Chetumal, Q.R. — For the past year, conservation work has been carried out on the Chetumal savanna, a body of water located in the northwest part of the city. That body has deteriorated in recent years.
Francisco Javier Pérez Navarrete of the Othón P. Blanco City Council says a proposal is being made to convert the area into a protected natural area under municipal jurisdiction.
If approved, it would be the first to be decreed in the state under this precept with the purpose of implementing mechanisms for its care and development for tourism purposes in accordance with the environment and ecology department.
“We have this proposal that it be a municipal protected natural area, something that is already being contemplated in the municipal urban development plan. We are missing some details, but we want to be able to work on the protection of this body of water and its surroundings,” he said.
The individual municipalities have the power to have natural protected areas, and in the case of the savanna, it would be the first area to be decreed in the state with this precept as an urban park.
Pérez Navarrete says the urban park proposal would have a cost close to one million pesos, and although it was expected that federal financing could be obtained for that amount, there were some inconveniences that prevented progress on the issue.
“We were working to establish the urban park where it was proposed to build an observatory for bird watching, for environmental education work and a water quality monitoring site and even a fishing site in the savanna.
“So we had to submit the project to the federation to obtain the resources, but some problems arose that did not allow us to move forward,” he said without explaining what those problems were.
He said that they considered to launch a pilot program for the separation of the water lechuguilla and thus prevent it from continuing to expand throughout the area, to begin with its eradication and little by little free the savanna from its presence.
Therefore, they will look for a way for the federation to approve it and obtain the resources for better care of the environment.
