The train being built by the federal government in Sonora puts the jaguar, the largest feline in America and which is in danger of extinction, at risk, according to the director in Mexico of the Center for Biological Diversity (CDB), Alejandro Olivera.
Environmentalists accused the Government of withdrawing the declaration of environmental protection in the El Aribabi ranch, the first area voluntarily designated for conservation in Sonora, to build the project, known as ‘Ghost Train’, which puts the jaguar migration zone at risk. towards Arizona.
Alejandro Olivera denounced that the State violates its own environmental laws, threatens the only clean river in the region and species such as the ocelot and the jaguar, mythical felines of America.
Read: US authorities evaluate environmental impact of railway bridge between Texas and Coahuila
“It was an area voluntarily designated for conservation, a site that presents great biodiversity, which the Cocóspera River just crosses; Now these protected areas no longer exist, all because of this railway project,” explained Alejandro Oliveira from the CDB.
The work, according to the CDB, seeks to streamline trade, mainly for the mining company Grupo México, which has Ferromex among its subsidiaries, which transports export vehicles, minerals and metals, agricultural products, construction materials, industrial supplies, chemicals and fertilizers.
The ‘ghost train’ is a project implemented by the Government of Sonora and built by the Army that aims to remove the train tracks from the border city of Nogales to avoid and free up vehicular traffic in the city, adjacent to Arizona.
But the new route of the roads passed, without environmental permits, through the migration zone of species such as jaguar, deer, bears and ocelots.
“Now the train is added to the construction of the border wall, so it will be difficult for the species to migrate from Mexico to the United States as they have done throughout their existence,” the specialist warned.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a complaint with the Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CCA) of the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA) to denounce alleged omissions in Mexican environmental laws.
The request based on article 24.27 of the TMEC urges the CEC to investigate and develop a factual record because “the Government advanced for more than a year with the railway project without environmental permits.”
The work, he argues, crosses the municipalities of Imuris, Santa Cruz and Nogales, fragments the biological corridor of the Sierra Azul-El Pinito jaguar, and destroys the Rancho El Aribabi ecological reserve.
“The Government began to build this railway project under an alleged provincial environmental impact authorization, a figure that the Supreme Court invalidated, it spent more than a year without environmental permits, deforesting the municipalities,” added the expert.
The diversion of train tracks out of Nogales through natural areas affects habitats of jaguars, ocelots, black bears, coyotes, deer, Gila monsters, reptiles, birds and other animals protected by Official Mexican Standard 059 of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources.
Read: Low prices in the stock market bankrupt wheat producers in Sonora: organizations
With information from EFE
Follow us on Google News to always stay informed
