![]() The Associated Press observed work in progress in Xpujil during a trip in January. The United Nations human rights office warned in December that the national security decree threatened the rights of Indigenous peoples. “They only talked about the benefits of the megaproject, not about the impacts or the damages," said Jesús León Zapata, a member of the Xpujil Indigenous Council. The army was put in charge of certain sections, including the one that crosses Calakmul.Ī regional Indigenous council filed a complaint over lack of proper consultation and a judge agreed, issuing a stop work order that applied to the nearest city, Xpujil. The president wants the train rolling by the end of this year, when his term ends, designating it a matter of “national security” so as to speed up the environmental and public hearing requirements. “But this is without planning, it’s crazy, they're not thinking about the impacts.” “I’m not against the train, but for a megaproject of this type, planning normally takes more than 10 years,” said British primatologist Kathy Slater, who has been working in Calakmul for a decade with the organization Operation Wallacea. Now the focus has shifted to this section that crosses the intact Calakmul jungle, which is part of the larger Mayan jungle, the largest tropical forest in the Americas after the Amazon. This raised a wave of criticism and lawsuits last year that got international attention and temporarily halted the work. The 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) of rail will pass through unique ecosystems, including the limestone formations filled with freshwater known as cenotes along the Mayan Riviera. ![]() It will also be a cargo route for fuel and farm products. ![]() The Maya Train is intended to drive economic development to some of the country's poorest areas, in part by bringing up to three million tourists each year.įonatur, the national tourism agency, says the train will address a lack of transport infrastructure in the country's southeast that has meant “not all our tourist destinations have been fully developed.” There will be 20 stations along the ride, where hotels and commercial markets are planned. Currently, from the top of nearly-deserted pyramids, the roar of howler monkeys sounds across a sea of green. A path 40 meters (130 feet) wide is making way for the train, and logs are stacked along the narrow road to the hidden archaeological site. Some 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the crocodile wetland, bulldozers are felling the jungle for the Maya Train, a $20 billion dollar project envisioned by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “But it’s going to be a heavy blow to nature.” “There will be more jobs for us guides,” said Díaz, from the shade of a tree full of lianas. Last year, just over 50,000 visitors came to Calakmul, home to an ancient Mayan city that today is a UNESCO world heritage site.ĭíaz knows many more people will soon come. He learned years ago to decipher the sounds of the Calakmul jungle in Mexico's southern Yucatan.Īlthough it's high season, this recent morning Díaz had a hard time finding tourists to guide. Coming to a small wetland, a sign warns: Beware of the crocodile.ĭíaz, a tourist guide, shines a laser pointer at a woodpecker and a toucan, and then moves it over to the blue tail of a Yucatecan jay. ![]() CALAKMUL BIOSPHERE RESERVE, Mexico (AP) - Miguel Ángel Díaz walks slowly so his footfall on dry leaves doesn’t drive away what he's trying to find in this dense forest of seeded breadnut and sapodilla trees.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |