Submission

Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:

The Submitter asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws, particularly with respect to the protection of the Chalacatepec lagoon, in the state of Jalisco, listed under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (also known as the Ramsar Convention).

In the submission, the Submitter asserts that the Chalacatepec lagoon has undergone severe environmental degradation as a result of the construction and operation of a resort, referred to by the Submitter as the “Xala real estate megaproject.” According to the Submitter, Mexico's national authorities are aware of the potential environmental harm to the Ramsar site in question arising from that project, as well as of the alleged irregularities in its development.

The Submitter argues that the Xala real estate megaproject has caused the fragmentation of coastal dunes, the diversion of watercourses, the allegedly illegal channeling of the Tomatlán River, an increase in the lagoon's salinity, the destruction of archaeological remains and the felling of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), a species classified as threatened and protected under the Official Mexican Standard NOM-059-Semarnat-2010. The Submitter further maintains that the competent authorities have engaged in acts amounting to a denial of justice by obstructing public oversight and citizen participation in monitoring the potential environmental harm to the Chalacatepec lagoon.

Names and citations of the environmental laws in question:

The Submitter asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce provisions of the General Act on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente), the Federal Act on Archaeological, Artistic and Historic Monuments and Zones (Ley Federal sobre Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicos, Artísticos e Históricos), the National Waters Act (Ley de Aguas Nacionales), NOM-059-Semarnat-2010 and the Ramsar Convention.

Submitter(s):

Names withheld pursuant to Article 16(1)(a) of the ECA.