A striking image of the devastation caused by the construction of the Mayan tourist train line on the Yucatan Peninsula has earned a major international prize for a Mexican photographer.
Fernando Martínez Belmar was awarded first place in the photojournalism category in the 59th edition of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, organized by the Natural History Museum in London.
His image, titled “Mexico’s tourism bulldozer,” is a drone shot showing hundreds of uprooted trees along one section of the 1,500-kilometer route, and a swath cut through the jungle disappearing endlessly into the horizon.
At the ceremony in London, Martínez Belmar said his image “reflects one of the largest ecocides in the history of the Yucatan Peninsula, where more than 6,000 hectares of forest - an estimated six million trees - have been destroyed to make way for a train line.”
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