The beach of Puerto Escondido, on the Mexican Pacific, has experienced an increase in new inhabitants and visitors since the inauguration of the new Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway, a two-lane road that includes 104 kilometers of the Chacaua-Huatulco tourist corridor, and through which, between January and May 2024, 23% more tourism entered compared to the same period in 2023.
The new road reduces the drive between Oaxaca City and the iconic beach to just two and a half hours. As a result, Puerto Escondido is no longer an isolated and secluded destination, and other nearby beaches have also begun to feel the effects of this new connectivity.
The repercussions are not limited to increased tourism. New construction has unleashed a real estate boom that threatens local ecosystems such as rivers, lagoons, mangroves, dunes, reefs and different types of forests.
These are five of the environmental impacts associated with the new Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico:
1. Loss of mangroves
The construction of the new Barranca Larga-Ventanilla highway has also impacted key ecosystems such as the mangroves found in the area, mainly the red (Rhizophora mangle) and white (Raguncularia racemosa), which are capable of capturing five times more carbon than terrestrial forests. An analysis conducted with the Global Mangrove Watch tool reveals that between 2010 and 2020, 92 hectares of mangroves were lost in the Chacahua-Huatulco tourism corridor. This area is equivalent to 128 soccer fields.
Data from the management program for the Sierra Sur and Coastal regions of Oaxaca (POERT RSS-C) estimate that between 1990 and 2020, the Oaxacan coast lost 5187 hectares of mangroves. This is equivalent to 61% of the entire territory of Oaxaca, which has 8548 hectares. However, projections point to an even greater loss: another 5095 hectares could disappear by 2050.
The reasons behind this loss are diverse. “Whether due to traditional activities such as agriculture or infrastructure construction, or more recent activities such as domestic, real estate or tourism, the deforestation of mangroves and wetlands never ceases in Oaxaca,” warns biologist Salvador Anta.
2. Turtles lost in the city
The impacts of this new construction are not limited to the territory, but also affect the fauna of the area. The coast of Oaxaca is one of the main nesting sites for thousands of sea turtles, such as the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) and olive ridley (Chelonia mydas), which come to these beaches every year to lay their eggs.
However, the increase of houses, hotels and beach clubs has interfered with their reproductive mission. “It is increasingly common to find adult turtles in the backyards of houses or hotel pools because it had not been there in what has always been their home,” explains biologist María Arely Penguilly.
Added to this is another growing threat: light pollution. Biologist Alison Raymundo warns that the white lights of new constructions disorient the turtles, which tend to confuse them with stars and end up moving in the wrong direction.
3. Farewell to agricultural lands
One of the main impacts identified in the area is the change in land use. Until the year 2000, Oaxaca’s coastline was surrounded by farmland that, although not forest as such, served to capture and infiltrate water as well as to provide refuge for fauna. However, this has changed. An analysis of satellite images by Mongabay Latam shows that, in the last two decades, these areas have been urbanized, with an accelerated pace starting in 2009, when construction of the highway began.
A field visit by the Mongabay Latam team to the communities of Chacahua and Huatulco confirmed this transformation: the landscape in all municipalities with beaches is marked by subdivisions and ongoing construction and, according to experts, these urbanized and concrete-covered lands can cause the temperature to be unregulated, air quality to decrease and pests to proliferate.
4. Construction in national parks
The real estate boom has affected Oaxaca’s national parks. Analysis of satellite images found construction in Bahías de Chacahua National Park and Bahías de Huatulco National Park.
Although these areas are designated by the National or regional governments, many of their lands are still subject to sale and purchase. This is because the Mexican legal basis recognizes the agrarian communities as the legitimate owners and grants them the power to decide on the use of these territories, even within natural protected areas. In theory, the transfer to private parties should be a long and complex procedure, but in practice this does not occur in Oaxaca.
Erick Rodríguez, delegate of the Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (Fonatur), explains that the population chooses to sell these lands due to governmental abandonment and corruption and because of the possibility of obtaining economic income.
5. Pollution at all levels
The increase in real estate and tourism projects has generated a consequent increase in the number of people: 683,000 in the Sierra Sur and Costa regions, a figure that is equivalent to almost the same population that the entire state of Oaxaca had at the beginning of the last century. This demographic expansion has been accompanied by an increase in pollution levels.
Fisherman José Soriano says that, although the area has garbage containers, it is common to find bottles, coconut waste and cans on the beaches. In addition, there is a lack of sanitary landfills, water treatment plants and sewage treatment plants. All this leads to more garbage on the rocky reefs.
“The problems are many and the authorities, as the main responsible parties, are overwhelmed,” says Agustín Ruíz, of the Oaxacan Fund for the Conservation of Nature.
Original text published in Mongabay Latam on July 17th, 2025.
Translation by Schools for Chiapas.