Government, industry and civil society leaders of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula have signed an ambitious collaborative agreement to combat climate change, halt deforestation and boost sustainable development in the region by 2030. The peninsula—which spans the Mexican states of Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Campeche—is home to 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of the Selva Maya, the world’s second-largest contiguous tropical forest after the Amazon. The region’s vast coastal areas and islands are also major biodiversity hotspots. But those ecosystems are under threat from mega-tourism developments, cattle ranching, slash-and-burn agriculture and logging. The peninsula currently loses 80,250 hectares (198,000 acres) of forest annually due to those activities, fueling global warming and reducing habitat for dozens of endangered species such as... [Log in to read more]
