Semarnat’s Bold Plan to Restore Yucatan Coastline

Alicia Bárcena, the head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources (Semarnat), in collaboration with Joaquín Díaz Mena, the governor of Yucatán, has initiated a reforestation project of mangroves in the Port of Chuburná. This project will extend across the entire coastline, aiming to restore 8 percent of the mangrove loss on the Yucatan coasts.

Bárcena stated, "In the country, we have one million hectares of standing mangrove. Perhaps 15 percent has been lost. In Yucatán, 8 percent has been lost." The plan is to plant 100,000 mangroves along the coastal strip, which includes the ports of Río Lagartos, San Felipe, Dzilam de Bravo, Chicxulub, Santa Clara, Chabihau, Telchac, Progreso, Chelem, Chuburná Puerto, Celestún and Sisal.

The reforestation will involve planting black, green, and red mangroves. Various groups of fishermen, including the Free Fishermen's Group from the port of Santa Clara, Dzidzantún, represented by Lorenzo González May, will carry out the work. Other notable attendees at the launch of the mangrove planting included Federica Quijano, the head of the Ministry of Sustainable Development, and Mariana Boy, the head of the Federal Attorney's Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa).

Yucatán will be the primary site of this effort, which aims to reforest the Gulf of Mexico's coasts with mangroves, sea grapes, and beach palm trees. The goal is to match the 8 percent loss with an 8 percent replanting.