ParksWatch - Protected Areas in Mexico

Protected Areas in Mexico

Biosphere Reserves (34)
Name	Location	IUCN Category	Size (ha)	Year established	Ecoregion(s)
El Vizcaino (including Complejo Lagunar Ojo de Liebre)	Baja California	VI	2,546,790	1988	Baja California Dry Forest / San Lucan Mezquital
Complejo Lagunar Ojo de Liebre	Baja California	VI	60,343	1972	Mexican Temperate Pacific
Sierra de la Laguna	Baja California	VI	112,437	1994	San Lucan Pine- Oak/ Baja California Dry Forests
Calakmul	Campeche	VI	723,185	1989	Yucatan Moist Forests/ Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Los Petenes	Campeche	VI	282,858	1999	Yucatan Dry Forests
El Triunfo	Chiapas	VI	119,177	1990	Central American Pine- Oak Forests/ Balsas Dry Forests/ Central American Montane Forests
La Sepultura	Chiapas	VI	167,310	1995	Balsas Dry Forest/ Central American Pine - Oak Forests
Lacan-Tun	Chiapas	VI	61,874	1992	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Montes Azules (Selva Lacandona)	Chiapas	VI	331,200	1978	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Selva El Ocote	Chiapas	VI	101,288	2000	Veracruz Pine-Oak Forests
Volcán Tacaná	Chiapas	VI	6,378	2003	n/a
La Encrucijada	Chiapas	VI	144,868	1995	Central American Pacific Dry Forests
Archipielago de Revillagigedo	Colima	VI	636,685	1994	Sinaloan Dry Forest
La Michilia	Durango	VI	9,325	1979	Sierra Madre Occidental Pine -Oak Forests
Mapimí	Durango, Coahuila, and Chihuahua	VI	342,388	2000	Chihuahuan Xeric Scrub/ Central Mexican Grasslands
Barranca de Metztitlan	Hidalgo	VI	96,043	2000	n/a
Chamela- Cuixmala	Jalisco	VI	13,142	1993	Jalisco Dry Forest
Sierra de Manantlán	Jalisco and Colima	VI	139,577	1987	Jalisco Dry Forest/ Mexican Transvolcanic Pine- Oak Forests
Mariposa Monarca	Michoacán y México	VI	56,259	2000	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine -Oak forests/ Central Mexican Mezquital
Sierra de Huautla	Morelos	VI	59,031	1999	Balsa Dry Forests
Islas Marías	Nayarit	VI	641,285	2000	n/a
Alto Golfo de California and Delta del Río Colorado	Northern Baja California and Sonora	VI	934,756	1993	Western Mexican Mezquital/ Sonoran Xeric Scrub
Tehuacán - Cuicatlán	Oaxaca and Puebla	VI	490,187	1998	Sierra Madre Del Sur Pine - Oak Forests/ Guerreran Cactus Scrub/ Balsas Dry Forests
Sierra Gorda	Querétaro	VI	383,567	1997	Sierra Madre Oriental Pine - Oak Forests/ Central Mexican Mezquital/ Veracruz Dry Forests/ Mexican Transvolcanic Pine- Oak Forests
Arrecifes de Sian Ka'an	Quintana Roo	VI	34,927	1998	Quintana Roo Wetlands
Banco Chinchorro	Quintana Roo	VI	144,360	1996	Yucatán Moist Forest
Sian Ka'an	Quintana Roo	VI	528,148	1986	Quintana Roo Wetlands/ Yucatan Moist Forests
Sierra del Abra Tanchipa	San Luis Potosí	VI	21,464	1994	Veracruz Dry Forests
El Picante y Gran Desierto de Altar	Sonora	VI	714,557	1993	Sonoran Xeric Scrub
Isla San Pedro Martir	Sonora	VI	30,165	2002	Sonoran Xeric Scrub
Pantanos de Centla	Tabasco	VI	302,707	1992	Tabasco- Veracruz Savannas/ Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Los Tuxtlas	Veracruz	VI	155,122	1998	Veracruz Pine - Oak Forests/ Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Ría Lagartos	Yucatán	VI	60,348	1999	Central Mexican Wetlands
Ría Celestun	Yucatán y Campeche	VI	81,482	2000	Yucatán Dry Forests
		Area*	10,533,233
*Note: There are some overlapping protected areas: El Vizcaino and Lagunar Ojo de Liebre (53,699 ha)
		Total	10,479,534

National Parks (65)
Name	Location	IUCN Category	Size (ha)	Year established	Ecoregion(s)
Constitución de 1857	Baja California (Northern)	II	5,009	1962	Sierra Juarez Pine-Oak Forest
Sierra de San Pedro Martir	Baja California	II	72,911	1947	Sierra Juarez Pine-Oak Forest
Bahía de Loreto	Baja California (Southern)	II	206,581	1996	Baja California Dry Forest-Mexico
Cabo Pulmo	Baja California (Southern)	II	7,111	1995	San Lucas Mezquital
Cañón de Sumidero	Chiapas	II	21,789	1980	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Lagunas de Montebello	Chiapas	II	6,022	1959	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Palenque	Chiapas	V	1,772	1981	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Cascada de Bassaseachic	Chihuahua	II	5,803	1981	Chiuahuan Xeric Scrub
Los Novillos	Coahuila	II	42	1940	Chihuahuan Xeric Scrub, Nogales, sauces y álamos
Cerro de la Estrella	Federal District	II	1,100	1938	Central Mexican Grasslands
Cumbres de Ajusco	Federal District	II	920	1936	Central Mexican Grasslands
Desierto de Los Leones	Federal District	II	1,529	1917	Central Mexican Grasslands
El Tepeyac	Federal District	n/a	1,500	1937	Central Mexican Grasslands
Fuentes Brotantes de Tlalpan	Federal District	n/a	129	1936	Central Mexican Grasslands
Histórico de Coyoacán	Federal District	n/a	584	1938	n/a
Lomas de Padierna	Federal District	n/a	670	1938	Central Mexican Grasslands
El Veladero	Guerrero	II	3,617	1980	Balsas Dry Forest
General. Juan Álvarez	Guerrero	II	528	1964	Balsas Dry Forest
El Chico	Hidalgo	II	2,739	1982	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine - Oak
Los Mármoles (barranca de San Vicente y Cerro de Cangando)	Hidalgo	II	23,150	1936	Veracruz Dry Forest/ Central American Montane Forests
Tula	Hidalgo	V	100	1981	Central Mexican Mezquital
Volcán Nevado de Colima	Jalisco and Colima	II	9,600	1936	Jalisco Dry Forest/ Balsas Dry Forest, Bosque de pino, oyamel y encino, pastizal alpino y matorral inerme
Sacromonte	Mexico	II	45	1939	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine-Oak Forest/Mexican Alpine Tundra
Desierto del Carmen (aka Nixcongo)	Mexico	II	529	1942	Balsas Dry Forest
Los Remedios	Mexico	II	400	1938	Central Mexican Mezquital
Molino de Flores Nezahualcoyotl	Mexico	II	49	1937	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine - Oak Forest
Nevado de Toluca	Mexico	II	46,784	1936	Central Mexican Grasslands or Mexican Transvolcanic Piine-Oak Forest
Xicoténcatl	Mexico	II	680	1937	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine -Oak Forest
Insurgente Miguel Hidalgo	México and Federal District	II	1,580	1936	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine-Oak Forest
Lago de Camécuaro	Michoacán	II	10	1941	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine- Oak/ Balsas Dry Forest
Barranca de Cupatitzio	Michoacán	II	362	1938	Balsas Dry Forest/Mexican Transvolcanic Pine-Oak
Cerro de Garnica	Michoacán	II	968	1936	Mexican Transvolcanic Scrub/Balsas Dry Forest
Insurgente Jose Maria Morelos	Michoacán	II	4,325	1939	Balsas Dry Forest/Mexican Transvolcanic Pine-Oak
Pico de Tancítaro	Michoacán	II	23,154	1940	Mexican transvolcanic Pine-Oak Forest/ Balsas Dry Forest
Rayón	Michoacán	II	25	1952	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine-Oak Forest
Bosencheve	Michoacán and México	II	14,008	1940	Mexican Transvolcanic Scrub/Central Mexican Grassland
El Tepozteco	Morelos	II	23,259	1937	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine-Oak Forests
Lagunas de Zempoala	Morelos	II	4,790	1936	Central Mexican Grasslands or Mexican Transvolcanic Piine-Oak Forest
Grutas de Cacahuamilpa	Morelos and Guerrero	II	1,600	1936	Balsas Dry Forest/Mexican Transvolcanic Pine-Oak
Iztaccíhuatl- Popocatépetl-Zoquiapan (Izta-popo)	Morelos, Puebla	II	45,097	1935	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine - Oak/ Mexican Alpine Tundra
Isla Isabel	Nayarit	II	194	1980	Sinaloan Dry Forest
Cumbres de Monterrey	Nuevo León	II	177,396	1939	Eastern Mexican Mezquital/Mexican Interior Chaparral
El Sabinal	Nuevo León	II	8	1938	Eastern Mexican Mezquital
Benito Juárez	Oaxaca	II	2,737	1937	Sierra Madre del Sur Pine-Oak Forest/Guerreran Cactus Scrub
Huatulco	Oaxaca	II	11,891	1998	Selva baja caducifolia, vegetación riparia, humedales, manglares, ambiente marino con bancos de coral, algas y pastos marinos.
Lagunas de Chacahua	Oaxaca	II	14,187	1937	Balsas Dry Forest
Pico de Orizaba	Puebla y Veracruz	II	19,750	1937	Pueblan Xeric Scrub/Veracruz Dry Forest/ Mexican Transvolcanic Pine- Oak Forest
Cerro de Las Campanas	Queretaro	II	58	1937	Central Mexican Mezquital
El Cimatario	Queretaro	II	2,448	1982	Central Mexican Mezquital
Arrecifes de Cozumel	Quintana Roo	II	11,988	1996	Yucatán Moist Forest
Arrecifes de Puerto Morelos	Quintana Roo	II	9,067	1998	Yucatán Moist Forest
Arrecifes de Xcalak	Quintana Roo	II	17,949	2000	Yucatán Moist Forest
Costa Occidental de Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún, and Punta Nizuc	Quintana Roo	IV	8,673	1996	Yucatán Moist Forest
Isla Contoy	Quintana Roo	II	5,126	1998	Yucatán Moist Forest
Tulum	Quintana Roo	V	664	1981	Yucatán Dry Forest/ Quintana Roo Wetlands
El Gogorrón	San Luis Potosí	II	25,000	1936	Central Mexican Pine-Oak Forest
El Potosí	San Luis Potosí	II	2,000	1936	Central Mexican Mezquital
Cumbres de Majalca	Sonora and Chihuahua	II	4,772	1939	Chihuahuan Xeric Scrub/Sonoran Xeric Scrub
Malinche o Matlalcuéyatl	Tlaxcala and Puebla	II	45,711	1938	Bosque pino-encino, oyamel y zacatonal, Mexican Transvolcanic Pine- Oak/ Balsas Dry Forest/ Pueblan Xeric Scrub
Cañón de Río Blanco	Veracruz	II	55,690	1938	Pueblan Xeric Scrub/ Mexican Transvolcanis Pine-Oak Forest
Cofre de Perote	Veracruz	II	11,700	1937	Pueblan Xeric Scrub/ Mexican Transvolcanis Pine-oak Forest/Veracruz Dry Forest
Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano	Veracruz	II	52,239	1992	Yucatán Dry Forest
Arrecife Alacranes	Yucatán	II	333,769	1994	Yucatán Dry Forest
Dzibilchantún	Yucatán	V	539	1987	Yucatán Dry Forest
Sierra de Órganos	Zacatecas	n/a	1,125	2000	n/a
		Area	1,355,552
Note: different from MX official stats, because they have the area of Itza-pop as 90284, which according to the park director in an email communication from November 2003 is incorrect. Overlapping Parks: Bosencheve and Mariposa (3,576 ha)
		Total	1,351,976

Natural Monuments (4)
Name	Location	IUCN Category	Size (ha)	Year established	Ecoregion(s)
Bonampak	Chiapas	III	4,357	1992	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Cerro de la Silla	Nuevo León	III	6,039	1991	Mexican Interior Chaparral
Yagul	Oaxaca	n/a	1,076	1999	Sierra Madre del Sur Pine- Oak Forests/ Balsas Dry Forest
Yaxchilan	Chiapas	III	2,621	1992	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
		Total	14,093

Flaura and Fauna Protection Areas (26)
Name	Location	IUCN Category	Size (ha)	Year established	Ecoregion(s)
Valle de los Cirios	Baja California	n/a	2,521,776	1980	Baja California Xeric Scrub-Mexico
Cabo San Lucas	Baja California (Southern)	n/a	3,996	1973	n/a
Islas del Golfo de California	Baja California Sur y Norte, Sonora y Sinaloa	n/a	358,000	1978	Sonoran Xeric Scrub - Mexico, U.S./ Baja California Dry Forest - Mexico/ Sinaloan Dry Forest
Laguna de Términos	Campeche	IV	706,148	1994	Tehuantepec Moist Forests/Yucatan Moist Forests/ Mexican Central Wetlands
Cascadas de Agua Azul	Chiapas	VI	2,580	1980	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Chan-Kin	Chiapas	VI	12,185	1992	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Metzabok	Chiapas	VI	3,368	1998	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Naha	Chiapas	VI	3,847	1998	Tehuantepec Moist Forests
Campo Verde	Chihuahua		108,069	1937	n/a
Cañón de Santa Elena	Chihuahua	IV	277,210	1994	Chihuahuan Xeric Scrub
Papigochic	Chihuahua		243,642	1939	n/a
Tutuaca	Chihuahua	n/a	365,000	2001	n/a
Cuatrocienegas	Coahuila	IV	84,347	1994	Central Mexican Grasslands/ Chihuahuan Xeric Scrub
Maderas del Carmen	Coahuila	VI	208,381	1994	Chihuahuan Xeric Scrub
El Jabali	Colima	n/a	5,179	1938	n/a
Corredor Biológico Chichináutzin	Federal District, México, and Morelos	IV	37,302	1981	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine - Oak Forest/ Central Mexican Grasslands/ Balsas Dry Forests
La Primavera	Jalisco	VI	30,500	1988	Sierra Madre Occidental Pine- Oak Forests/ Sinaloan Dry Oak Forests
Sierra de Quila	Jalisco	VI	15,193	1980	Mexican Transvolcanic Pine- Oak Forests/ Sinaloan Dry Oak Forests
Ciénegas Del Lerma	Mexico		3,024	1982	n/a
Uaymil	Quintana Roo	IV	89,118	2000	Yucatán Moist Forests/Quintana Roo Wetlands
Yun Balam	Quintana Roo	IV	154,052	1994	Central Mexican Wetlands
Sierra de Alvarez	San Luis Potosí	n/a	16,900	1981	n/a
Sierra La Mojonera	San Luis Potosí	n/a	9,362	1981	n/a
Meseta de Cacaxtla	Sinaloa	n/a	50,862	2000	n/a
Sierra de Alamos/ Río Cuchujaqui	Sonora	n/a	92,890	1996	Sonoran Xeric Scrub/ Sierra Madre Oriental Pine - Oak Forests
Otoch Ma´Ax Yetel Kooh	Yucatán and Quintana Roo	n/a	5,367	2000	Yucatán Moist Forests
		Area	5,408,298
Note: There are some overlapping protected areas: 1) Islas del Golfo de California with Alto Golfo de California and Delta del Rio Colorado Biosphere Reserve (13,221 ha) 2) Islas del Golfo de California and Bahia de Loreto National Park (22,870 ha) 3) Islas del Golfo de California and Isla de San Pedro Martir National Park (278 ha)
		Total	5,371,929

National Sanctuaries (18)
Name	Location	IUCN Category	Size (ha)	Year established	Ecoregion(s)
Islas e Islotes de Bahía de Chamela (Islas La Pajarera, Cocinas, Mamut, Colorada, San Pedro, San Agustín, San Andrés y Negrita, y los Islotes Los Anegados, Novillas, Mosca y Submarino)	Jalisco	IV	84	2002	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa de Puerto Arista	Chiapas	IV	63	1986	Chiapas-Nicaragua
Playa de Tierra Colorada	Guerrero	IV	54	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa Piedra de Tlacoyunque	Guerrero	IV	29	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa Cuitzmala	Jalisco	IV	12	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa de Mismaloya	Jalisco	IV	168	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa el Tecuan	Jalisco	IV	17	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa Teopa	Jalisco	IV	12	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa de Maruata y Colola	Michoacán	IV	33	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa Mexiquillo	Michoacán	IV	25	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa de Escobilla	Oaxaca	IV	30	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa de la Bahía de Chacahua	Oaxaca	IV	32	1986	Mexican Tropical Pacific
Playa de la Isla Contoy	Quintana Roo	IV	14	1986	Central Caribbean
Playa Ceuta	Sinaloa	IV	77	1986	Cortezian
Playa El Verde Camacho	Sinaloa	IV	63	1986	Cortezian
Playa de Rancho Nuevo	Tamaulipas	IV	30	1986	Cortezian
Beach next to Río Lagartos	Yucatán	IV	131	1986	Gulf of Mexico
Note: these were recategorized to the current Sanctuary status in 2002
		Total	874

Natural Resources Protection Areas (2)
Name	Location	IUCN Category	Size (ha)	Year established	Ecoregion(s)
Las Huertas	Colima	n/a	167	1988	n/a
Cuenca Hidrográfica del Río Necaxa	Puebla	n/a	39,557	1938, *2002	n/a
*This area was recategorized in 2002 as Natural Resources Protection Area
		Total	39,724

Other (5)*
Name	Location	IUCN Category	Size (ha)	Year established	Ecoregion(s)
Special Biosphere Reserve: Cajón del Diablo	Sonora	n/a	115,000	1937	Sonoran Xeric Scrub
Fishing and Hunting Reserve Zone: Isla Guadalupe	Baja California	n/a	366,360	1928	California Coastal Sage- Chaparral
Special Biosphere Reserve: Isla Rasa	Baja California	n/a	61	1964	Sonoran Xeric Scrub - Mexico, U.S.
Special Biosphere Reserve: Isla Tiburón	Sonora	n/a	120,800	1963	Sonoran Xeric Scrub - Mexico, U.S.
National Forest and Wildlife Refuge: Ajos Bavispe	Sonora	n/a	183,608	1936	Sierra Madre Occiental Pine-Oak Forest
Note: Areas under recategorization (not included in the tables above)
		Total	785,829