XOCHIMILCO, Mexico — Xochimilco is known for its beautiful flowers. From the trumpet-shaped brugmansia to the sun-loving bushy dahlia, it’s no surprise that the word xochimilco means “place of the…
XOCHIMILCO, Mexico — In the 70 years Miguel del Valle has worked on his family’s chinampa in Xochimilco, a neighborhood in the south of Mexico City, he has witnessed a…
Last December, the Mexican government opened part of its ambitious Tren Maya project, a railway line connecting the tourist hubs of Cancún and Tulum with the rest of the Yucatán…
It was the 1980s, and before sunrise, Basilio Rodríguez was ready to work. He was still young, and he’d already helped to prepare the land for crops, gathered harvests, pulled…
Few scientists exclusively study the jaguarundi, Latin America’s least studied wildcat. So those that do are reaching out to other researchers, governments, NGOs and even via social media to pool data, model it, and conserve the species.
Beneath the Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern region of Mexico, lies a vast network of flooded tunnels and caves. These intricate and shadowy labyrinths serve as subterranean rivers, constituting the sole…
MEXICO CITY — Mexico will hold elections on June 2 that are likely to shape the country for years to come. In addition to president, all 500 deputies in the…
The latest attempt to save the critically endangered vaquita porpoise from being snagged in nets meant for the coveted totoaba fish may prove to be the most effective yet. But…
When the machines and men came to bury toxic sludge on a property near her house in the Mexican state of Tabasco, Lorenza Castro Castro at first thought it was…
The Rarámuri Indigenous people of Bosques de San Elías Repechique have traveled a long road to defend their community territory in northern Mexico. Living in the state of Chihuahua, the…
In recent decades, salt extraction has taken its toll on the mangroves and wetlands of Isla del Carmen, in the Mexican municipality of Loreto. Since the start of the 20th…
If you’re in the United States, your meal might come with a side of deforestation. The US imported palm oil, cattle products, soybeans, cocoa, rubber, coffee and corn linked to…
CANCÚN, Mexico — The Mexican government finally opened its huge, controversial train project last December, connecting Cancún and Tulum with the rest of the Yucatán Peninsula. And yet, despite all…
Monarch butterflies are returning to gardens across the United States, but a few months ago, I stood in a mountain forest in Mexico where the monarchs spend the winter. They…
With exponential AI energy demand threatening to soon overwhelm the U.S. electric grid, analysts fear that AI’s rapid entry into Latin America could bring massive energy and water consumption, putting communities at risk.
Conflicts between communities and government plans to protect vast swaths of land in line with international conservation policies, such as the “30 by 30” goal of preserving 30% of the…
MEXICO CITY — The trafficking of valuable fish bladders found in Mexico appears to be on the rise online and on social media, and it’s having a ripple effect on…
The stories people tell about bats seem to come from novels, comics or science-fiction movies. They’re able to emit and hear sounds in frequencies inaccessible to other species. Some undertake…
Mexico’s government recently announced the creation of 20 new protected areas across 12 states and two coastal areas in the country, covering roughly 2.3 million hectares (5.7 million acres). This…
It was a tourist who first found the nest. It was March 2020, and the visitor was walking through the Lacandon Jungle in southern Mexico. When he reached the highest…
Xalapa, Veracruz, MEXICO — In April 2023, Julia Martínez was washing her two children when she turned on the tap, but no drops came out. She did her best to…
The Mexico-U.S. border wall has interrupted the ecological connectivity of a nature reserve that’s a World Heritage Site, and should be addressed to remedy the situation, according to UNESCO. Without…
Mexico, a nation that previously supported the development of deep-sea mining, has now called for a moratorium on this activity in international waters. One environmental expert called Mexico’s announcement a…
SONORA, Mexico — A vital oasis in Mexico’s arid northwest, the Cocóspera River brings to life a ribbon of mossy green forest in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. Further…
The construction industry, with its intensive use of cement, is a climate killer. But an innovator in Mexico has found one solution: combining traditional adobe construction in a state-of-the art solar-powered public building.
Foreign land developers have spent the past several years working to bring Mennonite farming communities from across Latin America to Suriname with the plan of starting a series of agriculture…
A new global analysis focuses on the climate benefits of restoring degraded forest areas instead of replanting trees in deforested areas. Researchers mapped forests worldwide to find areas that could…
Latin America is far and away the most dangerous place for people fighting to protect the environment. From activists and community leaders to journalists and politicians, standing up against deforestation,…
Back in December 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador had been Mexico’s president for only a few days when he promised the public that not a single tree would be cut…
HOLBOX, Mexico — The tour I’d arranged in Holbox wasn’t one of the usual packages. It isn’t advertised on social media or sold at the dozens of stalls along the…
The world’s largest limpet, Scutellastra mexicana, is making its last stand on a group of islands off Mexico, with experts warning that it may slip into extinction without urgent conservation…
MEXICO CITY — Officials this week announced the creation of 13 new protected areas across six states in Mexico, putting the country’s list of total federally protected areas at 200.…
