**6. Discussion**

**5. Protection**

334 Selected Studies in Biodiversity

restricted use.

grove species are considered as threatned.

In Mexico, the mangrove is considered a commonly used asset, although the General Law of National Assets prevents a private or public entity from making use of them; it will require the processing of a concession or assignment, which will never generate real rights, exclusively and without prejudice to third parties; it will only generate the right to use or exploit the assets with the limits set forth by the laws and concession. Revocation of a concession may exist, for example, if fixed constructions are made that damage the present ecosystems. From this regulation, in 1996, the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA) determines, in its Article 28, that the environmental impact assessment procedure should start if works or activities that can be carried out are carried out. A delay can cause ecological imbalances in coastal ecosystems, coastal wetlands, mangroves, lagoons, rivers, lakes, and estuaries connected to the sea. In 2000, the General Wildlife Law was enacted, which excludes timber resources from sustainable use and species whose livelihood is water, if they are considered as species or populations at risk. To consider those species that were considered at risk, in 2001, Official Mexican Standard NOM-059-ECOL-2001 was published, listing the species referred to in the General Wildlife Law. In this Official Mexican Standard the four mangrove species with a national presence (*Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia germinans, Laguncularia racemosa,* and *Conocarpus erectus*) are integrated with the status of special protection. In the reform of the Official Mexican Standard (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 [24]) man-

Parallel to these instruments of environmental policy, since 2000, work began on an Official Mexican Standard (NOM) that established the specifications for the preservation, conservation, sustainable use, and restoration of coastal wetlands in mangrove areas; in 2003, when it is published, the NOM refers to a series of provisions that are mandatory for those responsible for carrying out works or activities that are intended to be located in coastal wetlands or whose characteristics may negatively influence them. At the same time, with the enactment of the General Law of Sustainable Forestry Development in 2003, legal uncertainty was created in the protection of mangroves when considering, in Article 28 of its regulation (published in 2005), that the areas with mangrove vegetation are areas of conservation and

To give greater legal certainty to the protection of mangroves, in 2007, a reform to the General Wildlife Law was published, Article 60 TER, which specifies that any activity that affects the integrity of the species and its productivity is prohibited, as well as the hydrological flow and environmental services provided by the mangroves [9, 49]. Actions in favor of mangroves in the face of climate change are considered in the General Law on Climate Change published in 2012, which in its Article 26 mentions as the fundamental principle of the Law the conservation of ecosystems and their biodiversity, giving priority to wetlands, mangroves, reefs, dunes, coastal zones, and lagoons, that provide environmental services, fundamental to reduce vulnerability. To support the protection of mangroves, the government of Mexico, through NOM-022-SEMARNAT-2003 [23], empowers the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA) to monitor the provisions stipulated. PROFEPA has established a policy of inspection and surveillance for the conservation of mangroves in which non-compliance The current situation of the mangroves of Mexico is presented in a favorable context due to the fifth place that occupies worldwide by surface covered in mangrove, the existence of six species whit the representativeness of four of them in the 17 coastal states and they covered 60% of the coastal surface. Although there are threats that can cause loss of mangrove areas, 9.4% in 45 years (1970–2015) due mainly to the lack of urban, industrial, and tourist development planning, as well as the advancement of the agricultural frontier and the activities related to aquaculture, there is legislation and regulations for its long-term protection. The protection strategies hitherto employed have yielded good results, although there is still a need for more constant vigilance and not only through programmed operations. In relation to their conservation, the decrees of Natural Protected Areas and Ramsar Sites have under their protection more than 50% of the mangroves of the country; the actions aimed to generate greater decrees of mangrove zones are continued. The support to the rehabilitation and restoration of the mangroves has become a national strategy of government agencies that are related to these communities, including the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR), the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), as well as decentralized public agencies such as Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

The conservation of mangroves not only ensures the perpetuity of mangrove species but also the species that inhabit or rest in these environments—both at the level of those that are under some risk status and at the level of those that maintain the fishing production of the coastal zones.

The documented material consisted of printed books [9] and information obtained on the Internet concerning the species *Rhizophora mangle* L., *Avicennia germinans* (L.) L., *Laguncularia racemosa* (L.) C.F. Gaertn., *Conocarpus erectus* L., *Rhizophora harrisonii* Leechm., and *Avicennia bicolor* Standl. It was observed that the information obtained through written means is more truthful and reliable than the information obtained via the Internet. The information obtained from the Internet is more practical and easy to find, but when reviewing and analyzing this information we can see a repetition of pages, with the same information but with different authorship for different species of mangroves and in most cases the author of the informative text does not appear (reason why it was discarded).

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It should be noted that the most reliable and quoted information was found on websites of other countries, mainly the United States and Australia. In addition, translations from English, French, and Portuguese into Spanish had to be done. On other occasions the original documents of the description of the species had to be reviewed, such as *R. harrisonii* and *A. bicolor*, using the search engine Biodiversity Heritage Library (biodiversitylibrary.org), which is a consortium of natural history and libraries of botanical topics that have come together to digitize the legacy of the literature on the biodiversity of their collections and make the available open access literature and for responsible use as part of the "global commons of biodiversity."
