Mexican Nature Sanctuaries
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Bah%C3%ADa_de_Maruata.jpg/220px-Bah%C3%ADa_de_Maruata.jpg)
Section of the Playa de Maruata
Mexico's Protected Nature Sanctuaries (or Santuarios in Spanish) are 17 federally recognized protected areas in Mexico that are administrated by the federal National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, or CONANP).
They are areas established in zones characterized by a considerable risk to the flora or fauna, or by the presence of sensitive natural habitats or species. These can include gorges, fertile valleys, caverns, grottos, natural wells, creeks, and other topographic entities that require preservation or protection [1].
List of Nature Sanctuaries[]
The 17 areas include 16 beaches (playas) and 1 island group:
- (The islands of Isla La Pajarera, Isla Cocinas, Isla Mamut, Isla Colorada, Isla San Pedro, Isla San Agustín, Isla San Andrés, and Isla Negrita, and the islets Los Anegados, Novillas, Mosca y Submarino)
- in Chiapas
- in Guerrero
- in Guerrero
- in Jalisco
- in Jalisco
- in Jalisco
- in Jalisco
- in Michoacán
- in Michoacán
- Playa de Escobilla in Oaxaca
- in Oaxaca
- in Quintana Roo
- in Sinaloa
- in Sinaloa
- in Tamaulipas
- (to the region known as Río Lagartos) in Yucatán
Categories:
- Geography of Mexico
- Protected areas of Mexico