SEMARNAT allocates to CONANP 18.3 million m² of beach

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) allocated to the service of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) an area of 18,334,434.80 square meters of federal maritime beach in Campeche. The administrative agreement, signed on June 29, 2026, by Secretary Alicia Isabel Adriana Bárcena Ibarra, was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) on Friday, August 14, 2026, and enters into force the day after its publication.

The instrument covers eight beach sections of the polygon known as the Bahamitas segment, in the localities of Isla del Carmen, La Palma, Quinta Chilla and Puerto Real, municipality of Carmen. CONANP requested the allocation through official letters DGOR/0768/2022 (August 17, 2022) and DGOR/1168/2025 (November 6, 2025) to carry out biodiversity conservation activities and sustainable management of natural resources.

A common-use asset in public service

In accordance with the General Law of National Assets, the maritime beach is a common-use asset of the public domain of the Federation, inalienable, imprescriptible and non-attachable, whose possession and ownership are exercised by SEMARNAT. The allocation is formalized by administrative agreement in favor of public institutions, without transferring ownership or creating any real right: CONANP receives only the right of use for the authorized purpose.

The intended use is aimed at protecting 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). The authorized activities include:

surveillance and monitoring of the allocated area;
conservation and restoration of the mangrove ecosystem;
sustainable management actions of natural resources.

Figures and delimitation of the polygon

The allocated surface, distributed in eight sections, is part of a general polygon of 20,435,930.65 m² that includes 116 bodies of water, which are excluded from the allocation and are described, along with the surface, in Annexes 1 and 2 of the agreement. The work was prepared in accordance with standard NOM-146-SEMARNAT-2017, on the delimitation of the federal maritime-terrestrial zone, with survey plans from September 2025 that are found in file 835/CAMP/2022, bundles 2 to 5, of the archive of the General Directorate of Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone and Coastal Environments, which issued favorable technical opinions in December 2025.

Obligations and usage limits

CONANP must maintain the surface in optimal hygienic conditions, cooperate in cleaning campaigns, and adopt measures to prevent the proliferation of harmful fauna. The agreement expressly prohibits:

carrying out works or constructions that restrict the movement of people without prior authorization;
installing fences, walls, or elements that impede the free pedestrian transit of the common-use property;
discharging wastewater into the sea and removing native vegetation;
modifying the terrain morphology and carrying out any profit-making activity.

If the surface were put to a use other than that authorized, or ceased to be used, SEMARNAT may withdraw it from service, and the agency may re-delimit the federal maritime-terrestrial zone at any time. Oversight of compliance corresponds to the General Directorate of Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone and Coastal Environments.

Impact for the coastline of Campeche

With this decision, almost 1,834 hectares of beach in the municipality of Carmen are shielded from private uses and consolidated as common-use property serving conservation. For the coastal communities of Laguna de Términos, the measure reinforces the protection of mangroves, critical habitat for biodiversity and a natural barrier against erosion and weather phenomena.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, publication 221/2026, Friday, August 14, 2026, Executive Branch, Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, pp. 23-26 (official reference: Agreement by which the surface area of 18,334,434.80 m² of maritime beach of the Bahamitas segment is assigned to CONANP, file 835/CAMP/2022).