Biodiversity Protection in Mexico in the Age of Globalization

• Author: Rafael M. Plaza,Sergio A. Rea
• Date: 01 November 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X20962739
• Published date: 01 November 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

119

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X20962739

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 235, Vol. 47 No. 6, November 2020, 119–129

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X20962739

© 2020 Latin American Perspectives

Biodiversity Protection in Mexico in the Age

of Globalization

by

Sergio A. Rea and Rafael M. Plaza

The protection of Mexico’s biodiversity is hampered by regulatory uncertainty and

unclear distribution of competences across different levels of government. A compre-

hensive set of measures at both the government and the community level, including

exchange of information, coordination, awareness, and active involvement of local

communities, is needed.

La protección de la biodiversidad de México se ha visto obstaculizada por la incerti-

dumbre regulatoria y la distribución poco clara de competencias entre los diferentes

niveles de gobierno. Se necesita un conjunto integral de medidas tanto a nivel guberna-

mental como comunitario, incluyendo el intercambio de información, la coordinación, la

concientización y la participación activa de las comunidades locales.

Keywords: International environmental law, Biodiversity loss, Biodiversity conserva-

tion, Threatened species, Mexican law

Mexico is among the 18 most biodiverse countries in the world, hosting

more than 200,000 different species. In recent years, largely because of defor-

estation, overconsumption (Alexander etal., 2017; Beer, 2017), economic

development, and climate change, it is facing the alarming loss of a signifi-

cant part of this biodiversity. This paper examines the legal frameworks rel-

evant to biodiversity conservation and points out that the current threat to

Mexico’s diversity urgently requires a comprehensive approach capable not

only of providing guidance on national policy and secondary legislation but

also of effectively addressing implementation to restore the natural elements

affected. The urgency of improving the Mexican environmental legal frame-

work faces resistance or lethargy on the part of stakeholders spanning most

of the political palette, from the Partido Acción Nacional (National Action

Party—PAN) through the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional

Revolutionary Party—PRI) to the Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional

(National Regeneration Movement—MORENA) that assumed power in

December 2018.

Sergio A. Rea is an expert in international law, human rights, and sustainability and a Ph.D. can-

didate at the University of Chile. He is grateful to the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Ciencia y

Tecnología for funding the research for this article and his research work whose outcome is the

present academic paper. Rafael M. Plaza is a senior research fellow in the University of Chile Law

School. He acknowledges the university’s sponsorship of his research for this article under

Internationalization Project UCH-1566 Res.Ex. No.01013.

962739LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X20962739Latin American PerspectivesRea and Plaza / Biodiversity Protection and Globalization

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