Mexico's Extensive “Unprotected” Marine Areas (Part 2): Collecting Rights, a Lost Fund for Marine and Coastal Conservation

The administration of Mexican Protected Natural Areas (ANP) obtains its funding from three main sources: a) fiscal resources, b) own income, and c) private income.

Fiscal resources for ANPs are allocated in the annual expenditure budget within the field of Environment and Natural Resources. It tends to be based on allocations from previous years, under an incremental approach; that is, it can result in marginal increases, depending on the availability of funds (1).

Own income comes from the collection of rights (CdD), which are a type of contributions for the use or exploitation of assets in the public domain of the Nation, such as renewable and non-renewable natural resources. They come from the payment that users make, not only for logging in, but for carrying out various activities within the ANP. The CdD complies with a fiscal policy measure framed within the Federal Law of Rights (LFD) and the General Law on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA) whose purpose is to contribute to medium and long-term environmental objectives.

Finally, private resources refer to environmental trusts or funds (such as the Fund for Natural Areas - FANP1), which differ from other sources of funding and are managed by an independent board.

The reality of the collection of rights (CdD) for the use of ANP in Mexico: the case of Marine Protected Areas

According to article 198 of the LFD, the revenues generated by the collection of rights for the use and exploitation of the natural resources of Protected Natural Areas will be allocated to CONANP for their sustainable management (2). What this Law does not define are the mechanisms through which these resources are reallocated to CONANP, nor the quantities, much less the frequency. This ambiguity in the law has resulted in ineffective results. It is recorded that between the period from 2013 to 2018, CONANP collected 425.8 million pesos per CdD, of which the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) did not reimburse a single peso to the national commission (3), nor to protected areas.

The situation in recent years has changed marginally in favor. During 2019 and 2020, CONANP did receive an allocation of resources collected in the previous fiscal period; 11% of what was collected in 2018 was allocated in 2019; and for 2020, 1.73% of what was collected in 2019 was allocated in this period. Speaking specifically about Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), we can see that the fiscal budget allocated to them during the current six-year period has increased slightly by 22% between 2019 and 20212.