semarnat said that only infrastructure minimally necessary for conservation activities and for supporting tourism involving local communities would be advanced in the reserve. However, conservationists insist that such a statement does not have the force of a court ruling and does not guarantee that the work will stop. In their view, a court decision could permanently cancel the project and pave the way for environmental restoration.
The Sian Ka'an Reserve in the state of Quintana Roo covers more than 528,000 hectares of mangrove forests, tropical forests and dunes. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and is home to jaguars, Central American tapirs and hundreds of species of migratory birds.
