location: Mexico

location: Mexico

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Nations should redirect 1% of military spending towards reforestation, Mexico proposes
- Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum proposed to the world’s biggest economies to allocate 1% of their annual military spending, a total of about $24 billion, to support massive reforestation around the world.
- If carried out successfully, the effort could reforest an area equivalent to the surface of Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador combined.
- The President’s proposal comes at the same time as in Mexico the congress plans to cut funding for conservation in other government agencies.

Bobcats are back, and they’re helping protect people from zoonotic disease
- In the last 125 years, bobcats have recovered significantly from extremely low numbers, with several million individuals found throughout North America today.
- Living at the interface of urban and rural environments, bobcats face many human-caused dangers, including loss of habitat to roam, automobiles, and rodent poisons.
- Bobcats help reduce the spread of diseases from animals to humans partly because they and other large mammals are poor disease vectors. Bobcats also prey on the small rodents that easily transmit pathogens.
- It’s legal to hunt bobcats in most of the United States. California, which has for five years closed the bobcat season, may reinstate hunting in 2025. Some researchers suggest that regulators should more carefully consider the role thriving wildcat populations play in protecting human communities from zoonotic diseases before expanding hunting.

A deadly fly is spreading through Central America. Experts blame illegal cattle ranching
- An outbreak of screwworm — a fly that infects the open wounds of warm-blooded animals — is the direct result of cattle smuggling through protected areas across Central America, conservation groups said.
- The fly appeared in Panama last year and quickly traveled north to Guatemala. Now, officials are concerned it will spread uncontrollably into Mexico and the US.
- Eradicating the fly could cost millions of dollars and prove disastrous for agribusiness and countries that rely on beef exports.
- Conservation groups are arguing for border shutdowns and increased regulation of the cattle industry, especially around protected areas where smuggling routes have cleared forests.

Court throws out permits for controversial Baja California hotel project
- The Tres Santos hotel project in Baja California Sur will have to conduct new environmental impact studies in order to obtain permits that it failed to comply with when breaking ground nearly a decade ago.
- Over the last decade, residents said the environmental impact became worse than what had originally been described to them. Some wetlands were filled in and rivers and streams were being diverted.
- Earlier this year, a court found that the original environmental impact study didn’t justify the development that was carried out. It should have been rejected and done again before construction even started.

At Mexico’s school for jaguars, big cats learn skills to return to the wild
- In Oaxaca, southern Mexico, a multidisciplinary team is launching a program to return rescued wildcats to their natural habitat.
- The program is run by the foundation Jaguares en la Selva (Jaguars in the Wild) at the Yaguar Xoo sanctuary, where two wildlife enclosures have been designed for jaguars and pumas to learn to hunt and survive on their own.
- In 2021, the program successfully released two jaguars and is currently working to reintroduce two more jaguars and three pumas back into their natural habitats.

Despite court ruling, Yaqui water rights abuses ignored
- For decades, the Yaqui peoples in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora have been fighting to defend their rights to the Yaqui River, which is sacred to the Indigenous tribe and has been drained of all its water in their territory after decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and droughts.
- In 2010, the government approved the construction of an aqueduct, known as the Independencia Aqueduct, to supply water to several cities in the state, which was later found to be a violation of the tribe’s rights.
- Despite a favorable court ruling, which found that the Mexican government did not consult the Yaqui tribe before the aqueduct’s approval, it did not suspend its construction, which was inaugurated in 2012, despite evidence that it would cause irreparable damage to the community.

In Mexico, Totonac spiritual guides work with scientists to revive ecosystems
- Abuelos de Tajín, spiritual guides from Totonac communities in Mexico, say people are losing their traditional beliefs and ancestral knowledge as their connection with a fast-degrading environment rupture.
- Totonac spirituality is strongly connected to the surrounding ecosystem: Losing biodiversity can precipitate the decline of traditional beliefs, and this loss of traditional spirituality further ruptures values and duties to protect the ecosystem.
- To assess and tackle the state of biodiversity loss and contamination in their environment, the spiritual guides are working with researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico City. Preliminary results show the deforestation rate increased by 44.4% from 1986 to 2023 in one region.
- Spiritual guides are trying to restore and “renovate” their rituals, spirituality and community identity as a way to strengthen their connection to their environment, conserve it and live abundant lives.

‘Mermaids’ dive to study and protect Mexican fishing grounds
- For more than 20 years, a fishing cooperative in the community of Isla Natividad, in Baja California Sur, Mexico, has been working to adapt and to be more resilient to climate-change impacts like tropical storms, marine heat waves, hypoxia and loss of kelp forests; these latter shelter species that help feed the community but have experienced mass mortality, such as the abalone.
- The community has invested in diversifying their economic activities and have established volunteer-run marine reserves. Their aim is to help affected fish stocks recover.
- A group of citizen scientist divers known as the Sirenas de Natividad was founded in 2019; this all-women team is made up of five homemakers, all wives and daughters of fishers, who are monitoring fishery resources and the volunteer-run marine reserves.

Celestún refuge fights illegal fishing & helps revive species in Mexico’s Yucatán
- In 2019, the Celestún fishing community in Yucatán, Mexico, established a 324-square-kilometer (125-square-mile) Fishing Refuge Zone (FRZ), the largest in the Gulf of Mexico.
- The area was created in response to the overfishing of sea cucumbers, a species that had been in rapid decline, which caused social strife in the community.
- Local fishers have been trained to monitor the refuge to help the species recover and protect other species of commercial interest, like octopus and lobster. The participation of women has been an important part of the process, as they help lead community monitoring efforts.

In Mexico, scientists race to save Marietas Islands’ corals from ocean warming
- Temperatures in the Pacific Ocean broke records in 2023 as climate change and El Niño destroyed a large part of Mexico’s Islas Marietas National Park.
- Only a fifth of the coral coverage registered in 1995 still survives, experts say.
- But scientists working on the islands have discovered individual corals that can resist higher temperatures, creating hope that the corals can recover.

Mexico loses phosphate mining lawsuit in controversial arbitration process
- Odyssey Marine Exploration, a deep-sea mining company based in Florida, sued Mexico after rejecting environmental permits for a phosphate mining project off the coast of the state of Baja California Sur.
- The company brought Mexico to arbitration through an obscure legal process known as an investor-state dispute settlement, which allows foreign companies to directly sue countries they’ve invested in.
- Investor-state dispute settlements have been criticized for their lack of transparency and public participation, offering few guaranteed rights to affected communities.

Lack of research as contaminated Yaqui River poses health risks
- Amid a water crisis, Yaqui communities in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora lack safe drinking water due to contamination by arsenic, salinity and heavy metals as unveiled by several studies over the years.
- The water crisis, driven by decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and drought, intensifies contamination, particularly affecting coastal areas with saltwater intrusion and surpassing safe limits in certain regions.
- Members of the Yaqui tribe blame mining operations and agribusiness for the contamination, but there are few studies to confirm their source.
- They argue contamination has led to diabetes and health complications among community members, as well as cultural impacts.

A Mexican marine park shelters giant manta rays: Interview with Madalena Pereira Cabral
- For more than four years, marine biologist Madalena Pereira Cabral has been dedicated to investigating and understanding the movements of giant manta rays (Mobula birostris) in Revillagigedo National Park in the Mexican Pacific.
- Using satellite tags, the expert aims to describe these animals’ routes through the ocean and the reasons behind the fact that almost all the individual manta rays she has been studying end up leaving the marine protected area. Leaving this area exposes them to fishing pressure, which puts them at risk.
- One of the scientist’s most important findings is that giant manta rays’ movements and the groups they form are influenced by the El Niño phenomenon. This information is crucial for the conservation of this little-understood species.

Record drought in Yucatán prompts revival of ancient Maya rain ceremony
- Maya farmers in Yucatán, Mexico, have rekindled a pre-Hispanic ceremony that calls for rain from the god Cháak as the state suffers its worst drought in 50 years.
- The extended dry season has prevented local farmers from generating sufficient harvests to provide enough food to sustain Indigenous people from remote regions.
- In early May, the Yucatán Peninsula experienced a record high temperature of 43.7°C (110.7°F) after an already year-long drought.
- Pollution from industrial pig farms and monocrop plantations is contaminating groundwater systems and cenotes, considered sacred by the Maya and relied upon to supply farms in rural communities.

In Mexico, avocado suppliers continue sourcing from illegally deforested land
- Suppliers Calavo Growers, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Mission Produce and West Pak Avocado purchased avocados from land where forests have been cleared illegally, according to a recent investigation.
- Climate Rights International and Mexican NGO Guardián Forestal looked at Mexican avocado shipping records from 2023 and the first trimester of 2024, finding 60 instances of companies buying avocados from deforested land.
- The states of Michoacán and Jalisco produced over 2 million avocados last year, making it one of the area’s top industries. But residents there complain of water shortages and other environmental impacts.

Mexican fishing industry rep killed after denouncing illegal fishing
- Minerva Pérez Castro, the Baja California representative for the Mexican fishing industry’s main trade group, was killed in July after speaking out against the presence of organized crime in the fishing industry.
- Sophisticated organized crime groups have long participated in illegal fishing in northern Mexico, one of the most important producing areas for the country’s prominent fishing industry.
- The residences of several suspects have been searched, according to the Attorney General of the State of Baja California.

In Sonora, communities fight mining to defend their water
- Since June 2, protesters have blocked mining company Grupo México from extracting water in the Sonoran town of Bacoachi, in northwest Mexico.
- Locals say the company has overexploited water resources during a regional drought, putting their livelihoods and public health at risk.
- The company owns the rights to more than half of the watershed’s total volume, according to a government analysis published in 2023.
- The ongoing protest comes as local advocacy groups are preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of an infamous waste spill from the same mine in August 2014.

Conservationists look for new ways to fight oil pipelines in southern Mexico
- Pipelines currently under construction in southern Mexico have become controversial because of threats of chemical spills, their contribution to climate change and the alleged lack of consultation with local communities.
- The projects include the Southeast Gateway Gas pipeline and Tuxpan-Tula pipeline, both constructed by the Federal Electricity Commission and the Canadian company TC Energy.
- A 2018 injunction against the Southeast Gateway Gas Pipeline was struck down after a court ruled the project was a matter of national security. Now, local communities and conservation groups are working to develop alliances with international groups to come up with a different legal strategy.

A Guatemalan reserve turns from civil war refuge to deforestation hotspot
- Illegal deforestation in Guatemala’s Sierra del Lacandón National Park is accelerating, driven by cattle ranching and drug-trafficking activities.
- The park is a critical biological corridor, home to numerous threatened species, and connects protected areas in Guatemala and Mexico.
- Indigenous communities, many of which settled in the area during the civil war, are now involved in deforestation activities under pressure from powerful political and economic figures, threatening the region’s ecological integrity.

After 2-year wait, Sonoran wilderness protection law gets closer to reality
- In June 2022, the northwest Mexican state of Sonora’s Congress unanimously voted to create the country’s first easement system to protect privately owned wilderness spaces from development.
- For more than two years, the law was not published in the state’s legal register, so it never came into effect. In that time, at least two private conservation areas with the highest existing level of protection have been threatened by development.
- The law was finally published earlier this month, possibly with up to another year before the government publishes guidelines and the first easement is declared. At least two reserves plan to apply, and advocates hope their example will encourage other Mexican states to legislate easement designations.

Loss of water means loss of culture for Mexico’s Indigenous Yaqui
- The sacred waters of the Yaqui tribe in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora have dried up after decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and drought.
- This poses serious threats to Yaqui culture, which previously used certain sections of the Yaqui River for traditional ceremonies.
- It has also led to the decline of plant and tree species, such as the alamo (Ficus cotinifolia) and the giant reed (Arundo donax), which are used to build traditional structures in Yaqui villages.
- Important features of the Yaqui ritual dance, known as the pascola and deer, rely on the cocoons of the four-mirror butterfly, an endemic species that depends on the Yaqui River for its survival and is in decline.

In Mexico City’s precolonial canals, scientists aim to save ancient salamanders
- The chinampas of Mexico’s Xochimilco neighborhood host the endemic axolotl, an endangered freshwater salamander. In recent decades, its population and habitat have decreased dramatically as a result of urbanization, poor water quality and new predator fish species being introduced in the canals.
- Scientists are working with local farmers to preserve and study the axolotl population for its potential contribution to medical research.
- Experts worry about dwindling state funding for research, which has dropped by 30% during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador and likely will not pick up as President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum takes office.

Shrimp farms threaten Mexico’s mangroves and the jaguars that inhabit them
- Western Mexico’s rapidly expanding shrimp farms, many of which are illegal, are contributing to the deforestation of the Pacific coast’s mangroves, an important habitat for jaguars.
- Satellite images show the total surface area of shrimp ponds along Mexico’s Gulf of California increased by more than 1,100% between 1993 and 2021, to more than 114,000 hectares (282,000 acres).
- Researchers emphasize the importance of small private reserves, like La Papalota in the state of Nayarit, for jaguar conservation: These areas serve as critical sanctuaries and corridors between larger conservation sites, such as Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve, home to a fifth of Mexico’s mangroves.
- Conservationists say urgent action is required to safeguard the remaining mangroves and jaguars, yet efforts continue to be hindered by inadequate enforcement of protection laws and the alleged involvement of cartels reportedly using shrimp farms for money laundering.

As drought parches Mexico, a Yaqui water defender fights for a sacred river
- In the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora, Mario Luna Romero faces constant threats to his life for fighting to protect his community’s rights to its water in the region.
- Within the Yaqui Territory are the remnants of the Yaqui River, which is sacred to the Indigenous tribe and has been drained of all its water after decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution and droughts.
- Luna was arrested in 2014 and spent a year and 11 days in a maximum-security prison; meanwhile, other colleagues have been harassed by government officials or killed by criminals.
- Mexico, including the Yaqui Valley, is experiencing a deadly heat wave, drought and water shortages.

Across Mexico, World Cup infrastructure threatens biodiversity and communities
- With Mexico co-hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026, major infrastructure works in the country’s three host cities could have negative impacts on local biodiversity, activists say.
- In Guadalajara, conservationists express concern that new developments might undermine the local puma population, which has seen a comeback in the last seven years.
- In Mexico City, locals say they haven’t been consulted about new roads and building projects that could threaten their water resources as well as tree cover.
- In Monterrey, works planned near a protected area threatens fauna and flora conservation, experts say.

The Wixárika community’s thirteen-year legal battle to stop mining in their sacred territory
- Wirikuta is the most important sacred place for the Indigenous Wixárika people in the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
- In 2010, the communities discovered that mining companies were threatening this place, which is of great importance for biodiversity and culture.
- Since then, they have been fighting a legal battle to expel the 78 contracts threatening the site’s existence.
- Although mining activity is currently suspended thanks to a protection order obtained by the Indigenous community, there is still no definitive resolution. In 2024, they hope this will finally change, and the Mexican judicial system will rule in their favor.

Studying snakes without rattling them? There’s now tech for that
- Scientists have used tiny, noninvasive radio transmitters and accelerometers to study the habitats and behaviors of red diamond rattlesnakes.
- While the radio transmitters help researchers keep track of the snakes, the accelerometers give them an in-depth understanding of the snakes’ physical movements as they hunt, eat and even mate.
- Historically, tracking snakes has involved surgically implanting telemetry radios into them, but this process is time-consuming and also risks infecting the animals.
- Red diamond rattlesnakes, native to southwest California in the U.S. and Baja California in Mexico, face increasing threats from habitat loss and vehicle strikes.

French court greenlights lawsuit against EDF over wind farm in Mexico
- After more than three years of legal wrangling, a court in Paris has ruled that a civil case brought by Indigenous communities in Mexico against French energy giant EDF can go ahead.
- The case was filed by Zapotec communities in Oaxaca state, who complain that EDF’s Gunaa Sicarú wind farm project violates their land rights and lacks reasonable consultation with communities.
- The case against EDF was filed under the recently approved French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law, designed to hold French companies accountable for abuses overseas.
- Projects that support the energy transition and climate change mitigation can stir local conflicts similar to those associated with fossil fuels if community rights are not properly considered, experts warn.

Photos: Exploring Mexico City’s Aztec-era farms, the chinampas
- Chinampas are part of an agricultural system developed during the Aztec Empire in shallow lakes or marshes in the southern valley of what is today Mexico City.
- The system consists of elevated, narrow platforms used as fields that are surrounded by water canals, and is considered one of the most intensive and productive farming systems ever developed.
- However, for decades, chinampas have faced increasing threats due to urbanization, the overexploitation of water resources, water contamination and unregulated tourism, as well as the growing rejection of chinampa culture by traditional farmers and the loss of ancestral knowledge.

Ancient farming system and campesino livelihoods at risk in Mexico City
- In the south of Mexico City lies a complex lake and canal system dotted with raised agricultural fields known as chinampas, which have been cultivated by campesino farmers ever since the Aztec Empire.
- Chinampa culture is under threat in part due to environmental problems caused by urbanization, the overexploitation of water resources, irregular settlements and unregulated tourism.
- Over the years, greater numbers of the chinampas’ farmers, known as chinamperos, have left the fields to work in the city, an issue that has led to the abandonment of 16,000 chinampas, according to researchers.
- Those who remain face several challenges, such as water contamination and drought, with little government support.

Riding the Tren Maya: A journey on Mexico’s controversial new railway line
- Reporter Maxwell Radwin and videographer Caitlin Cooper set out to ride the Tren Maya from Cancún toward Palenque and back.
- On their journey, they looked for evidence of deforestation, the relocation of local and Indigenous communities, and the pollution of water bodies — all part of multiple injunctions filed by communities and activist groups.
- Conversations with passengers and locals revealed that much of the country is conflicted about the train, which might attract tourism despite the ecological damage.

Scientists and farmers restore Aztec-era floating farms that house axolotls
- In 1987, UNESCO declared the Xochimilco wetland area in southern Mexico City a World Heritage Site, recognizing in particular its chinampas, an ancient agricultural system in use since the time of the Aztecs.
- In the past few decades, Xochimilco’s levels of production and of biodiversity have shifted: people have changed the purpose of many chinampas, and the population of axolotl salamanders, an iconic species endemic to the area, has decreased drastically.
- Scientists from the Ecological Restoration Laboratory at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and farmers from the area are promoting a comprehensive restoration program to conserve this group of chinampas and all the living things that depend on it.

Elusive jaguarundi inspires biologists to share data across Latin America
- The jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) is a little-known small felid with a range extending from northern Argentina to Mexico. The last confirmed sighting in the United States was in 1986.
- H. yagouaroundi is found in a variety of habitats, but is thought to occupy mostly rugged areas with good shrub cover, including near agricultural lands. Unlike most other felids, the jaguarundi is active during the day, which can easily bring it into conflict with farmers who don’t appreciate its habit of raiding chicken coops.
- Like most small, noncharismatic cat species, there’s little funding to learn more about the jaguarundi. But researchers are developing new tools, for example pooling sparse “bycatch” data gathered by many biologists from camera traps in widely scattered places and modeling it to predict habitat use and population size.
- An ongoing IUCN jaguarundi assessment is using a Google Forms questionnaire to reach out widely to researchers, governments and NGOs, while also using easily shared social media tools. A detailed understanding of jaguarundi behavior is needed to assure it is conserved both inside and outside protected areas.

Yucatán Peninsula’s hidden underground life tracks changes at the surface
- Scientists from Northwestern University in the U.S. led a series of underwater expeditions collecting water samples from the deep web of caves and sinkholes in the Yucatán Peninsula.
- The southeastern region of Mexico is crisscrossed by numerous flooded and interconnected tunnels, functioning as subterranean rivers — crucial arteries that maintain ecosystems and support millions of people, and connecting directly to the sea.
- Any disruptions to the microbial communities in these waters could have significant consequences for both humans and marine ecosystems.
- This research is crucial for assessing the potential environmental impacts of large-scale agriculture or major projects like the building of the Tren Maya railway line.

What’s at stake for the environment in Mexico’s upcoming election?
- On June 2, in addition to president, Mexico will choose all 500 deputies in the lower house of Congress and all 128 seats in the Senate.
- The main presidential candidates are left-wing Claudia Sheinbaum and right-wing Xóchitl Gálvez, with center-left Jorge Máynez representing a third, dark-horse option.
- Both Sheinbaum and Gálvez want to invest more in renewable energy, but disagree about some controversial infrastructure projects.

Fishers decry ‘underhanded’ new initiative to protect Mexico’s vaquita
- Over the past two years, the Mexican Navy has installed hundreds of anti-trawling hooks to prevent vaquitas being caught in illegal gill nets in the Upper Gulf of California.
- The long hooks, attached to concrete blocks, are designed to snag the gill nets that target totoaba fish, but which have become notorious for driving the vaquita porpoise to the brink of extinction.
- The project was initially credited with an immediate drop in illegal fishing boats in the vaquita’s core habitat, but fishers from the community of San Felipe say new blocks were installed without warning outside the core habitat, snagging more of their equipment and creating ghost nets that could harm vaquitas.
- Results from the latest vaquita population survey are expected in June; last year, scientists said as few as 10 of the critically endangered porpoises may still be alive.

Pemex waste contaminates Mexican communities while talking ‘sustainability’
- A recent investigation found that communities in the Mexican state of Tabasco have been living near toxic waste sites caused by chemical sludge dumped from Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico’s state-owned oil giant.
- This adds to a growing list of allegations of environmental harm against the oil company. Experts say this shows a pattern of systematically ignoring safety and environmental rules and regulations.
- The massively indebted company recently announced its first-ever sustainability plan in the hopes of cleaning up its reputation and attracting more financing.

Mexico Indigenous community makes strides to land rights, but obstacles remain
- In a watershed ruling, a federal court in Mexico recognized the land rights of the Rarámuri Indigenous community of Bosques de San Elías Repechique, in the state of Chihuahua.
- The ruling annulled the forest-harvesting permits held by private individuals on the community’s ancestral property and required an Indigenous consultation process should the permits be reapplied for.
- The Rarámuri had been demanding the recognition of their ancestral territory for more than 40 years while facing aggression and resource grabbing.
- However, Mexico’s environment ministry and two private individuals with forest-harvesting permits have filed appeals against the ruling.

Fishers, scientists restore mangroves on a Mexican isle wrecked by salt mining
- For decades, salt mining has deteriorated the wetlands and natural flood patterns of Isla del Carmen, part of Bahía de Loreto National Park in Mexico.
- Collaboration between two conservation organizations and a community of fishers on the mainland are working to restore the mangroves of Isla del Carmen by rehabilitating its hydrology and constructing “vegetation terraces” for the trees.
- The project also involves training and educating communities about the importance of conserving the ecosystem for the sake of wildlife, the local economy and protecting against the effects of climate change.

Indonesian palm oil, Brazilian beef top contributors to U.S. deforestation exposure
- A new report reveals that the United States imported palm oil, cattle products, soybeans, cocoa, rubber, coffee and corn linked to an area of tropical deforestation the size of Los Angeles between October 2021 and November 2023.
- Palm oil from Indonesia was the largest contributor to deforestation, followed by Brazil due to cattle grazing.
- The report by Trase, commissioned by Global Witness, found that the U.S. continues to import deforestation-linked commodities while awaiting the passage of the FOREST Act, which aims to prohibit imports of products linked to illegal deforestation.
- Experts emphasize the need for action from companies, governments, financial institutions and citizens to stop commodity-driven forest loss, urging support for smallholders, increased transparency in supply chains, and the passage of the FOREST Act in the U.S.

All aboard Tren Maya: Here’s what we found riding Mexico’s controversial railway
- Mongabay sent a team to the Yucatán Peninsula to ride the Tren Maya, a multibillion-dollar train that’s become controversial for its environmental impacts.
- Reporter Maxwell Radwin and videographer Caitlin Cooper set out to ride the train from Cancún toward Palenque and back, with a stop in Playa del Carmen.
- On their journey, they looked for evidence of deforestation, the relocation of local and Indigenous communities, and the pollution of waterbodies — all part of multiple injunctions filed by communities and activist groups.
- In addition to deforestation, one of the major concerns is that pilings under line 5 are penetrating cave systems along the Caribbean coast, threatening freshwater and subterranean habitats.

Mexico’s avocado industry harms monarch butterflies, will U.S. officials act? (commentary)
- Every winter, monarch butterflies from across eastern North America migrate to the mountain forests in Mexico, but those forests are threatened by the rapidly expanding avocado industry.
- Avocado production in Mexico is tied to deforestation, water hoarding and violence, and much of the resulting crop is exported to the U.S.
- Conservation groups are urging the U.S. State Department, USDA and USTR to ban imports of avocados from recently deforested lands in Mexico.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Critics fear catastrophic energy crisis as AI is outsourced to Latin America
- AI use is surging astronomically around the globe, requiring vastly more energy to make AI-friendly semiconductor chips and causing a gigantic explosion in data center construction. So large and rapid is this expansion that Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, has warned that AI is driving humanity toward a “catastrophic energy crisis.”
- Altman’s solution is an audacious plan to spend up to $7 trillion to produce energy from nuclear fusion. But even if this investment, the biggest in all of history, occurred, its impact wouldn’t be felt until mid-century, and do little to end the energy and water crises triggered by AI manufacture and use, while having huge mining and toxic waste impacts.
- Data centers are mushrooming worldwide to meet AI demand, but particularly in Latin America, seen as strategically located by Big Tech. One of the largest data center hubs is in Querétaro, a Mexican state with high risk of intensifying climate change-induced drought. Farmers are already protesting their risk of losing water access.
- As Latin American protests rise over the environmental and social harm done by AI, activists and academics are calling for a halt to government rubber-stamping of approvals for new data centers, for a full assessment of AI life-cycle impacts, and for new regulations to curb the growing social harm caused by AI.

Global protected area policies spark conflicts with Mexico Indigenous groups
- The creation of the UNESCO-listed Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Mexico’s Campeche region has led to a long-standing conflict with Indigenous residents who argue the government restricted their livelihoods, despite promises of support and land titles by Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).
- According to researchers, these conflicts are due to a fault in nations’ application of international conservation policy by overemphasizing the expansion of protected areas while paying less attention to socioeconomic factors and equitable management included in these policies.
- Authors underline the importance of adapting international conservation policy, such as the “30 by 30” pledge, which plans to conserve 30% of Earth’s land and sea by 2030, to specific local contexts and needs.

Concern for Mexico’s vaquita as totoaba swim bladder trafficking surges online
- The dried swim bladders, or “maw,” of totoaba, an endangered fish found in the Gulf of California in northern Mexico, are being increasingly trafficked on digital platforms, according to a report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).
- The demand for totoaba has impacted other animals that get caught in the same gillnets, most notably the vaquita, the smallest porpoise in the world.
- EIA’s investigation found an increase in the number of swim bladders sold online and on some social media platforms like WeChat, a Chinese texting and cash payments app.

Turning bat caves into sanctuaries: Interview with Mexican ecologist Rodrigo Medellín
- A hundred experts from Mexico, the United States and Canada worked together for the past two years to release the first report on the state of the 154 bat species that live in North America.
- The researchers concluded that the main threats that bats face in the region are the loss and disturbance of habitat, climate change impacts, wind farms, and the fungal disease white-nose syndrome.
- Mexico is home to 142 species of bats, whose protection researchers say hinges on protecting their habitat, including at least 15 caves that they propose designating as bat sanctuaries.
- Rodrigo Medellín, a Mexican researcher who helped coordinate the report, spoke with Mongabay Latam last July about why bats are so important for both nature and humans.

Mexico announces 20 new protected areas despite budget cuts
- Mexico recently announced 20 new protected areas covering roughly 2.3 million hectares (5.7 million acres) across the country.
- The protected areas, which include national parks, sanctuaries and flora and fauna protection areas, are located in the states of Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Chiapas and eight others, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of California.
- Mexico’s environmental agencies under the Obrador administration have been subjected to consistent cuts in funding since 2016, raising concerns among experts that the departments will not have the personnel or resources to protect the country’s 225 protected areas.

Mexico’s first black-and-white hawk-eagle nest is a treasure trove for researchers
- The black-and-white hawk-eagle is a little-researched and poorly known species in Mexico, where scientists have described it as a “ghost” because of the sheer scarcity of sightings.
- In 2020, researchers in the country’s Lacandon Jungle found a nest used by a breeding pair — the first known black-and-white hawk-eagle nest in Mexico — and monitored its nesting and parenting behavior over the next three years.
- The main threat to the species is the loss of its lowland forest habitat, which in this part of Mexico is driven largely by the clearing of forest to make way for livestock pasture.

In Mexico, Xalapa’s chronic water scarcity reflects a deepening national crisis
- Residents of Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, Mexico, have been struggling with a worsening water shortage that often leaves people without daily access to household water for washing.
- The problem is nationwide, in 30 of 32 states, forcing residents to purchase and recycle water and postpone bathing.
- Experts have blamed climate change and extreme heat for the country’s water shortages; others also blame corruption that allows companies to pay for unlimited water use.
- Deforestation for development, an increase in construction and building and population increases are also factors.

U.S. border wall threatens World Heritage status of Mexican reserve
- The U.S. border wall’s impacts on the flora, fauna and ecological connectivity of a biosphere reserve in Mexico could see the reserve included on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger.
- El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve abuts onto Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, but a section of border wall cuts across the boundary.
- The physical barrier has blocked access to water for wildlife on the Mexican side of the border because the natural springs they rely on are on the U.S. side, leading to the death of species like collared peccaries.
- “The fence doesn’t stop the migration of people, but it does stop the free passage of animals and is causing great damage to the biodiversity of the Sonoran desert,” said Alejandro Olivera, the representative in Mexico for the Center for Biological Diversity.

In reversal, Mexico calls for moratorium on international deep-sea mining
- On Nov. 21, Mexico became the latest nation to call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining in international waters.
- Before this announcement, some Mexican delegates to the International Seabed Authority, the UN-associated body tasked with regulating the activity, had expressed support for fast-tracking mining rules that would enable mining to start.
- This announcement came two weeks after member states of the ISA met to work on a set of regulations, which are currently far from complete.
- While calling for a moratorium on seabed mining in international waters, it remains unclear if Mexico will allow deep-sea mining in its own waters; there are several mining concessions in the Bay of Ulloa, off the coast of Baja California.

In Sonora, Mexico, railway project flouts public consultation, threatening fragile ecosystems
- Construction of an additional freight railway linking the Sonoran town of Imurís to the border city of Nogales is already underway in northwestern Mexico by the Army, despite no public information about its environmental licensing.
- Residents of the town of Imurís, where the tracks would cross through about 200 properties, learnt about the project from a radio show; but despite the lack of public consultation, authorities tell locals opposing the tracks that there’s nothing to be done.
- According to the Army, the project needs to be completed by the time President Andrés Manuel López Obrador leaves office in 2024.
- The project would affect the Cocóspera River Valley, a key water source for local communities and wildlife, and an important north-south migration corridor for threatened species like jaguars and ocelots.

What’s old is new again: Bioarchitects plot route to circular economy
- The modern construction industry is built on cement, with factories and public buildings, commercial space and apartment buildings, and homes fashioned out of it. But cement production is helping destabilize the climate, and has poor durability. Bioarchitects in Mexico think they have a solution.
- They’re reviving traditional clay adobe building techniques used since the 16th and 17th centuries in Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, to give birth to a new cutting-edge school of bioconstruction aimed at reducing the ecological footprint of the cement-hungry construction sector.
- Bio-buildings are built from natural materials, are long-lasting, energy-efficient, healthier, and often with better earthquake resistance. Built with local materials by locally trained workers, with their walls easily recycled at the end of a building’s life, bio-buildings can be part of a circular economy, benefiting humanity and nature.
- Bioconstruction could radically cut construction sector carbon emissions by curbing cement production. But bioconstruction faces an uphill battle against outdated building codes, and a huge, well-entrenched cement and construction industry, whose companies are often large contributors to political campaigns in Mexico and other countries.

Plan to bring Mennonite farmers to Suriname sparks deforestation fears
- Investors from Argentina and the Netherlands have spent the past several years trying to bring Mennonite farming communities to Suriname from Belize, Mexico and Bolivia.
- Mennonite farmers have faced criticism for clearing thousands of hectares of forest across Latin America, often in protected areas and Indigenous territories.
- The company behind the project is called Terra Invest Suriname & Guyana, and plans to purchase as much as 30,000 hectares (about 74,000 acres) for approximately 1,000 Mennonite families.

Restoring degraded forests may be key for climate, study says
- Scientists have found that focusing on restoring degraded forests, which cover more than 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) globally, can enhance forest carbon stocks more efficiently than replanting in deforested areas, with natural regrowth being a cost-effective method.
- In Central America’s “Five Great Forests,” there’s a goal to restore 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) by 2030. The study identified 9.8 million hectares (24.2 billion acres) as top restoration priorities, with 91% being degraded forests.
- Restoring just 5% of these priority zones was calculated to potentially sequester 113 million tons of CO2, equivalent to taking more than 20 million cars off the road for a year.
- The research emphasizes the importance of involving local communities in restoration planning and suggests that current forest management practices, like those in the timber industry, need to adapt for more sustainable outcomes.

Latin America most dangerous place for environmental defenders, report says
- At least 177 environmental defenders were killed last year globally, according to a new report from Global Witness. At least 155 of them were in Latin America.
- There have been 1,910 murdered defenders since 2012, the year that Global Witness started tracking this type of violence. Last year, the murders took place across 18 countries worldwide, 11 of them in Latin America.
- Colombia topped the list with 60 murders while Brazil came in second with 34. Honduras led the world in murders per-capita with 14.

Mexico groups say Maya Train construction has caused significant deforestation
- An analysis of satellite images by the NGO CartoCrítica shows that 10,831 hectares (26,764 acres) are currently being used for the Maya Train project, with 61% of the area deforested.
- The organization’s survey also reveals that in 87% of the deforested lands, clearing or logging was carried out without a change of land use approval, as required by environmental legislation.
- Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) has issued a statement saying the figures presented contain “inconsistencies.” But the organizations that carried out the analysis point out that their deforestation data is supported by satellite evidence.

In Mexico’s Holbox, a natural paradise suffers from its own popularity
- The island of Holbox is part of the protected nature reserve of Yum Balam, whose lagoons, mangroves and dunes are home to threatened species such as manatees, whale sharks, turtles and horseshoe crabs.
- National and international investors have converted the white sand beaches into a tourism hotspot, with the island experiencing an unchecked construction boom in recent years, driven and protected by politicians and a legal vacuum.
- Infrastructure hasn’t kept up with the tourism development; garbage, noise and sewage have turned into environmental problems, angering locals and tourists alike, and threatening local fauna and flora.
- Scientists and activists are trying to stop the destruction but are largely ignored by both the local press and the government.

Off Mexico’s coast, world’s largest limpet is slipping into extinction
- Scutellastra mexicana, the world’s largest limpet, is at risk of extinction and requires urgent conservation action, according to a group of researchers.
- Once widely dispersed, the few remaining viable populations of these sea snails are now found in Mexico’s Islas Marias, a biosphere reserve. Though officially protected, the limpet continues to be harvested.
- Limpet species such as S. mexicana play an important role in maintaining coastal ecosystems, and research suggests they can mitigate some of the effects of warming oceans.
- Researchers are calling for “extreme protection” for S. mexicana and the Islas Marías to halt the species’ decline and potential extinction.

Mexico announces 13 new protected areas, with more to come
- Mexico introduced six new national parks and seven flora and fauna protection areas covering 17,918 hectares (44,276 acres) to be overseen by the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp).
- The protected areas are located in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Oaxaca and Guerrero.
- Mexico now has 200 federally protected areas.

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