“The Texcoco Lake Ecological Park is now in its prime”

Texcoco, Mex. The Texcoco Lake Ecological Park is now in its splendorso it is only a matter of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador deciding in the next few days when it will be opened to the public, said Iñaki Echeverria, general director of this natural reserve that was rescued from becoming an airport.

The official commented that the project, which is being built on land where the previous federal administration intended to build the New Mexico International Airport (NAIM), has already contributed to the local economy, but this is not a benefit seen from a traditional perspective, since it is a work that does social and environmental justice.

He said it is only a matter of days before it is opened to the public, particularly the sports areas, where there are cycle paths, skating rinks and football fields, among other activities.

It’s just a matter of the President (López Obrador) comingresponded to The Day when asked about the date it will be opened to the public.

He said that for the time being, so that people can get to know it, it will be open from Thursday to Sunday between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. so that visitors can watch the sunrise and sunset.

Echeverría commented that there will be four public transport routes for people to go to the area that It is already in its splendor.

They had told us it was nothing, they sold us the idea that this is a wastelandhe indicated, showing that the space is under development after the rehabilitation process.

The routes to the Texcoco Lake Ecological Park will depart from and to Ecatepec, Nezahualcóyotl, Chimalhuacán and the Mexico City International Airport (AICM), where they will connect with the Metro.

Regarding how this project has impacted the municipalities of Texcoco, Atenco, Chimalhuacán, Ecatepec and Nezahualcóyotl, he commented that initially, employment has been given to residents, since at least 51 percent of the workers are originally from the area.

“It is complicated, sometimes even if there are job offers, there are not necessarily people to work, because they dedicate themselves to other things.

In my opinion, public spaces are sometimes miscalculated, because it is not that this will generate an economy. Of course, there have been many jobs in construction, but that is not the permanent function. Of course, communities will work here.

He said that there will be guides, who will be people from the municipalities of the State of Mexico, as well as services offered by the inhabitants of the area, such as the sale of traditional products.

“The real, profound benefit of a space like this is to help prevent flooding, capture ozone, generate oxygen, improve air quality and, potentially, co-generate clean energy.

The park is an act of social justice as well as an issue of environmental justice.

Echeverría recalled that historically Lake Texcoco has occupied an important place in the vision that different territorial and infrastructure political projects have had in the Valley of Mexico.

He noted that due to these interventions, over the course of 500 years, almost all of the five bodies of water that make up what was once the ancient lake were dried up: Zumpango, Xaltocan, Xochimilco, Chalco and Texcoco.

“Thanks to the brave and staunch defense of the towns in the eastern part of the valley, such as San Salvador Atenco, San Juan Ixtulco, San Luis Huexotla, San Francisco Chimalpa, to mention just a few, and the firm decision of the federal government, the last remaining spaces of this system have been preserved.

The designation as a protected natural area seeks to support the future of the Valley of Mexico as an area of ​​regeneration and innovation through green and blue biocultural infrastructures. It is an opportunity to rethink the relationship between inhabitants, fauna and flora that share this space and with its ecology in general.he indicated.