{"id":6928,"date":"2019-08-19T05:02:10","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T09:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=6928"},"modified":"2019-08-19T05:02:10","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T09:02:10","slug":"mexico-wants-to-run-a-tourist-train-through-its-mayan-heartland-should-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=6928","title":{"rendered":"Mexico Wants to Run a Tourist Train Through Its Mayan Heartland \u2014 Should It"},"content":{"rendered":"
A proposed new train in Mexico would connect the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, on the Yucatan Peninsula, easier to reach from Cancun. REUTERS\/Mauricio Marat\/National Institute of Anthropology and History<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador has a dream for the Yucatan Peninsula. He wants to build a train<\/a> that will leverage the tourism economy of Cancun by bringing more visitors inland to the colonial cities, Mayan villages and archaeological sites that dot the region.<\/p>\n

The Yucatan is a unique Mexican cultural crossroads. Many Maya here continue to farm<\/a>, live and dress according to indigenous traditions developed millennia before the Spanish colonized the Americas. Travelers also come from across the globe to sunbathe along the modern, highly developed Riviera Maya. Over 16 million foreigners visited the area<\/a> in 2017; three-quarters of them were American.<\/p>\n

The Mexican government thinks that a tourist train could turn Maya villages into destinations, too, bringing an infusion of cash and jobs into one of its poorest<\/a> and most marginalized regions<\/a>. Commuters would also benefit from rail travel.<\/p>\n

But there are social and environmental consequences<\/a> to laying 932 miles of railway tracks across a region of dense jungle, pristine beaches and Maya villages. And in his haste to start construction this year<\/a>, L\u00f3pez Obrador \u2013 whose energy policy is focused on increasing fossil fuel production in Mexico<\/a> and rebuilding the coal industry<\/a> \u2013 has demonstrated little concern for conservation.<\/p>\n

The proposed Maya Train would connect the Yucatan\u2019s coastal resorts with inland Mayan destinations. Proyecto Tren Maya\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pristine forests and Mayan ruins at risk<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a landscape architecture scholar<\/a> who has studied<\/a> Mexico\u2019s Yucatan Peninsula, I agree that the Maya Train could bring substantial benefits to this region. But the train must be designed in a way that respects the delicate ecology, indigenous history and social fabric of the region.<\/p>\n

The Yucatan, a biodiverse<\/a> peninsula that\u2019s geographically isolated from the rest of Mexico and Central America, has already suffered mass deforestation<\/a> due to careless urban development, massive tourism and, in particular, unsustainable cattle ranching<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For stretches, the Maya Train will run on existing tracks. But other parts of its planned route will cut through some of the only unspoiled ancient forests on the Yucatan Peninsula that are not federally protected as nature reserves<\/a>. That bodes badly for endangered native species like the kanzacam cactus and black howler monkey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Running a train through virgin forest also puts potentially hundreds of undiscovered ruins at risk. New technology has lead archaeologists to believe that the ancient Maya had many more cities, shrines and settlements<\/a> than have been uncovered and excavated.<\/p>\n

There is concern, too, that the construction of a new train line may exacerbate a demographic shift already underway in the Yucatan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As young Mexicans have left the small towns of the Yucatan to seek tourism jobs, many traditional Maya villages face abandonment. In 2015<\/a>, 36% of Yucatec residents lived in traditional towns of fewer than 5,000 people \u2013 about 10% fewer than in 1990<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Maya Train with limited stations may spur development of a select few traditional towns. But many more \u2013 all those not located within the new rural tourism corridor \u2013 will likely see their population dwindle.<\/p>\n

\n
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Cancun, Mexico, is a global tourist destination located miles from traditional Maya villages.Dronepicr\/Wikicommons, CC BY<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

Building a better Maya Train<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2019s ambitious signature infrastructure project should be killed. But the rushed construction schedule could be slowed down, giving the government time to study how the environmental and social costs of the Maya Train can be mitigated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Analysts have almost universally pointed out that the government\u2019s six-year timeline<\/a> necessarily precludes a deliberate, comprehensive and careful planning and construction process.<\/p>\n

Landscape ecology<\/a>, the study of natural systems, teaches us that simply maintaining green corridors connecting patches of unbroken wilderness can go a long way to protect wildlife, their habitat and the natural drainage patterns of the area.<\/p>\n

The railway\u2019s path<\/a> could probably be redesigned to avoid severing these ecological arteries, but a sound environmental impact assessment must first be conducted to determine the impact and feasibility of alternative routes. That has not yet been done.<\/p>\n

The possible negative social consequences of the Maya Train could also be avoided, or at least compensated for, if the communities impacted by the railway could participate fully in the planning process.<\/p>\n

L\u00f3pez Obrador says that Mother Earth granted permission<\/a> to build the train, but Mexico\u2019s Maya Train was approved at a hastily called popular referendum last year with only 1% voter participation<\/a>. Some indigenous activists have rejected<\/a> the outcome of the vote, which polled Mexicans nationwide about a project that affects mainly Maya villagers.<\/p>\n

\n
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Many Maya on Mexico\u2019s Yucatan Peninsula still dress, cook and live as their relatives have for millennia.AP Photo\/Israel Leal<\/figcaption><\/figure>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t accept it,\u201d a representative of the Zapatistas, a southern Mexican indigenous insurgency, said of the train<\/a> on July 23. \u201cWe won\u2019t allow [the government] to come in and destroy\u201d the land.<\/p>\n

Other Yucatan residents appear to support the idea of a tourist train<\/a> but want to be consulted closely about its route, stops and offerings, asked about their concerns and given the chance to make design proposals.<\/p>\n

This kind of participatory planning<\/a> process would ensure that Yucatec residents are the beneficiaries, not the victims, of the anticipated economic boom.<\/p>\n

Done right, the Maya Train could actually trigger an economic conversion with sweeping environmental benefits for the Yucatan. If new ecotourism and agrotourism<\/a> businesses grow up around the train, some rural residents will naturally move toward those trades and away from the high-impact, low-efficiency ranching that has so damaged the local ecology.<\/p>\n

Slow down<\/strong><\/p>\n

Big public works like the Maya Train take patience, careful planning, thinking and rethinking.<\/p>\n

These are not the hallmarks of L\u00f3pez Obrador\u2019s leadership style<\/a>. The Mexican president insists the $6 billion train will be completed before the end of his term in 2024<\/a> and has mocked journalists who question the train\u2019s environmental impact<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the public backlash appears to have forced his government to do some quick course correction.<\/p>\n

United Nations-Habitat, the U.N.\u2018s urban development agency, began consulting with the Mexico government<\/a> in May. U.N.-Habitat\u2019s interim director, Eduardo L\u00f3pez Moreno, has called for a more holistic vision of the Maya Train.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not 1,525 kilometers of track,\u201d he said after joining the project. \u201cIt\u2019s 1,525 kilometers of opportunities that will improve the quality of life for all inhabitants of southeast Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriel Diaz Montemayor<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Arkansas<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador has a dream for the Yucatan Peninsula. He wants to build a train that will leverage the tourism economy of Cancun by bringing more visitors inland to the colonial cities, Mayan villages and archaeological sites that dot the region. The Yucatan is a unique Mexican cultural crossroads. Many Maya here…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":7325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.pri.org\/s3fs-public\/styles\/story_main\/public\/images\/2019\/08\/20190813maya.jpg?itok=IxhQgE9t","fifu_image_alt":"Mexico Wants to Run a Tourist Train Through Its Mayan Heartland \u2014 Should It","footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6930,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6928\/revisions\/6930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}