People must not live or invest in places where construction is done on wetlands.
“The loss of mangroves in Yucatan is enormous and it is a huge threat to the wellbeing of our state”, says researcher Jorge Herrera Silveira, researcher at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav), of the National Polytechnic Institute, in Merida, who also reports why mangroves are important and what are the dangers of living and investing in Yucatan ports with vast areas of dead mangroves.
Doctor of Science Jorge Herrera Silveira made the following statements during World Wetlands Day, which the UN celebrates every February 2.
First of all, the specialist clarifies that there are different types of wetlands and mentions some:
Those with marine water, such as seagrass meadows.
Those with saltier water, even very saline-like mangroves.
Inland wetlands, which we call flooded forests, or swamps.
“In Yucatan, there are more than 30,000 hectares of degraded and lost mangroves, which is a gigantic extension of land,” said Dr. Jorge Herrera.
“As a research center, we have measured, documented, and reviewed that there are more than 30,000 hectares of degraded mangroves, and we know where these large areas are located; unfortunately, the official data does not reflect this due to a technical issue of how it is being evaluated,” said the expert.
Where have mangroves already been lost in Yucatan?
“Everything you see on the right-hand side when you go on the road from Sierra Papacal (Mérida municipality) to Chuburná Puerto (Progreso municipality) is a large area of degraded mangroves,” he answered.
“All those areas of water that you see when traveling on the Sisal highway were also mangroves. Likewise on the highway from Progreso to Telchac everything you see on your right-hand side on that route is degraded, lost mangroves,” he continued.
According to Google Maps, the distance from the canoeing trail at the entrance of Progreso to Telchac is 42.9 km, and from Sierra Papacal to Chuburna, 23.3 km, while from Hunucmá to Sisal it is 24.7 km.
Where are there healthy mangroves in Yucatán?
“Yes, we have three large areas of well-preserved mangroves,” answered Herrera Silveira.
“The largest is in Celestún; followed by a part of El Palmar (state reserve located between the ports of Sisal and Celestún), and then, a strip of the Dzilam de Bravo reserve,” he said.
“There are other areas with healthy mangroves of smaller size in Río Lagartos and El Cuyo (municipality of Tizimín), he added.
“The amount of degraded mangroves is worrying, because we are talking about 30,000 hectares, which is a very considerable area”, he stressed.
These 30,000 hectares are equivalent to 30% of the total surface area of mangroves in Yucatán.
“Yucatán has around 100,000 hectares of mangroves, so we are talking about 30% that has been destroyed. This represents a great threat due to the amount of services that these ecosystems provide to the population both directly and indirectly; having degraded mangroves is a threat to the well-being of communities.”
“The greatest threat to mangroves in Yucatan is undoubtedly uncontrolled coastal real estate development. It is tremendously worrying and a very serious risk for the population of coastal communities.”
“Urban development breaks the hydrological balance and allows the entry of seawater (salt water) into freshwater wetlands.”
“And finally, ignorant and irresponsible people who throw garbage in mangroves, beaches, ports, roads, and wetlands.”
“We must begin to fight this situation with education for the new generations and by generating awareness about the importance of mangroves, wetlands, and coastal vegetation in schools so that when today’s children are adults, they do not commit the same atrocities as today,” concluded Dr. Jorge Herrera Silveira.
With information from yucatan.com.mx
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