$100M Initiative to Promote Sustainable Development in Mexico

A new public-private alliance announced an initial $100 million investment to help make Mexico a global model for promoting sustainable development.

The conservaton group WWF, along with the Fundación Carlos Slim and the Mexican Federal Government, Thursday launched an initiative that aims to help Mexico protect its rich natural heritage, while promoting sustainable development within six priority regions that collectively represent 30% of the country.

The investment will be used to advance ongoing efforts at the local, national and global levels within Mexico. This work will include efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, develop comprehensive water management policies, strengthen civil society, develop innovative financial mechanisms, and invest in local sustainable economies.

“Mexico is home to 10% of the Earth’s species and this wealth of diversity is important not only for Mexico’s ecosystems, but for the people here who depend on these resources for their social, economic and physical well-being,” said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts. “This alliance also underscores Mexico’s rising leadership in global negotiations on the design of new financial mechanisms to help developing nations confront and adapt to climate change.”

The goal is to support biodiversity conservation in areas of exceptional natural richness. An assessment of the major issues and recommended actions was developed based on consultation with more than 100 government and civil society experts across the selected regions: the Gulf of California, Chihuahuan Desert, Mesoamerican Reef of Mexico, Oaxaca, Monarch Butterfly Region and Chiapas (Lacandona Forests and El Triunfo).

“This is the largest private financial commitment from an individual ever made in support of conservation and sustainable development in Mexico,” said Omar Vidal, director of WWF-Mexico. “This alliance between the private sector, NGOs and government is exactly the kind of partnership that WWF sees as the model for transforming the way we conserve our special places and balance the needs of people and nature around the world.”

In 2009, the alliance is working in coordination with federal, state and municipal governments, civil society organizations, local communities and academia to establish the basis for the conservation of priority protected areas within the six regions by strengthening local organizations and communities and supporting management strategies for land and water conservation, threatened species protection and climate change adaptation.