They will include 22 new Protected Natural Areas in Mexico.

According to statements by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the government is considering declaring 22 Protected Natural Areas in Mexico.

This would add more than 3 million hectares of Protected Natural Areas in Mexico, spanning approximately 17 states, as reported by members of the Semarnat.

With this measure, the number of Protected Natural Areas in Mexico will increase from 203 to 225 by the end of this year, covering an estimated area of over 95 million hectares.

Currently, work is underway on the declaration processes through social dialogue and agreements for the new areas in the states of Yucatán, Puebla, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas.

The current administration aimed to declare a total of 43 Protected Natural Areas in Mexico by 2024.

To date, 21 have been declared, in addition to the 182 that existed at the beginning of the term, as reported by the Secretary of the department, María Luisa Albores.

Protected Natural Areas in Mexico

Despite a 86% decrease in the budget allocated to the care of Protected Natural Areas (PNAs) over the last seven years, during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the number of PNAs increased from 203 to 225, adding over 3 million PNAs in the country.

During this Thursday’s morning press conference, Humberto Adán Peña Fuentes, head of the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp), stated that there were 525,904 hectares of Areas Voluntarily Dedicated to Conservation, which have now increased to 1,213,419 hectares, certifying 687,515 hectares of surface area.

He also mentioned that 17 of the country’s major cities are supplied with water from a Protected Natural Area.

He further noted that the Protected Natural Areas of “El Triunfo,” “Cañón del Sumidero,” and “Selva El Ocote” supply water to 4 dams in the Grijalva River and generate 50% of the electricity in the southeast of the country.

María Luisa Albores González, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, informed that the goal for the next year is for Mexico to have 43 PNAs in 23 states of the country, covering an area of 4,400,000 hectares.

Despite these additions, President López Obrador has reduced the budget for the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) and the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conap) to care for and preserve these spaces.

For the next year, a budget reduction of 11.4% is expected for SEMARNAT, bringing its budget to 70,245 million pesos.

To date, the administration has added 21 protected natural areas, such as the San Miguelito mountain range in San Luis Potosí, Lake Texcoco in the State of Mexico, El Jaguar in Quintana Roo, and Peña Colorada in Querétaro, bringing the country from 181 to a total of 203 of these reserves, covering a cumulative area of 91,608,327 hectares.

Protected Natural Areas in Mexico are territories that have not been significantly impacted by human activities and require strengthened protection and restoration to maintain the environmental and social benefits they offer to the population.

On November 27, 1917, President Venustiano Carranza decreed the first Protected Natural Area in Mexico: the Desierto de los Leones National Park, located to the southwest of Mexico City in the Cuajimalpa and Álvaro Obregón delegations.

Also read: One of Chile’s figures: Salvador Allende.