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U.S. border wall threatens World Heritage status of Mexican reserve

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The Mexico-U.S. border wall has interrupted the ecological connectivity of a nature reserve that’s a World Heritage Site, and should be addressed to remedy the situation, according to UNESCO. Without urgent mitigation actions, it says, El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve risks joining the List of World Heritage in Danger. The northern part of the reserve, located in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico, has been breached by an enormous metal fence. This 9-meter-high (30-foot) structure, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) long, prevents the passage of wildlife to access natural springs located in Arizona. The Sonoran pronghorn (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis), an endangered species endemic to the Sonoran Desert , is one of many species affected by the fragmentation of its biological corridor between the two countries. Under the Trump administration in the U.S. from 2017-2021, 732 kilometers (454 miles) of border fence were built along the U.S.-Mexico border. A fragment of the fence was built on El Pinacate’s reserve boundary on the Mexican side and on Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge on the U.S. side in the state of Arizona. The Tucson, Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said in a statement that the fence “blocked the critical migration of wildlife in and out of this protected habitat, endangering the connectivity and integrity of the area.” The organization, which works to protect threatened species and wild places, says the fence now runs 140 km (87 mi) along the border…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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