The climate crisis in Mexico in 2024 has resulted in heat waves with record temperatures and, days later, torrential rains that have caused significant damage to infrastructure and housing in several states of the country.
The climate crisis in Mexico in 2024 has resulted in heat waves with record temperatures and, days later, torrential rains that have caused significant damage to infrastructure and housing in several states of the country.
In this context, the discussion about the importance of seeking nature-based solutions compels us to look to our protected natural areas, key tools in the fight against climate change and its effects. The conservation and proper management of protected natural areas (PNAs) in Mexico is essential not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the social sphere. In this context, adequate and sustained funding is crucial, and legislators play a vital role in ensuring the resources needed for these tasks.
We start by illuminating the close relationship between biodiversity and climate change, which is both cause and effect, as well as mutual coexistence. The different types of PNAs, from those created at the federal level to the areas voluntarily set aside for conservation, are spaces that sequester large amounts of carbon, protect water sources and facilitate connectivity between ecosystems, all essential elements for the adaptation of species to climate change.
The establishment of PNAs, the publication of their management plans and their subsequent proper implementation, are actions that require a great deal of resources for issues ranging from the hiring of personnel for monitoring and oversight to the allocation of funds for the proper operation of Advisory Boards that guarantee the effective participation of those communities and productive sectors that make use of the resources of these spaces, to ensure the participatory implementation of conservation policies in these areas.
However, the 2024 Draft Federal Spending Budget (PPEF) presents a troubling prospect for environmental conservation in Mexico. Although important legislative advances have been made in recent years, such as the ratification of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement) and the prohibition of new mining concessions in PNAs, the budget allocated to environmental protection has followed a downward trend and, as in recent years, has been insufficient and in many cases has even decreased. For example, the budget of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) has been cut 11.4% in real terms for 2024, which is equivalent to 9 billion pesos less than the previous year.
Lack of adequate funding has direct and devastating consequences for conservation.
Without sufficient resources, PNAs face problems such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, and the degradation of critical ecosystems. This, in turn, reduces the ability of these areas to act as carbon sinks and natural buffers against extreme weather events.
For example, old-growth forests, such as the Tutuaca Forest in Chihuahua, not only sequester more carbon than other types of vegetation, but also provide refuge for diverse species of flora and fauna. Without the necessary funds, the conservation of these ecosystems is seriously compromised and at risk from climatic phenomena such as heat waves that could result in forest fires with catastrophic impacts on the resilience of ecosystems and the human communities that depend on them.
The effective conservation of PNAs, therefore, requires adequate funding to be able to carry out essential activities such as monitoring and oversight, infrastructure maintenance, ecosystem restoration, community awareness-raising and relations with the productive sectors located in and around the PNAs. Programs such as the Program for the Protection and Restoration of Ecosystems and Priority Species (Prorest) and the Conservation Program for Sustainable Development (Procodes) depend on these resources to operate and meet their objectives, but they have had little increase in the amounts allocated for performing their functions.
Together with academia and civil society, the people’s representatives in Congress have a crucial responsibility in the process of guaranteeing resources for the environmental sector. Their role goes beyond simply approving the budget; they must advocate for a fair and sufficient allocation of resources for environmental conservation and ensure the implementation of effective public policies. The active participation of legislators is essential to reverse budget cuts and ensure that PNAs receive the necessary funding for their management and conservation.
Legislators should also work to create innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms.
This could include promoting tax incentives for companies that invest in conservation, implementing fees for the use of natural resources that are reinvested in protecting them, and collaborating with international organizations to obtain additional funds.
In conclusion, the conservation and proper management of PNAs in Mexico is vital not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to combat climate change. Ensuring adequate funding for this to happen is a task that falls largely on legislators, who must work, according to the standards of access to information, participation and environmental justice, for a fair allocation of resources and the design and implementation of public policies that ensure the financial sustainability of these areas. Only through a serious and sustained commitment can it be guaranteed that PNAs continue to play their crucial role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, ensuring a sustainable future for Mexico.
Today’s climate crisis requires swift and decisive action. Every peso invested in the conservation of our PNAs is an investment in the well-being and security of future generations. Legislators must assume the magnitude of this responsibility and work towards the development of policies that not only protect these spaces, but also encourage their restoration and ongoing maintenance.
By Daniel Martín Villar, Coordinator, Noroeste Civil Society for Environmental Sustainability (NOSSA).
Daniel Martin facilitates joint activities of 5 Mexican environmental organizations that make up the NOSSA coalition, whose objective is to strengthen the protection of Natural Protected Areas throughout the country, with emphasis on the Northwest. Working from both civil society organizations and international organizations, Daniel has actively advocated for the inclusion of vulnerable populations, indigenous communities and migrants in the implementation of environmental and climate change public policies in Mexico.
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