MEXICO CITY— Mexican officials have issued fines to 26 industrial pig operations in the Yucatán Peninsula for violating environmental laws. The inspections resulted from a formal request made by the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace Mexico for enforcement by environmental authorities.

The groups also asked the government to agree to a request from 21 Mayan communities for a moratorium on all approvals of new industrial pig farms in the states of Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo. The communities want to resolve issues of the rights of the Mayan people and ongoing damage to air and water quality, biodiversity and human health. Officials have yet to respond to their request.

“Mexico should have acted earlier, but I’m relieved that enforcement is happening on these filthy pig operations,” said Hannah Connor, environmental health deputy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “To protect the internationally important and culturally sacred cenotes under many of the Yucatán’s pig factory farms, it’s essential to ensure that these facilities don’t pollute. I’m hopeful that environmental authorities will finally consult Indigenous communities and create the factory farm permitting moratorium the Maya peoples have requested.”

Following the groups’ request for enforcement, Mexican environmental authorities first informed the groups that they would inspect the 26 operations. They then issued enforcement penalties to every inspected operation. Officials also said that they will “continue to address the problems of the development of pig farms in the Yucatán Peninsula.”

The enforcement actions were taken by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection, or PROFEPA, the National Water Commission, and the Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources of the federal government. Although PROFEPA did not explicitly state the reasons for the sanctions, it appears that they were imposed because of violations of environmental laws, in accordance with the agency’s authority.

“Mega pig farms exert strong pressure on Mexico's ecosystems. In recent years, in the Yucatán Peninsula they have caused the deforestation of around 11 thousand hectares of jungle. These industrial complexes contribute to soil degradation, water pollution and climate change. The sanctions imposed are a favorable step, but the authorities must still take action to prevent this model that is contrary to sustainability and social well-being from continuing to expand in Mexico. The voice of the communities must be heard,” said Carlos Samayoa, campaigner at Greenpeace Mexico.

The Mayan jungle of the Yucatán Peninsula supplies critical habitat to countless species, including imperiled spider monkeys and jaguars, as well as fungi and microorganisms. It also provides numerous plant and animal resources for food and medicine.

The Yucatán Peninsula has more than 200 registered industrial pig operations. Of those registered operations, 86% are located in the state of Yucatán with the remainder in the states of Quintana Roo and Campeche. Operations in the state of Yucatán are mostly concentrated in the municipalities surrounding the city of Mérida.

The Yucatán Peninsula is host to four sites protected by the Ramsar Convention, a treaty that protects important wetland areas. Those sites are Laguna de Terminos, Ring of Cenotes Geohydrological Reserve, Laguna de Yalahau State Park and Ría Celestún Biosphere Reserve.

Most at risk from these operations is the Ring of Cenotes Geohydrological Reserve, located in Homún on a site of global importance where the Chicxulub impact crater hit Earth 65 million years ago and drove the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.

According to a 2021 report published by the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, more than half of Ramsar sites are harmed by agriculture, including 25% of sites harmed by livestock farming and 22% by pollution and effluent discharge. As that report further determined, land conversion for agriculture has led to a 35% decline in natural wetlands since 1970.