The Carlos Slim Foundation is recognized for its 6 years supporting the Naturalista platform

This Thursday, November 28, the Carlos Slim Foundation was recognized by the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad – CONABIO), due to its support, over the last 6 years, of the Naturalista platform in Mexico.

Naturalista is a citizens’ platform that invites you to take pictures of animals, plants and fungi, and share your observations. This platform is a photographic catalog used to discover more about the characteristics of the different species.

Mr. Carlos Slim Helu stated that it is essential to make it more widely-known, including the support of the Secretaries of State. He emphasized that working together – the authorities, private sector and society as a whole – is the only way to bring any project to fruition.

“More and more dissemination in Mexico. A lot of people who are not directly involved in the project, perhaps through the Ministry of Education, in schools, in other centers and, of course, between yourselves, using networking, can make it spread to more and more of the population”, Mr. Carlos Slim pointed out.

The award-giving ceremony took place in the Soumaya Museum. From the Museum’s auditorium located in Plaza Carso, Slim Helu recognized Mexican naturalists from the different States and also reiterated the support of the Carlos Slim Foundation for this project.

The coordinator of the CONABIO, Jose Sarukhan, acknowledged and thanked the Carlos Slim Foundation and its team for the financial support given to the Naturalista platform and different core projects for wildlife and nature in Mexico.

After six years, the Naturalista platform has 1 million 700 thousand photographs of plants and animals, which is growing exponentially, with 30 thousand species having been photographed through the support of 60 thousand participants.

Every year, the Carlos Slim Foundation and the CONABIO award recognitions to the best naturalists who, throughout the year, upload their photographic records and aid the study of biodiversity.

The Carlos Slim Foundation maintains its commitment with the environment, supporting protection and preservation programs, as well as education and social development plans so as to prevent and revert environmental deterioration and the damage caused to the country’s biodiversity, all with the aim of benefitting the current and future generations.