Los Cabos municipal officials met with Mexico’s federal environmental agency SEMARNAT (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) on May 26 to push forward the municipality’s long-awaited ecological zoning plan, a document that will determine where development can occur and how coastal and natural areas are protected.
Secretary General Alberto Rentería Santana and Ecology Director Jorge Armando López Espinoza represented Mayor Christian Agúndez Gómez at the working session. They met with Marina Robles García, SEMARNAT’s Undersecretary of Biodiversity and Environmental Restoration, and Cristina González Rubio San Vicente, SEMARNAT’s delegate in Baja California Sur.
What Is the POEL and Why It Matters
The plan in question is the Programa de Ordenamiento Ecológico Local Participativo, or POEL, a participatory ecological land use program. It is a legally binding planning tool that, once published, will regulate land use across the entire municipality of Los Cabos. The POEL classifies zones by their environmental sensitivity and dictates what types of construction, density, and economic activity are permitted in each area.
Los Cabos has been working on the POEL for years. A 2023 meeting between the previous municipal administration and SEMARNAT addressed the same coordination agreement, which at that time was still awaiting signatures from the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) and the state government. The current administration is now advancing the plan through public consultation, approval, and eventual publication.
Priority Environmental Projects
The meeting also covered specific environmental action items beyond the POEL itself. Officials discussed management of the Estero Josefino wetland, a coastal lagoon area near San José del Cabo. Other priorities include responsible waste handling protocols, water purification units for public schools, a Circular Economy Technical Secretariat, and the elimination of illegal dumps and open trash burning throughout the municipality.
“This agreement allows us to unite efforts across the three levels of government to advance the publication and implementation of the ecological land use plan in our municipality, with the goal of generating a real impact on biodiversity protection and sustainable development in Los Cabos,” officials said during the meeting.
What Comes Next
The POEL must pass through a formal public consultation period before it can be approved and published in the official gazette. Once published, it carries legal weight and can be enforced against developers and landowners. For property owners and developers across Los Cabos, the plan will define what can be built, where, and under what environmental conditions. The XV Ayuntamiento said it is committed to coordinating with SEMARNAT through publication and implementation.
This story was first reported by the Los Cabos municipal government at loscabos.gob.mx.