In the San Rafael valleya very rich corner of biodiversity of southern Arizona where wavy prairies extend to the mountaining chains of the Sky Islands, the wildlife freely crosses the border between the United States and Mexico. Bears, puma, wolves and other species move undisturbed in what experts call “a crucial corridor“For biodiversity. But this delicate balance could soon be compromised.
There Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently invited companies to present offers for the construction of almost 25 miles of barrier on the border in this area still uncontaminated, south of SonitaA project that, according to ecologists, would represent a catastrophe for one of the richest ecosystems in North America.
“Great predators and other animals move freely in this landscape,” he explained to the Guardian Eamon Harrytyhead of the wildlife program of the Sky Island Alliancewhich since 2020 monitor the movements of animals with over 65 phototrappole Just in this border section. “This movement will not take place once the wall is completed.”
The project is part of the renewed push of the Trump Administration for “fortify the southern border “with an allocation proposed by 46.5 billion dollars for new barrier sections along the almost 3,200 kilometers that separate the United States and Mexico.
The most controversial feature of these barriers is their structure: steel poles 9 meters high and spaced by just 10 centimeters, one Construction insurmountable for any animal larger than a hare. In a region already affected by severe drought and other effects of climate change, limiting the ability of the fauna to seek food, water and partner could have devastating consequences.
“With the aggravation of drought in the South-West due to the climatic crisis, the wildlife will have to move further and further in search of vital resources,” Harrys underlined. “The last thing we should do now is to wall the corridors and stop connectivity.”
A particularly significant fact emerges from the recordings of the phototrappole: in five years, a camera positioned along the Santa Cruz river – one of the most favorable points for crossing thanks to the presence of shadow and water – has never immortalized a migrant. This highlights how the construction of the barrier in this area respond more to political objectives than to real needs of migratory control.
“Even when the numbers were at most, the people crossed in areas where there was already a border wall,” he confirmed Erick Meza of Sierra Club. “The San Rafael valley has never seen those numbers.”
The impact of fauna barriers was documented by a joint study of Wildlands Network And Sky Islands Alliance which detected a decrease of 86% of the crossing of wild animals in the already fenced areas and a 100% reduction by species such as wolves, bears, antelocapre and jaguars.
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It is not just the wall itself. A presidential memorandum has ordered the transfer of a federal earth strip along the border to the military control of the United States, with the possibility of Build new bases and structures that would further accentrate the environmental impact.
“It’s an invasion of our public lands,” he explained Myles Traphagendirector of the border areas for Wildlands Network.
The estimated cost for the construction of the barrier can reach 30 million dollars per mile, an investment that many consider disproportionate to the real benefits in terms of immigration control, especially in an area where the crossings are minimal.
The San Rafael valley represents One of the last intact expanses of desert meadows of sound in Arizona. With 63% of the already isolated state border, the areas remained open are fundamental for regional biodiversity. In addition to the most common animals, this area houses rare species like ocelot And jaguarswhose natural areas extend for hundreds of kilometers.
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“This is the heart of the union of several ecosystems,” said Meza. A natural heritage that risks being irreparably compromised by a project that, according to critics, responds more to political logic than to real need for national security.
While the procedures for the assignment of contracts continue, environmental activists examine the possible legal options to contrast what they call “a tragedy” for one of the latest natural sanctuaries on the border between the United States and Mexico.
