Mexico is among the world's most biodiverse nations on earth, with nearly 1,000 species of birds, and 1,500 species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians, 26'000 plants. Scientists estimate that almost 15% of Mexico's plants and animal wildlife are found nowhere else on Earth, while over 70% of all known species of flora and fauna can be found in Mexico.

Just a dozen of tropical countries harbor 2/3 of the earth's plant and animal species, and Mexico is among them. Over 1/3 of all the world's marine mammals have been found in the Sea of Cortez.

The southern state of Chiapas alone has some 10'000 plant species, more than 600 bids (twice as many as the USA) and 1200 butterflies (more twice as many as the USA and Canada combined).

The total National Park land in Mexico is almost equal in size to Belgium and the Netherlands. These are conservation areas, protected by law from being developed or built-on. Some are areas of natural beauty and others are places where rare animals live or breed.

Human activities and changes made to the natural environment have threatened some of Mexico's rarer species, almost to the point of extinction. This is partly due to hunting and partly to the destruction of the species' habitat (or sometimes because of chemical pollution).