Before “the new normal”, many of us were already aware of the serious implications that environmental deterioration has on people's lives, just look at the most extreme natural phenomena as a result of global warming. The health crisis due to the appearance of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (Covid-19) made the environmental emergency a cruder and more obvious reality. The invasion and disorderly use of the services provided by ecosystems, as well as the accelerated loss of biodiversity, highlight the urgent need to preserve and reinforce the main instruments for environmental conservation in Mexico: Protected Natural Areas (ANP).
Our country has 182 ANPs that cover 11% of the land surface and 22% of the ocean surface considered national territory 1. However, the imaginary perimeter established in official documents is far from being a sufficient measure. Beyond presidential decrees, it must be guaranteed “on the ground” that natural resources are used and cared for in an effective and transparent manner.
Let's do a memory exercise: during the electoral contest in 2018, MORENA's official documents presented to citizens a series of proposals related to Mexico's commitments to protect the environment, and among these there are some related to the ANP. For example, the “National Project 2018-2024” mentions that, in the context of overfishing and the vulnerability of rural and coastal groups, it is extremely important to increase the number of protected natural areas, as well as to provide technical and regulatory support to accentuate the surveillance of the seas with satellite systems 2. Also in the document “The Oceans of Mexico of the Environment Agenda 2018-2024”, it was proposed to obtain resources to be allocated to the conservation of coasts, seas and islands; to articulate the conservation policy associated with the ANP with the policy of fishing reserves; the creation of a natural resource observatory in real time with the use of the most innovative technologies; the updating of the National Environmental Information System on Natural Resources of Sermarnat 3; subscribing to the Global Initiative of Blue Carbon, and create innovative funding mechanisms for the conservation and restoration of oceans and associated ecosystems 4. For its part, the document called “NaturaMlo”, mentions the need for effective coordination of government and communities to promote marine conservation; as well as to ensure that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), coastal and island areas have updated Management Programs and sufficient resources for their conservation 5.
The above proposals are part of the total number of campaign proposals that the AMLOmetro Marino initiative has followed up since MORENA announced them as public policy guidelines should it assume power. So far in the current administration, we have identified some actions that may partially contribute to complying with commitments:
- 1. The Sustainability Initiative in the Northern Gulf of California, led by Sader and Semarnat, aims to create sustainable coastal communities and attack the causes that have led to the endangered marine vaquita.
2. To this end, the Ministry of the Interior set up an intersecretarial panel focused on the conservation of the vaquita marina and the fight against the illegal capture of Totoaba, in which four lines of action were defined: 1) Welfare, 2) Security, 3) International engagement and regulatory improvement and 4) Combating corruption and impunity. As far as I have a record, the last meeting was held in February of this year.
3. The collaboration agreement between Semarnat and Inegi, which seeks to strengthen the availability and access to statistical and geographical information on the state of the environment and natural resources in Mexico.
4. The work of the Mexican delegation in the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, which seeks to position fishing shelters as strategic tools for sustainable development and marine conservation.
5. The Framework and Specific Collaboration Agreements on Inspection and Surveillance signed by Semar and Sader, as well as the incorporation into Conapesca of retired seafarers to strengthen inspection and surveillance strategies and combat poaching. Monitoring will continue to find out if the agreements will benefit Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
We applaud the public servants and decision makers who are behind the progress of these initiatives, however, efforts must be multiplied to realize the good intentions of public policy.
Semarnat, in its Sectorial Program (PS), is committed to strengthening citizen participation mechanisms to privilege the voice and participation of indigenous, Afro-Mexican, peasant, forest and collective communities in rural regions, in whose territories a high percentage of the ANP and a large proportion of the country's biological wealth are located 6; and it also speaks of consolidating and promoting the ANP, focusing on the representation and connectivity of ecosystems, the conservation of priority species and the biocultural heritage of the communities that inhabit them; promote the effective management of ANPs in order to guarantee the provision and quality of their environmental services 7; and it even proposes to promote new conservation models that are added to the ANPs, such as Areas Intended Voluntarily for Conservation 8. However, the decisions taken by the executive and the legislature in recent months go in the opposite direction to what is required to achieve the goals of the PS.
According to the study “Care for what matters”, prepared by civil society organizations, Conanp had $71.3 pesos per hectare available in 2016 for conservation work in protected territories 9. In the Federal Expenditure Budget (PEF) for 2020, 869.5 million pesos (814.6 in real terms) were allocated to Conanp, and $9.6 would be available for the conservation of each protected hectare. In addition, the 75% cut in current public budget spending, announced last April 23 in the budgetary adjustment, further compromises the operation and investments of Conanp to take care of these vital and strategic spaces; the figure would be reduced to (328.5 million pesos in real terms). Likewise, the budget for Semarnat decreased
since 2015, as the total approved in that year went from 67.9 billion pesos to 29.8 billion in 2020. Just to put it into perspective, the Sowing Life Program of the Ministry of Welfare has an approved budget of 28.5 billion pesos (considering the expansions determined by the Chamber of Deputies), that is, almost the total amount approved for Semarnat.
It is true that the health crisis has hampered the performance of the economy, but extinguishing the resources allocated to protecting the environment makes our future more bleak. The loss of life as a result of the pandemic, as well as the loss of jobs, poverty, social decay due to violence and the deterioration of the quality of life, are problems that are closely linked to the deterioration of the environment. If we continue to ignore the importance of ecosystem services, the cost will be even greater in the not so distant future.
Finally, I invite you to consult the level of progress and compliance with the MORENA-2018 campaign proposals and their links with the commitments set out in the Sader and Semarnat Sectorial Programmes in the next update of the AMLOmetro Marino website.
1 CONANP, summary on Protected Natural Areas, official website.
2 National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), National Project 2018-2014, pp. 300 and 304.
3 National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), Oceans of Mexico, of the Environmental Agenda 2018-2024, p. 4.
4 Ibid, p. 3.
5 National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), NaturaMlo, p. 17.
6 Semarnat Sectorial Program, 2020, p. 63.
7 Ibid, p. 66.
8 Ibid, p. 30.
9 Fundar A.C., Niparajá A.C., Pronatura Noroeste A.C. Caring for What Matters, Budget for Natural Heritage, Executive Summary, 2020.
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