Guardians of the Coast Fight to Save Mangroves in Yucatán

A recent environmental enforcement operation in San Felipe reveals ongoing challenges in protecting mangrove ecosystems

Federal and state authorities descended on San Felipe today for the second time in 11 months for the same reason. They found illegal logging, clearing, and human settlements on more than 20 hectares (nearly 50 acres) of mangroves in Yucatán, considered protected habitat areas within the state’s ecosystems, on the eastern side of the Mexican state.

The operation involved members of the State Public Security Secretariat (SSP), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), the Federal Attorney General’s Office (Profepa), the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), the National Guard, and the Navy, as a result of various investigations opened for environmental damage. At the center of the investigation sits San Felipe Mayor Felipe Marrufo, a PRI member, who is reportedly part of the investigation file, having been allegedly linked on three occasions to possible environmental crimes committed in the area.

This enforcement action, as reported by La Jornada Maya, occurs within the context of ongoing mangrove conservation efforts across Yucatán’s 378 kilometers (235 miles) of coastline.

Distributing Mangroves in Yucatán

Mexico ranks fourth globally in mangrove coverage with approximately 905,000 hectares. The Yucatan Peninsula contains 60.1 percent of these forests—544,169 hectares.

By state, Quintana Roo has 247,017 hectares (27.2% of Mexico’s total), Campeche has 200,279 hectares (22.1%), and Yucatán has 96,873 hectares (10.7%).

Data indicates that Yucatán has lost approximately 8 percent of its mangrove coverage, while Quintana Roo has lost over 2,000 hectares (4,940 acres) in recent decades. “In Yucatán, the loss is close to 8 percent, underscoring the urgent need to restore and protect these ecosystems,” said federal Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena during the launch of restoration efforts in March 2025.

Mangroves surround tiny beaches where children play in Chetumal. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht / Yucatán Magazine

The dunes and mangroves that surround Progreso are known for their beauty but also vulnerability. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht / Yucatán Magazine

Guadalupe del Rosario Ek Lira, 37, a member of Las Chelemeras, planting red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) seedlings at the restoration site in Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico on August 08, 2023. Las Chelemeras is a group of 14 women of Mayan origin, age 33 to 82, in the fishing village of Chelem – 32 miles from Mérida – who, since 2010, have worked to restore and protect their local mangrove forests in the Yucatán Peninsula. To date, Las Chelemeras have contributed to the reforestation of approximately 50 hectares (124 acres) of mangrove across two sites. Mangroves are one of the world’s most important vital ecosystems. They provide community livelihoods, function as biodiversity hotspots, and help mitigate the effects of climate change. Most importantly, by area, mangroves capture and store at least four times as much carbon dioxide as tropical rainforests. But they are threatened by human activity, development and climate change. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “Over 20 percent of mangroves are estimated to have been lost globally over the past 40 years.” To make up for this loss, people attempt to restore mangroves all around the world. Photography by Bénédicte Desrus

A member of Las Chelemeras pushes nurseries of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) seedlings on a large foam pallet, to plant them later. Photography by Bénédicte Desrus for Yucatán Magazine

Mangrove cutting and wetland filling to build housing in Chicxulub, Yucatán, Mexico on November 09, 2023. Several hectares of mangroves in the Coastal beaches of Yucatán have been devastated because of rapid urban development. This practice leaves the communities unprotected against hydro-meteorological phenomena such as hurricanes, in addition to severely impacting the flaura and fauna. Photograph by Bénédicte Desrus for Yucatán Magazine

Las Chelemeras build new water channels to restore the natural flow of watter. Photography by Bénédicte Desrus for Yucatán Magazine

Las Chelemeras deposit mud into the “tarquinas” – shelters made out of wood posts and mesh where mangrove seedlings can take root. Photography by Bénédicte Desrus for Yucatán Magazine

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “Over 20 percent of mangroves are estimated to have been lost globally over the past 40 years.” To make up for this loss, people attempt to restore mangroves all around the world. Photography by Bénédicte Desrus for Yucatán Magazine

Regina Chim Batum, 71, a member of Las Chelemeras, at restoration site in Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico. Photography by Bénédicte Desrus for Yucatán Magazine

Guadalupe del Rosario Ek Lira, 37 (C), a member of Las Chelemeras, ties the mesh to the “tarquinas” – shelters made out of wood posts and mesh where mangrove seedlings can take root – at the restoration site in Progreso, Yucatán, Mexico on October 19, 2023. Las Chelemeras is a group of 14 women of Mayan origin, age 33 to 82, in the fishing village of Chelem – 32 miles from Mérida – who, since 2010, have worked to restore and protect their local mangrove forests in the Yucatán Peninsula. To date, Las Chelemeras have contributed to the reforestation of approximately 50 hectares (124 acres) of mangrove across two sites. Mangroves are one of the world’s most important vital ecosystems. They provide community livelihoods, function as biodiversity hotspots, and help mitigate the effects of climate change. Most importantly, by area, mangroves capture and store at least four times as much carbon dioxide as tropical rainforests. But they are threatened by human activity, development and climate change. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), “Over 20 percent of mangroves are estimated to have been lost globally over the past 40 years.” To make up for this loss, people attempt to restore mangroves all around the world. Photography by Bénédicte Desrus

Despite being illegal, unsanctioned clearing of mangroves is commonplace in Yucatán and is done freely in the open. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht / Yucatán Magazine

The best way to see flamingos in large numbers is to take a boat tour around the mangroves of Yucatán’s coast. Just don’t get too close. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht / Yucatán Magazine

Though the fish swimming around the swamp and mangroves are not very big, running from just a couple inches to about six, there sure a lot of them. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht / Yucatán Magazine

Mangroves are only able to prosper under very specific conditions where the surrounding water meets the correct pH balance. For this reason, it’s extremely important that the construction of infrastructure such as road don’t block the water’s natural flow. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

View of the lagoon from one of its many small islands dominated by mangroves. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

View of the lagoon from one of its many small islands dominated by mangroves. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

Women wade through a swamp to plant mangrove seedlings, near Progreso, Mexico, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. While world leaders seek ways to stop the climate crisis at a United Nations conference in Scotland, a few dozen fishermen and women villagers are working to save the planet’s mangroves thousands of miles away on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman wades through a swamp carrying a mangrove seedling, as part of a restoration project near Progreso, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. This mangrove restoration effort is similar to others around the globe, as scientists and community groups increasingly recognize the need to protect and bring back the forests to store carbon and buffer coastlines from climate-driven extreme weather, including more intense hurricanes and storm surges. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Women push a boat filled with mangrove seedlings as part of a seasonal restoration project, near Progreso, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. “The happiest day is when our plants take,” said the 41-year-old leader of the women who now are paid $15 a day and take pride in putting their “grain of sand” into the planet’s well-being. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman plants mangrove seedlings as part of a restoration project, near Progreso, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. Other restorations are underway in Indonesia, which contains the world’s largest tracts of mangrove habitat, Columbia and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman plants mangrove seedlings as part of a restoration project, near Progreso, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. The 20-inch mangrove seedlings are placed into mounds of mud held together by mesh, creating tiny islands. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Mangrove seedlings planted in mounds of mud are held together by mesh, creating tiny islands, as part of a restoration project near Progreso, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021. “On a per-hectare basis, mangroves are the ecosystem that sequesters the most carbon … They can bury around five times more carbon in the sediment than a tropical rain forest,” says Octavio Aburto, a marine biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Birds fly near the seaside community Dzilam de Bravo, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. In 2002, Hurricane Isidoro devastated this area, but after a decade of work, 120 hectares (297 acres) of mangroves have been restored. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Fishermen dig canals in order for fresh and salt water to mingle, as part of a mangrove restoration project near Dzilam de Bravo, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. Their work is supported by academics and donations to environmental groups, and government funds help train villagers to organize their efforts. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Fishermen dig and clean canals as part of a mangrove recovery project, near Dzilam de Bravo, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. From 1980 to 2005, 20% to 35% of the world’s mangrove forests were lost, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A patch of dried mangroves in the Dzilam de Bravo reserve, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. The halting efforts in Mexico to protect and restore mangroves, even as more are lost, mirror situations elsewhere. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Jorge Alfredo Herrera, a researcher at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the Mexican Polytechnic Institute in Yucatan, walks through the Dzilam de Bravo reserve, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A dog jumps across a lagoon in the tourist area of San Crisanto, an old salt harvesting community between Progreso and Dzilam, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. While more funds are needed for protection and restoration of mangroves, some communities prefer to think about how to make conservation a profitable activity. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A tangle of mangrove roots grow alongside a shore in San Crisanto, near Progreso, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. Despite the country’s monitoring system, local researchers say that for every hectare (2.5 acres) of mangrove restored in southeast Mexico, 10 hectares are degraded or lost. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A highway cuts through a mangrove forest near the Dzilam de Bravo Reserve, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. In Mexico, as in much of the world, the largest threat to mangroves is development. The region near Cancun lost most of its historic mangroves to highways and hotels starting in the 1980s. Photo: AP / Eduardo Verdugo

A bulldozer clears a field next to mangroves lining a shoreline near Dzilam de Bravo, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Cutting mangroves has been a crime since 2005. The Yucatan state government said it is aware of complaints of illegal logging yet the harvest has only grown. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Mangroves form an arch over a lagoon in the tourist area of San Crisanto, an old salt harvesting community between Progreso and Dzilam, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Friday, Oct. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Mangroves are the flamingo’s natural environment, and are also essential for the ecological balance of the state. They are in constant danger due to contamination, residential development and tourism. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

A scaly dove, commonly found in the beaches and mangroves of Yucatán. Photo: Courtesy

When not in flight the mangrove swallow can often be seen perching on branches protruding from mangroves or shallow waters. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

Locals in Sisal say that the only magic going on since it was declared a Pueblo Magico, is the disappearance of their beaches, mangroves, and lands. Photo: Courtesy

The best way to see flamingos in large numbers is to take a boat tour around the mangroves of Yucatán’s coast. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

Mangroves are notoriously difficult to traverse and are full with all sorts of wildlife. Photo: Courtesy

The eleven adventurers will have to make their way through the difficult terrain of Yucatán’s northern mangrove filled coastline. Photo: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

Profepa released this image of environmental officials shutting down a property where mangroves were destroyed to build a wall. File photo

Ecological Functions

Mangroves in Yucatán provide habitat for various species including crocodiles, manatees, and waterbirds such as pink flamingos, wood storks, pelicans, roseate spoonbills, white ibis, and heron species. Many of these species are classified as endangered or threatened.

These ecosystems serve as breeding areas for commercially important species including lobster, shrimp, and fish. Studies indicate that mangrove loss in Quintana Roo represents an economic impact of 10.46 billion pesos over 34 years.

Research shows that mangroves store up to five times more organic carbon than tropical upland forests and sequester four times more carbon dioxide per square meter than tropical rainforests.

Coastal Protection

Mangroves function as natural barriers during hurricanes and their root systems stabilize shorelines against erosion. They filter nitrates and phosphates from rivers and create buffer zones that protect inland areas from wind and wave damage.

Scientific research has identified an ancient mangrove ecosystem located more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the nearest ocean along the San Pedro Martir River. These inland mangroves have been genetically isolated for approximately 120,000 years since the Last Interglacial period, when sea levels were 20-30 feet (6-9 meters) higher.

Community-Based Conservation: Las Chelemeras

In the fishing community of Chelem, 51 kilometers (32 miles) north of Mérida, a group of Maya women known as Las Chelemeras has conducted mangrove restoration work for nearly 15 years.

The group began in 2010 when a government-funded project sought volunteers for restoration work. After funding ended two years later, the women continued their work. The group has restored over 50 hectares (124 acres) of mangrove forest.

“Despite being from the coast, we didn’t know why the mangroves were important,” said Keila Vázquez, coordinator of Las Chelemeras. “For example, they protect against cyclones and act as nurseries for commercial marine species such as prawns.”

Las Chelemeras has received recognition from UNESCO, the Blue Marine Foundation, and other organizations. The 14 women, ranging in age from 30 to 85, focus on reconnecting hydrological systems to enable natural mangrove regeneration.

“The happiest day is when our plants take,” said Vázquez. “They are like our children.” She described their restoration technique: “It was caused by dredging for a nearby port. All the gravel from the port was dumped there: the topography changed, the salinity increased and the water stopped flowing.”

Development Pressures

Real estate development in coastal areas has been identified as a main cause of mangrove loss. Additional factors include roads built without considering water flows that feed mangroves, harbor and port construction, urban development, and livestock activities.

“Real estate development, especially in areas near the sea, has been one of the main causes of mangrove loss,” stated Environment Secretary Bárcena during the March 2025 restoration program launch. “Our goal is to prevent further real estate projects in areas within the federal maritime-terrestrial zone, which are publicly accessible.”

In Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, environmental groups report that 40 percent of mangroves within the urban area have been impacted by settlements, waste disposal, and logging. Wastewater discharge from residential and commercial sources has contributed to contamination of mangrove systems.

Government Restoration Initiatives

In March 2025, federal Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena and Yucatán Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena launched a mangrove reforestation program in Chuburná Port. The program aims to plant 100,000 specimens across coastal ports including Río Lagartos, San Felipe, Dzilam de Bravo, Chicxulub, Santa Clara, Chabihau, Telchac, Progreso, Chelem, Chuburná Puerto, Celestún, and Sisal.

The initiative targets restoration of the 8 percent mangrove loss in Yucatán through planting of red, black, and green mangrove species. Governor Díaz Mena has taken a strong stance on environmental protection, declaring during a beach cleanup event in Progreso that “the full weight of the law will be applied against ecocides in the state” and emphasizing that “there will be no tolerance for those who destroy nature.”

Campeche Governor Layda Sansores announced an additional 5 million pesos investment, supplementing 8.2 million already allocated for restoring 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of mangrove. The state has invested nearly 500,000 pesos for restoring 400 hectares (988 acres) and reforesting 60 hectares (148 acres) in Isla Aguada.

Scientific Research and International Cooperation

Research continues on mangrove ecosystem complexity, examining how different ecological types—fringe, basin, dwarf, and hammock—store carbon based on their hydrological, soil, and structural characteristics.

The “Accelerator of Mangrove Restoration and Sustainable Management Policies 2025” event in Campeche brought together academics, researchers, international organizations, investors, and government officials from multiple countries to share restoration strategies and policy approaches.

According to the Global Mangrove Alliance, approximately 80% of mangrove restoration projects fail due to insufficient community involvement.

Current Status

The San Felipe enforcement operation represents the second such action in the municipality within 11 months. Government authorities continue environmental protection efforts while community-based conservation groups like Las Chelemeras demonstrate alternative approaches to ecosystem management.

“The destruction of mangroves is a federal crime, regardless of who owns the land,” emphasized Secretary Bárcena when addressing environmental violations in coastal Yucatán. She noted that the ministry’s “great crusade” involves “the recovery of wetlands and the recovery of mangroves, these are the two ecosystems that we think are very important to protect, to restore, because they are places where life, species, mangroves [thrive].”

Climate change and development pressures continue to affect Yucatán’s mangroves, while scientific research, government programs, international support, and community-led initiatives provide various approaches to conservation.

The situation reflects broader challenges in balancing coastal development with environmental protection across Mexico’s coastlines. As Keila Vázquez of Las Chelemeras noted when reflecting on their long-term goals: “We aren’t going to live forever. We know we need new generations to continue our work.”

Reporting contributed by La Jornada Maya. Additional research from various organizations working in Yucatan’s coastal conservation.

Resources:

• Las Chelemeras restoration sites in Chelem and Progreso
• Conservation organizations including The Nature Conservancy and Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatán
• World Mangrove Day activities held annually on July 26th

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