The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) returned to the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (Conanp) only 47 pesos out of every 100 collected for collecting access to these territories during 2025, when revenues reached a record of 473.8 million pesos, according to the report Care What Matters, prepared by the Northwest Civil Society coalition for Environmental Sustainability (NOSSA).
Meanwhile, Mexico has 717 people to care for 98 million protected hectares. The amount collected in 2025 was equivalent to 46% of the total budget allocated to Conanp in 2025. That year, access fees increased 100%, boosting revenues from visits to Protected Natural Areas (ANP).
However, according to NOSSA, 47% was allocated to the payment of fees and contributions to international organizations, while 94% of the resources collected were refunded in 2023 and 2024. Of the money returned, Conanp exercised 81%.
According to the report, a significant part of these resources was allocated to electricity, internet, computer equipment rental and printing. These disbursements reduce the resources available for conservation, species monitoring and ecosystem restoration. “The Federal Law on Rights is clear and what is charged for admission to the ANP should be used for conservation actions, to monitor species or restore ecosystems,” said Gina Ileana Chacón, director of Public Policy at Wildlands Network Mexico and member of NOSSA.
The coalition identified revenues of eight million pesos in 2025 from authorizations to tourism service providers, such as the use of boats. Because the Federal Law on Rights does not state that these resources must return to Conanp, they remain in the Treasury. Between 2018 and 2025, protected areas stopped receiving 50.4 million pesos for this concept.
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Those who raised the most
The proceeds, NOSSA says, came mostly from the regions with the highest tourist influx. The Yucatan Peninsula and the Mexican Caribbean contributed 270.4 million pesos, equivalent to 57% of the national total, while the Baja California Peninsula and the North Pacific generated 88.3 million, or 19%.
Tulum National Park led access revenues, with 125.6 million pesos, equivalent to 27% of national revenue. It was followed by Revillagigedo, with 53.8 million, and Arrecifes de Cozumel, with 53.6 million pesos.
Park rangers are missing in ANP
The report warns that budgetary availability also limits the Commission's operational capacity. In 2026, Conanp reported 717 operational-level people to serve 98 million protected hectares, equivalent to 11.76% of the land surface and 23.78% of the country's marine surface.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recommends one park ranger for every 500 hectares. With that reference, Mexico would need 196,000 people to care for the protected area, so its current staff represents 0.37% of that figure. In addition, 91 of the 232 protected natural areas do not have personnel assigned to field functions, according to NOSSA.
The lack of personnel is reflected in cases such as the Revillagigedo National Park, in Baja California Sur, where two people must monitor 14.8 million hectares; the Cirios Valley, in Baja California, with eight people for 2.52 million hectares, and the El Pinacate Biosphere Reserve, in Sonora, where one person cares for 714,557 hectares.
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The picture is not improving in 2027
In addition to these limitations, the proposed budget for 2027 is added. The Federal Expenditure Budget Project (PPEF) proposes to allocate 1,591 million pesos to Conanp, a real decrease of 14 million pesos, equivalent to 0.9% compared to the approved budget for 2026. According to NOSSA's analysis, this allocation is equivalent to 16.2 pesos per year per protected hectare.
Faced with this scenario, NOSSA proposes that revenues from access rights return fully to Conanp, through an agreement with the Treasury or a legal amendment. The organization warns that maintaining the current scheme limits the resources available to monitor, monitor, protect and restore protected areas.
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