Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Three active forest fires continue to burn in the state of Quintana Roo. The National Forestry Commission (Conafor) reports that the three active forest fires are in the municipalities of Benito Juárez (Cancun), Lázaro Cárdenas and Solidaridad (Playa del Carmen).
In Benito Juárez, a 90-hectare fire continues to burn in the El Zapote area of the Cancún-Mérida highway. In the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, a 15-hectare fire that is 40 percent controlled continues to devour shrub vegetation, while in Solidaridad, a shrub fire of less than one hectare is being dealt with at El Edén, north of Playa del Carmen. Conafor says that fire is 50 percent controlled.
Recently, Román Uriel Castillo Carvallo of Conafor said they were hoping to be able to toughen penalties against those who intentionally set fires, pointing out that they are a loss of biodiversity and an enormous expenditure of resources.