In defense of biodiversity, the Judicial Branch of the Federation granted an appeal to the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA), against specific criteria of the Pacific Marine and Regional Ecological Ordinance Program.
The objective is that they be reformed and effectively contribute to protect the populations of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) that are in danger of extinction.
With this, the legitimate interest in the demand is recognized, considering that it is a civil society organization whose purpose is to perform acts consistent with the defense and promotion of access to an adequate environment. It also establishes that in the case of legitimate interest, complainants do not need to be direct recipients of the contested law, but rather that they are third parties that resent an unconditional effect, as in this case.
The lawyer Úrsula Garzón explained that this sentence is a step forward for the defense of the environment, “because traditionally the protection of justice has been denied to the plaintiffs and individuals arguing that we lack legitimate interest in the subject”.
Loggerhead turtles travel more than 11,000 kilometers each year between nesting beaches in Japan and the coast of Mexico. However, on the way, hundreds of them die trapped in hooks deployed in long fishing lines destined to obtain mainly swordfish and tuna. They also get trapped in fishing nets in Mexico where they get entangled and drown.
“The capture of turtles has been prohibited since 1990, so allowing an incidental capture quota of 200 turtles a year is against Mexican legislation and international treaties. The Mexican government should not tolerate and legalize the capture of endangered species,” said Alejandro Olivera, a representative in Mexico of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).