Mexico is home to an amazing biological diversity at gene, species and landscape level, and as in other countries of the world, this is currently under threat from population growth and human development. The pressure on natural resources increases day by day, with the effect that this has on ecosystems being manifested in the loss of species and the fragmentation and degradation of habitat, landscapes and whole ecosystems. Each day, thousands of hectares of forest are cleared and hundreds of tons of trash and contaminants are released into the water, ground and atmosphere. Under such a scenario, wild plant and animal species, without an adequate place to live, will in the majority of cases disappear and become extinct; on occasions blighted by plagues or illness. Meanwhile, current technology allows genetic material to be manipulated and for organisms that don’t exist naturally to be produced; however, at the moment there is no adequate international legislation in place to regulate such activities, whilst the ecological effects that such developments can have are not well understood.

The new century began with the challenge to forge a new relationship with nature and change our view as to what good natural resource management entails. To do this, the generation of solid scientific knowledge that informs the sustainable use of genes, species and ecosystems is crucial for decision-making that favors biodiversity conservation.

We can view human development as being ecologically friendly when it allows biodiversity to be conserved through the continuity and integrity of ecologically processes and natural evolution. From this perspective, the best conservation strategy is one carried out in situ - where habitat is a key element for species survival.

In Mexico, the knowledge and use of wild flora and fauna is ancient and takes on different forms: food, textiles, medicinal, religious, ornamental and others. It is valued in the marketplace, in the countryside, in the home, in the garden, in our histories and in local peoples’ myths – biological diversity goes hand in hand with cultural diversity in every region of the country.

It is the work of this Office to tackle the most pressing problems related to the conservation, good management and sustainable use of biodiversity. Fortunately, we are not alone in undertaking this work. Environmental problems are well known and the causes have been identified as complex and involving a range of historical, social, economic and scientific factors. For a number of decades now, non-governmental organizations, universities and governments from around the world have been immersed in the battle to conserve the natural world in its different forms. The task is not a simple one given that millions of human beings have their own set of customs, ways of thinking and viewing the world.