NOSSA’s 2025 Report on Mexico’s Protected Areas: Insights From Gina Chacón

Mexico is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, home to ecosystems and species found nowhere else on Earth. Protecting this natural wealth requires more than just designated protected areas—it demands sustained public investment, effective management, and transparent oversight. 

Wildlands Network is part of NOSSA (Northwest Civil Society for Environmental Sustainability), a coalition of Mexican environmental organizations working to protect and strengthen the country’s natural protected areas (NPAs). These areas are among the last strongholds for biodiversity and are key to ensuring the survival of thousands of unique species. This partnership is part of a larger strategy to engage decision-makers and promote effective conservation efforts across Mexico. 

NOSSA's flagship report, “Caring for What Matters,” offers a comprehensive annual analysis of public funding for environmental protection, particularly the conservation of NPAs. Through detailed comparisons, it uncovers the real extent of government investment in biodiversity conservation. Gina Chacón, our Director of Public Policy in Mexico, has been the driving force behind this initiative from the start, coordinating the release of the latest report in December. We sat down with Gina to explore her vision, discuss Wildlands Network's involvement, and understand why the report's findings should concern us all. 

You can find an executive summary of the report in English here and in Spanish here.   

NOSSA’s 2025 “Caring for What Matters,” or “Cuidar lo que Importa,” report.

Can you start by giving us more background on NOSSA? What is Wildlands Network’s role in the coalition?  

Gina: In 2016, seven environmental organizations from northwest Mexico united to create NOSSA, driven by our shared passion for protecting landscapes and natural areas home to unique species (some of them endangered). Together, we combined our strengths to turn effective environmental governance into reality. At NOSSA, we deepen policy understanding through analysis, expert insights, and idea exchange, while enhancing advocacy skills to navigate and influence complex political landscapes. 

Since 2019, Wildlands Network’s Mexico Program has proudly led efforts to strengthen this coalition, transforming it into a thriving community of practice. Through strategies that raise public awareness of these issues and open dialogue with decision-makers to foster systemic change, we have amplified advocacy to advance the sustainable financing and management of natural protected areas. NOSSA members are Causa Natura, Centro de Colaboración Cívica, Defensa Ambiental del Noroeste, Grupo de Financiamiento Climático para Latinoamerica y el Caribe, and Wildlands Network Mexico. 

How has NOSSA and its impact evolved over the years?  

Gina: NOSSA has positioned itself as a coalition with technical expertise and national leadership that seeks to improve the financing and management of Mexico's natural protected areas – areas considered to be the most valuable for conserving Mexico's biodiversity and habitat connectivity. 

In its early years, the coalition identified insufficient public funding as a key barrier to biodiversity conservation. Leveraging members’ expertise, it conducted budget analyses to advocate for stronger funding and better environmental governance, focused on enhancing transparency, accountability, and effective social participation, with a particular emphasis on promoting gender equity in community decision-making mechanisms.  

This expanded to include monitoring revenue sources like entrance fees in NPAs, issuing recommendations to secure these as complementary public funds. Since 2023, NOSSA has also been working on improving protected area governance in northwest Mexico by strengthening advisory councils and fostering inclusive decision-making among officials, academics, organizations, and communities. These initiatives drive progress in conserving and sustainably managing protected areas, ensuring long-term protection for Mexico’s biodiversity. 

From a public policy perspective, what is the best way to conduct environmental advocacy in Mexico? How do NOSSA and Wildlands Network do so? 

Gina: Effective environmental advocacy requires a strategic approach shaped by context, resources, and political dynamics. At NOSSA, we don’t lobby in Mexico; instead, we focus on creating impactful change through knowledge and communication.  

NOSSA’s efforts center on generating robust data and crafting policy recommendations to promote the conservation of natural protected areas (NPAs). Media plays a vital role in our advocacy-driven communication strategy, fostering political debate and raising awareness of critical issues. Our flagship initiative, an annual report, analyzes federal budgets for NPAs, highlighting severe underfunding, its impacts, and actionable solutions. By combining evidence-based insights and strategic communication, we aim to influence policy so Mexico’s NPAs become a priority in the national agenda. 

How does coalition work function? What are the key elements of effective collaboration, and what are the benefits of working in a coalition compared to each organization operating independently? 

Gina: The coalition thrives under the leadership of our dedicated coordinator, Daniel Martin, who plays a pivotal role in driving its efforts. NOSSA’s collaboration thrives on trust, open communication, shared goals, and active participation. Every member contributes insights and expertise, ensuring decisions on advocacy priorities and objectives are shaped collectively. 

The benefits of working in a coalition in the Mexican context lie in positioning our work in the public arena with credibility and strength. A coalition sums expertise and political intelligence to advocate for the effective protection of NPAs. Working together provides “political clout” to impact the public agenda.

Image right: Daniel Martin, our NOSSA Coalition Coordinator

What are the most important messages from this year’s NOSSA report?  

Gina: In Mexico, the public budgets for environmental conservation have been reducing year after year. By 2025, NPAs face their lowest budget in 18 years: 1,001 million pesos (50 million USD) for managing 232 NPAs across nearly 100 million hectares, the equivalent to 247,105,000 acres. 

NOSSA’s report reveals that the environmental sector’s budget now accounts for only 0.1% of Mexico’s GDP, the lowest proportion in two decades, clearly demonstrating that the protection of our environment is not a government priority. 

Revenue from NPA entry fees, a crucial funding source, is also mismanaged. In 2023, instead of supporting conservation programs as mandated, these funds were redirected to administrative expenses. This chronic underfunding threatens Mexico’s biodiversity, violates constitutional rights to a healthy environment, and undermines the country’s climate commitments. 

NOSSA urges the government to act now by increasing funding for NPAs, reinvesting entry fees into conservation, ensuring adequate staffing and resources, and improving transparency and accountability in budget use.   

Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas’s (Conanp) budget from 2012-2025 broken down by program, demonstrating the decrease in budget allocation for NPAs in Mexico. Graph by NOSSA in the 2024 “Caring for What Matters” report

What do these budget cuts mean for the future of Mexico’s biodiversity?  

Gina: Budget cuts severely threaten Mexico’s biodiversity. NPAs will face reduced resources, limiting efforts to monitor, manage, and protect habitats from threats like illegal logging and poaching. Conservation programs for endangered species, habitat restoration, and anti-poaching will be compromised, as will critical policy tools like management programs for federally protected areas. Of the 232 federal protected areas in Mexico, 108 lack management plans, which are essential for their effective conservation. 

Cuts also weaken community-driven projects, such as environmental education and sustainable development, reducing grassroots engagement. Additionally, climate adaptation efforts, including restoration and reforestation, will be hindered.  

In summary, the reduced public funding for NPAs jeopardizes effective strategies to address Mexico’s biodiversity challenges. 

Bavispe, an NPA in Sonora, Mexico. Photo by Cecilia Aguilar

How has this report and NOSSA’s advocacy efforts garnered support for Mexico’s environmental budget to date?  

Gina: Since 2021, our annual report “Caring for What Matters: The Budget for Environmental Care and Natural Protected Areas in Mexico’s Federal Expenditure Budget” has transformed NPA underfunding into a key public policy issue. By providing comprehensive analyses, we have highlighted funding gaps and their consequences, captured the attention of decision-makers, and influenced stakeholders who promote policies that prioritize conservation and sustainable management of NPAs. 

Our most recent report and its communication strategy successfully brought national attention to these issues, resulting in over 30 national and international media articles, a headline story in a national newspaper, and social media videos, YouTube coverage, and national live radio interviews. The widespread coverage and public interaction compelled national authorities to address the environmental sector’s budget cuts and the lack of funding for NPAs in 2025, marking a significant advocacy milestone. 

Looking forward, what are the next steps NOSSA and Wildlands Network are taking to advance public policies that ensure better biodiversity conservation?  

Gina: We’re committed to keeping NPA financing at the top of Mexico’s environmental agenda. The Mexico Policy team at Wildlands Network will continue analyzing public data and creating recommendations to boost funding and ensure effective oversight.  

We’ll monitor how public budgets are allocated for managing NPAs, identify areas for improvement, and suggest practical changes. We’ll also work with key partners to share budget information with decision-makers and lawmakers. Ultimately, this work will continue to spark important discussions in the public agenda and drive change toward landscape-scale protection and connectivity in Mexico.  

Cover photo by Jorch.