Mexico Advances Biodiversity, Sustainable Development Plans

Mexico is strengthening efforts to advance biodiversity conservation and sustainable development through regional cooperation, community participation, and initiatives aimed at protecting ecosystems while supporting local well-being and economic activity. 

During the High-Level Dialogue on Progress and Outlook for the Gran Selva Maya Biocultural Corridor, led by Marina Robles, Deputy Minister of Biodiversity and Environmental Restoration, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), government representatives from Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, as well as private-sector representatives and environmental organizations, reviewed efforts to consolidate sustainable development across the Gran Selva Maya Biocultural Corridor.

“It is important to consolidate a regional vision that recognizes that biodiversity and ecosystems do not stop at national borders and that their protection requires coordination among governments, communities, international organizations, financial institutions, and civil society organizations,” Robles said.

During the event, the Government of Yucatan proposed incorporating the Puuc Biocultural Reserve into the Gran Selva Maya Biocultural Corridor to strengthen the protection of more than 135,000 ha of strategic areas for water security and the well-being of 137,125 residents of nearby communities. Joaquín Díaz, Governor of Yucatan, said the incorporation would allow the corridor’s ecological and biocultural connectivity to be expanded northward.

“The Gran Selva Maya recognizes no borders. We are united by water, biodiversity, our Indigenous peoples and a shared responsibility. Nature does not belong to us; we belong to nature and have a duty to care for it, because protecting the environment does not mean stopping progress, but ensuring that progress has a future. Yucatan is ready to work together, beyond borders and governments, for a living, strong and protected Gran Selva Maya,” says Díaz.

The Puuc Biocultural State Reserve is home to significant biodiversity. In addition, its higher-elevation areas and karst formations enable an estimated recharge of nearly 1.7 billion m3 of water into the peninsula’s aquifer, on which water security across the entire Yucatan Peninsula depends.

The territory is also home to 92 registered archaeological sites, including Uxmal, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It also preserves the Maya Milpa, recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, as well as beekeeping, meliponiculture, and the traditional knowledge of local communities.

The event also brought together government representatives and international partners to review progress on the Gran Selva Maya Biocultural Corridor, aiming to define priority actions and financing mechanisms to ensure continuity for the initiative over the coming years.

Regional Forum Mesoamerica Toward 30×30

In parallel, the Regional Forum Mesoamerica Toward 30×30 was also held in the state of Yucatan. Its name refers to Target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for the conservation of at least 30% of terrestrial areas, inland waters and marine areas by 2030.

Although the forum takes its name from this target, the meeting, organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), SEMARNAT and the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), with support from GEF, KfW and the Government of Canada, addressed all of the framework’s broader objectives.

Úrsula Parrilla, Regional Director for Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, IUCN, said the forum brought together different sectors to discuss issues including equitable governance, financing, sustainable production, connectivity, evidence-based decision-making, legal certainty and the participation of Indigenous peoples.

Oscar Vallarino, Vice Minister of Environment of Panama, highlighted that the discussions generated during the meeting should lead to a regional roadmap toward Target 3 and provide inputs for the region to define its positions at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) this year and at the IUCN World Congress on Protected and Conserved Areas, which will be held in Panama in 2027.

“We cannot be irresponsible and, simply to meet a 30×30 target, create new protected areas and put a mark on hectares if we do not have the resources to cover them,” Vallarino warns. This is particularly important in a region that, according to data from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), has already reached 24.5% terrestrial protection and 25.3% marine protection, he added.

Meanwhile, Robles pointed out that the work involves identifying and replicating successful experiences. “Communication needs to focus on identifying the opportunities and the paths we can build so that biodiversity can recover under the conditions that we, as a society, need,” she adds. Robles cited the example of a fishing community in southern Baja California that had depleted its resources and, through a process of transformation, managed to change its relationship with its surroundings. “Not only did they restore their ecosystem; they restored themselves,” she says.

One case that illustrates this type of community-led conservation is Cabo Pulmo, a fishing community in Baja California Sur. In the early 1990s, residents recognized the decline of local fish stocks and supported the creation of a protected area around the community’s coral reef, which became Cabo Pulmo National Park in 1995. Fishing was subsequently prohibited within the park, while fishing activities continued outside its boundaries, alongside the growth of ecotourism and other local activities. The protection of the reef has allowed marine populations to recover and has demonstrated how conservation can reshape, rather than eliminate, the relationship between a fishing community and its natural resources.

Thus, the 30×30 target is not limited to traditional protected areas, but also encompasses other effective conservation measures and territories under different governance models, including those led by Indigenous peoples and local communities. Onel Masardule, Indigenous adviser,  IUCN, said that part of this effort already exists, although it is not always accounted for. “Where there is Indigenous territory, there is conservation,” he adds, explaining that for many communities, preserving ecosystems is not a response to an international commitment, but rather their way of life.

Masardule also said it is necessary to recognize Indigenous knowledge about conservation and respect the self-governance and autonomy of Indigenous peoples, as well as their territorial and collective rights. “We must leave behind the distinction based on the supposed superiority of one type of knowledge, because in order to protect biodiversity, we must be equals,” Masardule adds.

Damaris Vargas, Vice President of the Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica, said that effective conservation requires closing the gaps between scientific and legal language. She also highlighted the need to work at the territorial level, understand the underlying causes and maintain a perspective that goes beyond the local level, since the impact of a decision could affect multiple territories.