Tren Maya Environmental Compensation Programme — Contested Deforestation Offset (Mexico)

The Tren Maya is a roughly 1,554-kilometre railway built across five states of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula by the federal tourism-infrastructure agency Fonatur from 2020. Independent satellite analysis by CartoCrítica (published via CCMSS) found that sections 5–7 of the line alone deforested 6,018.3 hectares, with a further 1,055 hectares affected by 185 material-extraction sites; Mongabay's reporting corroborates a similar order of magnitude. CCMSS found that 67% of the deforested area lacked the required Change of Land Use (CUSTF) authorisation, and that construction on sections 5–7 began before completing Environmental Impact Assessments or receiving SEMARNAT approval. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights separately found that the 2019 indigenous consultation process did not meet international standards. Facing sustained civil-society, journalistic and judicial pressure, SEMARNAT has required a compensation package — described by the government as 208 environmental programmes and 1,252 mitigation measures — including more than 1,579 wildlife crossings and drainage structures, a reforestation programme, and relocation of affected wildlife.