A major construction project in wetlands seen as one of the “green lungs” of smog-choked Mexico City has raised concerns for the future of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A more than 1.7-kilometer (one mile) long reinforced concrete bridge is being built on a freshwater lake system that helps to regulate the temperature and prevent flooding in the city of nine million people.
Hundreds of trees have been cut down in the Xochimilco reserve, which is home to endemic species including the critically endangered axolotl, a salamander-like amphibian.
Residents and experts worry that the project is just the first step in an accelerated development of the area, which is listed as a Wetlands of International Importance under an intergovernmental conservation treaty.