Campeche beaches designated for mangroves: 17.87 million square meters

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) allocated to the service of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) an area of 17,871,647.26 square meters (17.87 million m²) of maritime beach, comprising eight fractions of the polygon known as the Punta Gorda segment, on Isla del Carmen, Campeche. The agreement, signed on June 29, 2026, by Secretary Alicia Isabel Adriana Bárcena Ibarra, was published this Thursday, August 13, 2026, in the Official Gazette of the Federation, morning edition No. 219/2026, within the Executive Branch section.

The instrument was issued based on Articles 61, 62, and 70 of the General Law of National Assets, Article 32 Bis, fraction VIII, of the Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration, and the Regulation for the Use and Exploitation of the Territorial Sea, Navigable Waterways, Beaches, Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone, and Lands Reclaimed from the Sea. This is a destination agreement, a legal mechanism that assigns federal real estate to the service of public institutions without transferring ownership, in order to conserve biodiversity and sustainably manage natural resources.

A polygon in the heart of Laguna de Términos

The delivered area comprises eight fractions of maritime beach from a general polygon that extends between Isla del Carmen, La Palma, Quinta Chilla, and Puerto Real, in the municipality of Carmen. The complete polygon covers 20,156,509.31 square meters, but the destination excludes the 127 interior water bodies, whose technical-topographic descriptions are recorded in Annexes 1 and 2 of the agreement.

• Administrative file 834/CAMP/2022, filed with the General Directorate of Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone and Coastal Environments.
• Topographic survey maps with code FFLTERMINO/04/06/22, dated September 2025, prepared in accordance with NOM-146-SEMARNAT-2017.
• Request from CONANP via letters DGOR/769/2022 (August 17, 2022) and DGOR/1169/2025 (November 10, 2025).
• Technical opinions DDPIF-1217/2025 and SRA-DGZFMTAC-DMIAC-641/2025, dated December 2025, which validate the request.

Mangrove under custody: the authorized use

The allocation covers activities of surveillance, monitoring, conservation, and restoration of the mangrove ecosystem and its ecosystem services, within the framework of the Decree that declared the region known as Laguna de Términos a flora and fauna protection area (published in the DOF on June 6, 1994) and its management program (June 4, 1997). CONANP assumes, among other obligations:

• Keep the surface in optimal hygiene conditions and contribute to cleaning and environmental improvement campaigns.
• Do not affect or remove native vegetation or modify the morphology of the area.
• Do not carry out works, fences, or installations that restrict free pedestrian transit, nor discharge wastewater into the sea.
• Do not carry out lucrative activities on the designated surface.

Validity and limits of the assignment

The agreement grants CONANP only the right to use the surface, without transferring ownership or creating any real right. SEMARNAT may redelimit the area at any time and, if the recipient agency gives the property a different use or ceases to use it, the surface will return to its administration with all its improvements. The sole transitional article establishes that the instrument enters into force the day after its publication, that is, on August 14, 2026.

The measure legally shields one of Mexico’s most valuable coastal areas against unregulated uses, by placing more than 17.87 million square meters at the service of mangrove conservation. For Campeche, whose mangroves in the Laguna de Términos sustain fisheries, biodiversity, and coastal protection, the agreement reinforces the balance between tourism activity and environmental preservation, with direct benefits for the communities in the region.

Source: Official Journal of the Federation, morning edition No. 219/2026, Thursday, August 13, 2026, Executive Branch, p. 13 (official reference: Agreement of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources of June 29, 2026, by which the surface of 17,871,647.26 m² of the Punta Gorda segment, Isla del Carmen, Campeche, is assigned to the service of CONANP).