At the United Nations’ Biodiversity Conferencing held in Cancun (COP13) at the beginning of December 2016, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced that his administration was establishing 4 new natural reserves. The new reserves will be 181 protected natural habitats that total 91 million acres (70 million in the ocean as well as 21 million in land) in addition to Mexico’s existing 25 million acres comprised of Biosphere reserves as well as biospheres.
Many people greeted this announcement with excitement. Protected natural habitats are one of the most crucial and effective ways to preserve biodiversity and stop habitat loss.
If done properly, they can serve as a guideline for how we may live in peace with our environment rather than degrading it. However, Mexico has a lot of challenges in implementing its plan. Factors that can complicate the implementation of the newly protected areas are mass tourism, organized criminality, indigenous populations, and general profiteering.
Man versus nature
The Mexican Caribbean Biosphere, slated to cover all from the Mesoamerican Reef system, will also protect the most significant beach for turtles located in Quintana Roo state, on the Yucatan Peninsula, and prohibit oil exploration in Mexico’s Caribbean Sea.
This is all good news. However, since the reserve includes Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, The law recognizes that tourism remains a top priority within the area.
Another reserve for marine life, called the Biosphere of the Mexican Pacific Deep, encompasses all of the Mexican Pacific shore. It aims to preserve the abundant biodiversity that is found in marine areas located off the coasts of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas states. It comprises 42 stony species, 1,006 species of algae, as well as more than 920 endemic Molluscs.
Protecting their breeding habitats is a complex task and will involve controlling activities related to the fishing community and beaches across seven states. Five of them are in the top five of Mexico’s most disadvantaged, and Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco are the most violent.
Can Mexico keep its coral reefs? Reuters
This huge natural space could offer an opportunity to develop in this slum area. In the current rules, the nature reserves will be subject to zoned development that defines the permitted uses of land for each zone.
In the core areas, the access to land is limited, and the existing residents have to be relocated. However, in some designated areas, activities for a business like mining, tourism, agriculture, forestry, and tourism are still possible.
In theory, those who are displaced could work in these new industries, specifically tourism, thereby entering”the “green economy.” However, in reality, these programs often make locals leave their property and traditional economic activities like fishing and make it necessary for people to leave their homes.
The newest Marine-based Biosphere Reserve Pacific Islands of the Baja California Peninsula, which includes 21 islands as well as 97 islets, has similar threats. In recent times, both Baja California and Baja California Sur, which is home to Tijuana as well as Los Cabos, have witnessed a rise in disputes with environmentalists, fishing vessels, and tourism operators.
The latest newly designated reserve is known as The Sierra de Tamaulipas Biosphere Reserve, which is a mountainous region that’s the home of jaguars and pumas, as well as many other animals of the wild. It also provides water to various sub-basins. The reason for federal protection dates back to 2006.
A significant presence of cartels currently dominates the area, and this makes restricting human activities in areas of high activity difficult. Locals are bribed and faced with threats of the use of violence to permit criminal organizations the right “to plant what they need to plant.” In the presence of cartels, it make it impossible for nonarmed Environmental inspectors to enforce the law and makes it impossible for scientists and environmentalists to research the new biosphere.
Nature’s bounty off in the Baja California coast. Henry Romero/Reuters
All in all, the effort of Pena Nieto is admirable, but it could be poorly designed. The vast new area encompasses many municipalities, states, and villages that are a mix of economic soc,ial, cultural, and religious reality. All of this needs to be fully taken into account in order to ensure that environmental protection is efficient.
Conflicts with indigenous inhabitants
The history of Mexico’s century-long conservation efforts is a mixed bag. For instance, frequently did not consult with local people prior to declaring their land protected as a natural reserve. A study conducted in 2007 discovered that a large portion of the residents living in Mexico’s protected zones were unaware that their homes were part of the nature reserve.