The beginning of Río Playa dates back more than 20 years, when in the midst of Pemex’s oil boom –which in 2004 achieved its highest production of almost 3.4 million barrels per day–, a large number of platforms for the extraction and processing of crude arrived in Tabasco, and with it the salt water began to invade the land where Remedios and the rest of the ejidatarios planted their pastures to feed their cattle.
It was the first years of 2000 and little by little the grasslands were drying up, until the land was practically unusable for planting. Remedios, Rutilio Hernández and 42 other ejidatarios had to sell their cattle and change their line of business. They began to dedicate themselves to planting corn and cocoa, the activity with which they continue to this day. Their days are divided between maintaining the Río Playa reserve and harvesting their ejidos. For the first they do not receive a payment.
At first, the brothers say, they did not know what was happening on their land, but they began to put together the facts: an intake that discharged the water used in one of the platforms of the state-owned Pemex was placed approximately six kilometers from Río Playa. That’s where, they say, came the salt water. Its invasion of the land where the pastures were was gradual: in the following six or seven years they could not sow any more.
A document from the National Water Commission (Conagua) says that the area is susceptible to contamination because there are oil and sugar industry facilities located in the area, although it assesses its risk as moderate. However, it recognizes the existence of contamination in the La Chontalpa aquifer -which is in the region- and places oil activity as one of the main sources of damage.
Remedios says that they raised some legal actions, but that the resources were declared inadmissible and that Pemex was never held responsible. But they have no doubt that the land is no longer fertile due to the contamination generated by oil activity. The waters surrounding Río Playa also ceased to be useful for fishing. The local fish species were disappearing, also the birds.
The art of planting mangroves
But one day, one of the ejidatarios suggested planting mangroves. No one knew for sure what it would be used for, but they had heard that it was a strong bush, that it served as a natural barrier and that it would help purify the water. Just what Remedios and the rest of the ejidatarios needed to return to ranching.
“We didn’t know about mangrove cultivation, we didn’t even know about mangrove seed. But that was the idea. First, only one of us started working, then the rest of us joined. The rest of the fellow ejidatarios made us look crazy because they did not understand why we cultivated mangroves. To be honest, at first we didn’t fully understand it,” says Remedios. “At the beginning, we were not clear about the purpose, but later, over time, we began to realize the importance of the mangrove for the environment.”
The mangrove is a species of tree or shrub that works as a base for ecosystems that are home to bacteria, plants, fish, birds and some other species. It tolerates areas with high salinity, captures high concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, is often a water purifier, and functions as a natural barrier against hurricanes and other meteorological events.