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Fonatur says protection of land will prevent privatization of beaches and real estate corruption

Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Of the 16,414 hectares recently earmarked by the government to become natural areas, 115 hectares are located in Quintana Roo. On Thursday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that the federal government will convert more than 16,400 hectares of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur) land into Protected Natural Areas.

During his Thursday morning press conference, the President explained that the decision is part of the agreement between Fonatur and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and will avoid the excessive exploitation of the natural assets that belong to the nation.

“The main purpose is to protect flora, fauna, even endangered species,” he said. In addition, it will contribute to the safeguarding of public beaches.

“It will be so that the population can enjoy these spaces. You already know how in the neoliberal period the beaches were privatized and people no longer had the chance to enjoy the sea. In these protected areas, there are several kilometers of beaches,” he said.

The land being marked as protected areas include 66.8 hectares in Baja California, in Baja California Sur there are 8,064.6, in the state of Guerrero, 981.7, in Oaxaca, 5,263.1, 1,921.8 hectares in Sinaloa and in Quintana Roo, 115.7 hectares.

The custody of the properties of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism guarantees the people their right to a healthy environment. At the same time, it eradicates real estate corruption and protects public assets, said Javier May Rodríguez, director of the institution.

The federation, he said, will continue promoting responsible tourism with a social dimension.

“In the Government we do not want more private beaches, we never want a tourist development at the expense of the suffering of the people. The beaches of Mexico belong to all Mexicans and public goods must strengthen the environment and, above all, return the human sense to the tourist practice,” he said.

The head of the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, Humberto Adán Peña Fuentes, stressed that the measure announced is the most effective toward the conservation of ecosystems and endemic flora and fauna species.

“Between eight and 15 endangered species will be protected with these decrees and we will also formulate a strategy for their conservation,” he said.