(Energy Analytics Institute, 11.Oct.2024) — The head of Mexico’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) declared the Calica mine a Protected Natural Area (ANP by its Spanish acronym) and not an expropriation.
The details were revealed by the Semarnat Secretary Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, who presented the case of Calizas Industriales del Carmen (Calica), a subsidiary of Vulcan Material, during her participation on 11 Oct. 2024 in the morning conference led by Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
Bárcena said that for over two decades Calica exploited 1,200 hectares, irreversibly affecting the biodiversity of the area and exceeding the limit allowed in the contracts awarded. Bárcena said that Semarnat verified the damage to the underground hydrological system generated by the subsidiary, which resulted in the destruction of 3 sinkholes out of 17 existing in the area.
The head of Semarnat stressed that the declaration of Calico as ANP meant it was not an expropriation.
“We are not expropriating, their land is still theirs, the only thing we are saying is that they cannot extract even one more gram of limestone,” Bárcena said.
She emphasized that the 23 Sep. 2024 decree revealed by Mexico’s former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) preserved 50,000 hectares to protect flora and fauna.
“Now what we have to do is try to restore the hectares that were damaged … and create a biological corridor that will connect the Caribbean Sea with Los Petenes de Campeche,” Bárcena said.
Bárcena recalled that during AMLO’s tenure that 50 additional natural areas were decreed to reach a total of 232 ANPs in the country, covering about 99 million hectares.
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By Fidencio Casillas. © Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.
