SCIENCE & RESEARCH
Mexican Biodiversity Conservation Model Protected Areas BY ALEJANDRA CALZADA-VÁZQUEZ VELA, ANDREW RHODES ESPINOZA, ERIKA RODRIGUEZ-MARTÍNEZ DEL SOBRAL, FERNANDO CAMACHO-RICO, LIZARDO CRUZ ROMO, MARIANA BELLOT ROJAS, and MIRIAM TERESA NÚÑEZ LÓPEZ
Alejandra Calzada- Andrew Rhodes Vázquez Vela Espinoza
Erika RodriguezFernando Camacho- Lizardo Cruz Romo Martínez Del Sobral Rico
M
exico’s National Commission for Natural Protected Areas (CONANP in Spanish) is the federal government’s institution responsible for conservation of the country’s natural heritage through establishment, protection, and safeguard of protected areas (PAs). PAs are portions of land or water in the country where the original environment has essentially not been altered and that produces environmental benefits increasingly recognized and valued. PAs are the instrument of environmental policy with greater legal definition for conservation of biodiversity in Mexico (DOF 2011). CONANP is within the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT in Spanish) and manages 175 federal protected areas, covering nearly 13% of Mexican territory (more than 25 million hectares or 61 million acres) (see figure 1). These protected areas are classified into six different management categories, described in table 1. Although wilderness areas are not included in the Mexican legal framework, some of the protected area categories, especially national parks, are very restrictive when
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International Journal of Wilderness
Mariana Bellot Rojas
Miriam Teresa Núñez López
it comes to natural resources exploitation (DOF 2011), and much of Mexico’s protected area system is intended to protect or restore nature in much the same way as in the U.S. National Wilderness Preservation System. In addition, Mexican protected area guidelines define different management zones and regulate activities permitted within each zone. Buffer zones may include human communities and production activities, while core areas are under strict protection. In addition, in order to ensure the maintenance of healthy ecosystems, protected areas must be managed under a landscape approach, considering the processes that occur beyond the boundaries of the PA (transition zone) that represent important threats (see figure 2).
Conservation and Development Due to the country’s social and environmental conditions, Mexico has developed a protected area system somewhat different from others in the world, with more than 80% of Mexico’s protected territory being private or community-
DECEMBER 2012 • Volume 18, Number 3