Building a greener and more sustainable city is a priority, as indicated by Municipal President Cecilia Patrón Laviada when presenting to the media the strategies to recover, improve, and promote the environment in the Yucatecan capital.
“Mérida is a city that is constantly growing, and therefore we have to ensure that it not only remains a green city but that it is even more so, which is why a comprehensive policy and a medium and long-term project are required, which we must begin now and consolidate together.”
“The main objectives are to reduce the temperature and increase urban biodiversity in the city, through the creation of green corridors by consolidating infrastructure, parks, trees, bike paths, and walkways, among others,” she indicated.
This challenge consists of eight green strategies, among which are the consolidation of a network of green corridors, the protection of trees as part of the city’s heritage, the strengthening of green infrastructure, and the updating of the municipality’s regulatory framework.
In addition to carrying out the tree planting plan to increase tree cover mainly in urbanized areas, the revitalization of parks and ecological reserves, the tree registry to monitor each environmental resource, and the synergy of strategic alliances that involve society, companies, and organizations to meet the objectives of this municipal green agenda.
“Implementing these strategies will allow for an increase in safe public spaces and the physical and social well-being of those who use them, improving the quality of life of the people of Mérida, with social justice and with a view to a sustainable future for the following generations,” said the mayor.
Mérida has more than 700 parks and green areas, an ecological reserve with around 11,900 hectares of surface area, and a green infrastructure of 6.2 square meters per inhabitant, which allows for an important environmental base to promote each strategy.
It is worth highlighting that the current tree cover of the municipality is 15.2 percent of the territory, which the city has been recognized three times as the Tree City of the World, and as one of the best cities to live in the world, but that today it has as a climatic challenge the increase in temperature of 1.42 degrees Celsius in the last 65 years, that is, 5 percent higher.
“This is something that we need to address as an important issue, lay the foundations, build a Mérida with a vision of the future, but we will start now and with all the people of Mérida,” concluded Cecilia Patrón.
TYT Newsroom
