One of Mexico's great challenges is to fully preserve its biodiversity, a local expert said in an interview with Xinhua on Sunday, the World Earth Day.

Carlos Galindo, scientific communication director of Mexico's National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), said as most of Mexico's population lives in cities away from nature, many aren't concerned about the country's biological diversity.

Galindo named five main concerns regarding Mexico's biodiversity.

The first concern has to do with the loss and transformation of biological diversity, including the loss and transformation of natural habitats due to agricultural activities and lack of resources, he said.

The second concern for Mexico is the over-exploitation of marine species, such as the world's most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita, a porpoise that lives in the northern section of the Gulf of California, Galindo said.

The third concern, which has already become a problem, has to do with invasive species, which affect the ecosystem's plants and animals worldwide, especially insular and freshwater ones.

Galindo said the fourth concern is industrial and agricultural pollution, due to the toxic waste leaks into rivers and seas and the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers that damage the environment.

"The fifth concern is the lack of awareness of many social sectors. More than 40 years have passed since 1970, when the Earth Day was established, and we still lack much consciousness," Galindo said.

Among Mexico's endangered plants, Galindo mentioned the cactus and the orchid, which people commercialize without a sustainable management plan.

Among the endangered animal species in Mexico, he mentioned several types of parrots, the harpy eagle, the howler monkey, the great green macaw, and the jaguar.

Referring to measures to counteract damages and loss of biological diversity in Mexico, the expert cited preserving natural areas of different types, including national parks and biosphere reservations.

"The most important task of human beings is to live in a place without spoiling it, and the assignment is to leave the world in a better condition than we found it. We have transformed the landscapes in a very dramatic way. We have to restore this environment," Galindo said.