The Environmentalism of the Rich and the Privatization of Nature High-End Tourism on the Mexican Coast

As social property and resources formerly open to common use, such as beaches and coastal lakes, have been privately appropriated, an environmental discourse has arisen among national and transnational elites that justifies this appropriation in terms of conservation and even shapes environmental policies for their benefit. One example is the creation of natural protected areas in zones of predominantly private property, giving them exclusive rights and increasing real estate values and investments in tourism. As a result, tourist paradises have sprung up in places of high biodiversity, offering exclusivity to their owners and clients while violating agrarian rights, creating social conflict, and destroying ecosystems.