ABOUT MEXICO...

Forests. Every year we lose more than 600 000 hectares of forest. In 2000 the environmental services provided by forests 136.770 million pesos, a figure that exceeded 6.5 times the revenue per commercial logging, almost 70 times the budget allocated to forestry in 2005.

Mangroves. This ecosystem absorbs impacts of hurricanes and tsunamis, each hectare provides benefits equivalent to between 200,000 to 900,000 dollars per year. However, each year 22,000 hectares disappear.

Water. We have 654 aquifers, but in 2003 only 188 were available, of which 65 are overfished and 47 near that condition. Available water, 73 percent is contaminated and requires treatment before being intended for consumption.

Fisheries. Marine resources are threatened by the uncontrolled growth of the fisheries sector and catch unregulated or illegal. Currently, 71 364 species fisheries that harvest levels are high while another 22 are already overexploited fisheries catching 102 species.

Agricultural activities. Each year the field receives 15,000 tons of pesticides containing a hundred adverse health ingredients that can cause cancer, alter embryonic development, cause reproductive damage and weaken the immune system.
The country's most polluting company Pemex is responsible for more than half of environmental emergencies involving hazardous substances.

Climate change. This phenomenon is the greatest threat facing the planet. In Mexico, most of the territory is susceptible to desertification and drought, a rise in sea level can cover the lowlands up to 40 miles inland.

It occurs when...

An ecological crisis occurs when the environment of a species or a population changes in a way that destabilizes its continued survival. There are many possible causes of such crises

·         It may be that the environment quality degrades compared to the species' needs, after a change of abiotic ecological factor (for example, an increase of temperature, less significant rainfalls).

·         It may be that the environment becomes unfavorable for the survival of a species (or a population) due to an increased pressure of predation.

·         Lastly, it may be that the situation becomes unfavorable to the quality of life of the species (or the population) due to raise in the number of individuals (overpopulation).

Ecological Destruction

It may have seemed an impossible undertaking: One humble species vs. an entire planetary body.  The ambitious aim: complete ecological collapse.

Some called it just a pipe dream.  After all, the starting point was an entirely thriving, diverse, and balanced biosphere which sustained life and cultures for millions of years.  How could this single species possibly have stood a chance in their glorious pursuit?

For societies ecosystems have been sources of wealth and welfare, the destruction of ecosystems  still continuing in our planet, the biggest and powerful countries see the ecosystems like money and destroy the ecosystems when it don´t have more resources.

Natural resources consumed by man year exceed the regenerative capacity of the Earth. So, as you can withdraw more money from a bank account of what you have, keeping one in the red, you can extract more wood each year than a forest grows back or you can catch more fish born.

The biodiversity health hangs in the balance. The results show that "ecological footprint has doubled in the last 40 years, while the health of ecosystems has declined by 30," says Juan Carlos del Olmo, secretary general of WWF.

Specifically, global terrestrial biodiversity has fallen 25 percent. For biodiversity treasure seas, it has declined by 24. But the greatest loss of wealth is naturally present in fresh water, which has fallen 35 percent, mainly by the intensive farming model.