Ecobreves – MEXICO: More Endangered Flora and Fauna

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MEXICO CITY, Jan 25 2011 (IPS) - The number of species in danger of extinction increased in recent years in Mexico, and the government has failed to protect them, denounce environmental groups. They are sounding the alarm based on the latest update of regulation NOM 059, entrusted to the Secretariat (ministry) of Environment and Natural Resources, which enumerates the plants and animals that have become extinct or are in danger of doing so. The total reached 2,631, which is a 25-percent increase over the latest review, in 2001.

“NOM 059 was completed in 2006 and in the last four years dozens of species that were listed for the first time were left unprotected,” Mercedes Anzures told Tierramérica. She is a spokesperson for the Mexican Marine Mammal Conservation, which joined five other organizations to analyze the new NOM 059.

The new list includes 49 species that are potentially extinct, 500 endangered, 896 threatened, and 1,186 under special protection.