Holbox will halt future development, if local officials get their way

Holbox puddles aren’t necessarily just rainwater. Photo: Random Mexico Musings

Holbox may put a halt to all development and construction.

Some local officials feel that the tiny resort island has reached capacity and any further development would put its fragile ecosystem at risk.

“The island has reached its limit,” said Gisela Maldonado Saldana, a biologist on the State Wildlife Committee.

Maldonado Saldana is not alone. Gerardo Mora Vallejo, the general director of the Potable Water and Sewage Commission, said that to put the fragile island on a better course, it’s critical that no more construction licenses are given without the state agency and CFE first determining feasibility.

Car-free and laid-back Holbox is part of the Yum Balam Nature Reserve and is separated from the mainland by a lagoon that’s home to flamingos and pelicans. Situated between the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, Holbox also showcases rich marine life such as sea turtles and whale sharks.

The destination is also a natural bird corridor, so it’s troubling that many areas of the island have been contaminated by wastewater. The island’s treatment plant is not functioning properly and often wastewater ends up in island mangroves.

“The flamingos that we like so much and are the emblem of many houses of people of money are in danger because those animals are filtering,” Maldonado Saldana said. “They walk in the mud and they stir it with their legs.”

Maldonado Saldana added that some mangrove areas are drying up, which is impacting various species of animals, some of which are in danger of extinction.

Source: Galu Comunicación

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