The Mexican government will begin a pro-environment ''crusade'' in March, when it plans to announce special measures and programs and to officially acknowledge the country's dramatic ecological problems. The crusade will be the starting point for the environmental actions the Vicente Fox administration intends to implement over the coming six years and which, say officials, will involve all areas of government.

Mexico will be left without any forests in less than a century if deforestation continues at the current rate of 700,000 hectares annually, according to several studies.

Further, all of the country's rivers are polluted, 80 percent of national territory suffers erosion, 28 percent of vertebrate species are in danger of extinction, and just 6.3 percent of the country is protected by some form of environmental regulation.