Protected Areas in Mexico

The Lagunas de Montebello National Park and Biosphere Reserve is located in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas physiographic province, near the border with Guatemala. The property comprises 59 multi-colored lakes in a pine forest, along with the Maya ruins of Chinkultic.

The Mapimí Biosphere Reserve is located in northern Mexico in the Bolson de Mapimí, an internal drainage basin. It contains three core areas: Sierra de la Campana, Laguna de las Palomas (a salted lagoon) and a desert habitat called Dunas de la Soledad.

The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve protects key overwintering sites for the monarch butterfly. The millions of monarch butterflies that return here every year bend tree branches by their weight, fill the sky when they take flight and make a sound like light rain with the beating of their wings.

The Nahá-Metzabok Biosphere Reserve is located in southeastern Mexico, in the state of Chiapas. Located in the northeastern Chiapas Highlands, the reserve protects montane rainforests, pine-oak forests, and natural lakes within the Lacandón Forest region.

Nevado de Toluca National Park protects the Nevado de Toluca volcano which forms nearly the entire park surface and is the fourth highest peak in Mexico. The volcano is still commonly referred to by its Aztec name "Xinantécatl".

Located in the northwest of the Mexican state of Tabasco, the Pantanos de Centla Biosphere Reserve is one of the most important wetlands of Mesoamerica due to its abundance of aquatic plants and the amount of freshwater it receives from the Grijalva and Usumacinta rivers.

Pico de Orizaba is an inactive stratovolcano located on the southern edge of the Mexican Plateau. The volcano, also known as Citlaltépetl, has been dormant since 1846 however, it is not considered extinct. Pico de Orizaba National Park includes the volcano along with Sierra Negra, an extinct volcano to the southwest.

The archaeological site of Palenque, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, is one of the most outstanding Classic period sites of the Maya area. Palenque is an incomparable achievement of Mayan art and illustrates one of the most significant achievements of mankind in the American continent.

San Lorenzo Marine Archipelago National Park, located on San Lorenzo Island, is part of an archipelago in the Gulf of California off the eastern coast of Baja California. The area is protected due to its importance as a habitat for several endangered species.

In the language of the Mayan peoples who once inhabited this region, Sian Ka'an means 'Origin of the Sky'. Located on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, this Biosphere Reserve contains tropical forests, mangroves and marshes, as well as a large marine section intersected by a barrier reef.