Mexico's president has signed decrees creating four new protected biological reserves.
The move establishes the sanctuaries of the Pacific Islands, the Mountains of Tamaulipas, the Mexican Deep Pacific and the Mexican Caribbean.
President Enrique Peña Nieto signed the decrees Monday as a U.N. Biodiversity Conference was being held in Cancún, Mexico.
Pea Nieto said in remarks at the conference that loss of biodiversity must be stopped or "it will change our lives forever."