Mexico Expands Protected Areas Strategy Toward 30x30 Goal

Mexico’s National Protected Natural Areas Program (PNANP) 2026-2030 establishes a framework to strengthen the management of protected areas while aligning conservation policy with the global 30x30 biodiversity target. The strategy affects government agencies, communities, landowners, tourism, agriculture, mining and other sectors by defining new requirements for environmental governance, land use and resource management. Recent legal and enforcement developments, including the Peña Colorada case, highlight the evolving regulatory landscape surrounding protected areas in Mexico.

Mexico is advancing its biodiversity agenda through a renewed Protected Natural Areas Program, a strategy that seeks to strengthen the management of protected areas while aligning national conservation efforts with the global 30x30 target. The initiative also reflects a growing emphasis on community participation, environmental justice, and long-term financing for biodiversity protection. 

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) presented the National Protected Natural Areas Program (PNANP) 2026-2030, which will guide the management of 232 Protected Natural Areas (ANP) and 623 Voluntarily Designated Conservation Areas (ADVC) covering more than 99Mha across the country. Alicia Bárcena, Minister, SEMARNAT, says the program comprises four objectives, 18 strategies, 66 lines of action, and eight indicators aimed at supporting communities, Indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, social landowners, and organizations responsible for protecting Mexico's natural heritage.

"The initiative is based on a humanist conservation vision. It is shaped by six guiding principles: humanist conservation and a human rights approach; a territorial and climate perspective grounded in science and monitoring; participation, transparency and accountability; environmental justice and the Escazú Agreement; gender and inclusion; and environmental services centered on human well-being," says Bárcena.

Moreover, she highlighted the decree published in the Official Gazette (DOF) in July prohibiting mining activities within protected natural areas. Under the new regulation, every environmental impact assessment request related to mining projects must be immediately reported to the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), which will prepare a mandatory technical opinion for SEMARNAT to determine whether the project could affect one or more protected natural areas.

Pedro Álvarez-Icaza, Director, CONANP, says the success of the PNANP will depend on the shared commitment of environmental agencies, institutions, communities, academia, civil society organizations, and the public to conserve Mexico's natural heritage for present and future generations.

The program will align the work of the commission's administrative units under common goals while strengthening monitoring and performance evaluation, says Mario Fermín, Director of Evaluation and Monitoring, CONANP. He adds that the indicators generated through the PNANP will support decision-making and enable conservation actions to be adjusted under an adaptive management approach.

30x30: A Conservation and Economic Goal

The PNANP is part of the global 30x30 initiative, adopted under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which commits nearly 200 countries to effectively conserve at least 30% of the world's terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030. For Mexico, the target represents protecting 154Mha of territory, requiring the incorporation of an additional 30Mha of terrestrial and 19Mha of marine areas, with an estimated investment of nearly US$200 million.

Recent analysis by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) argues that achieving 30x30 in Latin America and the Caribbean is not only an environmental objective but also an economic one. The study estimates that expanding and managing protected areas across the region would require between US$9.6 billion and US$11.4 billion, equivalent to less than 0.2% of regional GDP, while generating long-term benefits for food security, sustainable tourism, climate resilience and ecosystem services. According to the IDB, biodiversity finance should therefore be viewed as an investment rather than solely as a conservation expense.

Moreover, research published in Nature Communications further argues that the success of the 30x30 target will depend not only on expanding protected areas but also on how conservation is implemented. The study estimates that, depending on the conservation approach, new protected areas could directly affect more than 3.5 billion people living in or within 10km of these sites worldwide. 

It also finds that many priority conservation areas overlap with agricultural land, fisheries and territories managed by Indigenous peoples and local communities, highlighting the need to balance biodiversity protection with food production, livelihoods and social development. The authors conclude that respecting Indigenous rights, ensuring meaningful public participation and adopting governance models tailored to local contexts will be critical to achieving lasting conservation outcomes.

Peña Colorada and Property Rights

The issue of balancing conservation with property rights and public participation has been addressed by Mexico's Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN). The court recently ruled on the constitutionality of ANP declarations. The ruling stems from a series of injunctions filed by ejido members and a company that owns land within the Peña Colorada Protected Natural Area, arguing that the decree violated their rights to prior hearings and property rights.

The area, spanning 4,843ha across the municipalities of Queretaro and El Marques, was declared an Area for the Protection of Natural Resources through a decree published in the DOF on May 8, 2023. The SCJN determined that Article 27 of the Constitution empowers the federal executive to impose environmental restrictions on property for conservation purposes. Consequently, ANP declarations do not trigger the right to a prior hearing under Article 14 of the Constitution, which applies only to acts that deprive individuals of property rather than regulations governing its use.

However, the court emphasized that affected parties retain the right to participate in the designation process. Under the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA), authorities must publish the technical studies supporting a proposed protected area so that interested parties can review the information and submit comments before a declaration is issued. 

In the specific cases brought by ejido members, the SCJN also instructed the relevant authorities to expressly determine whether landowners are eligible for the tax incentives and economic compensation mechanisms established under Article 45 Bis of the LGEEPA.

The case has remained active beyond the courtroom. In June 2026, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) detected the unauthorized clearing of 88,048m² of tropical dry forest within the protected area, where land had been converted into orchards and access roads without the required environmental permits. The agency imposed a temporary closure of the activities and initiated administrative proceedings, noting that any removal of forest vegetation within the ANP requires prior authorization from SEMARNAT.