Bacalar, Q.R. — Governor Mara Lezama clarified that there is no Natural Protection Area project going on in Bacalar. Earlier this week, the Quintana Roo governor clarified that such a process is a federal matter, not state.
Governor Lezama also clarified that to date, there is no official information or notification on the matter. “If there was anything to the matter, it would be made public,” she said.
Lezama explained that there is no project proposed or underway to declare the Bacalar lagoon or bodies of water in the basin as a Natural Protected Area. She made the clarification after local media reports of businesses rejecting a proposal to turn lagoons in Xul-Ha and Bacalar into protected areas, something they said would hinder the region’s economic development.
According to Governor Lezama, the creation of a Natural Protected Area is a process exclusive to the federal government through the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales – Semarnat) and stated that there is no official information or notification on such a project.
She also said reports that Congressman Renán Sánchez Tajonar made statements about the imminent creation of a Natural Protected Area in Bacalar are not true.
“I have no information to that effect,” she said adding that the state remains committed to respecting the environment.
