President López Obrador inaugurates Jaguar Park in Tulum and museum of Mayan heritage

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, while inaugurating Jaguar Park and the Museum of the Eastern Coast in Tulum urged the public and authorities to protect the region’s biodiversity and cultural heritage. He emphasized the importance of preserving nature, citing experiences of watching turtles, including loggerheads, nesting on the beaches. He also stressed the need to clean sargassum from the beaches and protect the jungle and archaeological sites.

Román Meyer Falcón, Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial, and Urban Development (SEDATU), highlighted that Jaguar Park and the Museum of the Eastern Coast were completed in two years as part of the broader Mayan Train project. This initiative prioritizes environmental conservation, contrasting with previous administrations, which focused on real estate development.

Jaguar Park covers 1,000 hectares (about 2,470 acres) dedicated to cultural, historical, and environmental conservation. The project included reforesting an old airfield and creating a connection between the Mayan Train, the Museum, and the Tulum archaeological zone. The construction cost 2.7 billion pesos. The park’s central features include the Museum of the Eastern Coast, a smoke kitchen, a visitor center, an Educal bookstore, and a rehabilitated lighthouse. The improved Coastal Avenue now provides safe access to the archaeological zone and beaches such as Santa Fe, Pescadores, Maya, and Mangle.

The park also houses a National Guard camp and offices for the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena), the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (Conanp), and the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Diego Prieto Hernández, Director General of INAH, described the Museum of the Eastern Coast as the largest in the Mayan Train system and in Quintana Roo. It features 1,200 square meters (about 12,900 square feet) of exhibit space, with more than 300 original artifacts and 50 reproductions. The museum showcases the richness of the Mesoamerican Mayan world, including its history, architecture, economy, and maritime culture. Prieto emphasized the museum’s role in educating visitors about the enduring legacy of the Mayan civilization.

President López Obrador praised the museum, calling it one of the most beautiful in the world and acknowledging the work of construction workers, archaeologists, restorers, and military engineers who made the project possible. He also highlighted the creation of Jaguar Park as a solution to land ownership and mobility issues around the Tulum archaeological site. Through regional planning, urban growth near the site was halted, and over 300 hectares (about 740 acres) of forest were recovered. The project also prioritized public access to the beaches and sustainable transportation, reducing car use within the park in favor of electric vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrian pathways.

President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who accompanied the President, pledged to continue the work of the Fourth Transformation, particularly focusing on completing the cargo aspect of the Mayan Train, finishing the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and reinstating passenger rail transportation in northern Mexico.

During his tour of the Mayan Train stations in Cancún, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, López Obrador reiterated that the success of these projects was due to public support. As his presidential term nears its end, he reflected on the achievements of his administration, noting that poverty and inequality had decreased, wages had increased, and the Mexican peso had strengthened after decades of devaluation. He also touched on upcoming reforms to the judiciary, emphasizing that these changes would not destabilize the economy but would ensure that judges, magistrates, and ministers serve without corruption.

In closing, the President expressed confidence in his successor, a “well-prepared woman with convictions,” to continue the transformative work his administration had begun.