The Center for the Integration of Biodiversity of SAGARPA sets an important international precedent in favor of compliance with the agreements reached at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The Center is a first step to integrate biodiversity into the productive activities of the Mexican food sector, which is the 12th largest food producer and 10th exporter in the world, and which has one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet.

In addition, the Center is one of the first results of the project “Mainstreaming Biodiversity into the Mexican Agricultural Sector IKI-IBA”, which began at the end of 2016 and aims to integrate the values ​​of biological diversity and ecosystems into the decision and planning instruments of public and private key players in the sector.

The inauguration of the Biodiversity Integration Center took place on March 7^th in Mexico City in the facilities of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) with the presence of the Undersecretary of Agriculture, Jorge Armando Narváez Narváez, Dr. José Sarukhán Kermez, National Coordinator of the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), Edda Veturia Fernández Luiselli, General Director of the Primary Sector and Renewable Natural Resources of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Martin Nissen, Agricultural Affairs Adviser of the German Embassy in Mexico, and Harald Lossack, Coordinator of the Cluster of Biodiversity of GIZ in Mexico.

Undersecretary Narváez highlighted the importance of inter-institutional collaboration to advance the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in agricultural activities, reducing the negative impacts of these activities on ecosystems and considering the new circumstances imposed by climate change. In this same sense, he also emphasized the challenge that the country has to guarantee food security in the 21 million hectares that are currently dedicated to agricultural activity, through innovation, technification and training of producers. Finally, he mentioned the importance of the cooperation and support of GIZ to advance on the biodiversity agenda in the sector and the promotion of inter-institutional dialogue.

For his part, Mr. Nissen expressed the recognition of the German government regarding the need to achieve fundamental changes in the management of natural resources to ensure the feeding of a growing population and the sustainability of environmental services. He stressed that Mexico is a strategic country for Germany in matters of environment, biodiversity and climate change, as well as the willingness of the Mexican government to advance on these agendas. He also mentioned the great importance of installing a geographic information system developed by SAGARPA with the collaboration of GIZ and CONABIO, aimed at strengthening agricultural planning with criteria for biodiversity conservation.

The project is executed by SAGARPA and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and is funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI, for its acronym in German).

The partners of the project are the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID), the United Nations Program United for the Environment (UN Environment) and the United Nations Organization for Agriculture and Food (FAO).