Knowledge of the carbon cycle in Mexico and its relation to Global Change (GC) are indispensable for the resolution of a number of questions formulated by science and society. Understanding the levels of CO2 in the country’s ecosystems is a priority, not only due to the contribution of Mexico and its various sectors to greenhouse gas emissions, but also because one of the consequences of these emissions, climatic change, will specifically affect nations such as Mexico. For these reasons it is considered important that we establish a mechanism to coordinate, at the national level, research efforts related to the physical, geochemical, biological and social aspects of the carbon cycle.
The seeds of the PMC were sown by Dr. Víctor J. Jaramillo (CIEco, UNAM) during a meeting of the North American Carbon Program in the city of Boulder, Colorado, USA, in 2001. While there he proposed the creation of a Tri-National Program between Canada, the USA and Mexico to study the C cycle. Also created was the first directory of Mexican researchers studying the C cycle with the idea of convening a National Workshop to define research priorities, with the support of the NACP. However, the Workshop was not held as planned due to the terrorist attacks staged in New York in 2001. In 2003, in the city of Morelia, Dr. Víctor J. Jaramillo organized a satellite meeting as part of the Land Open Science Conference, IGBP-IHDP with the objective of initiating the formation of the PMC. On that occasion a working commission was formed by Dr. Ben de Jong (ECOSUR), Dr. Víctor J. Jaramillo (CIEco, UNAM) and Dr. Arturo Muhlia (CIBNOR). Later, the National Ecology Institute (INE) of the SEMARNAT (the Environmental and Natural Resources Secretariat) organized two meetings during 2004, one held on October 4 with a limited number of national researchers, and the second on November 18 with a greater number of researchers. This improvement in numbers attending is attributable to improvements in the national scientific community directory. At this last meeting the (translator’s note – there is some text missing here) was created with the principal objective of structuring, promoting and convening the First Meeting of Researchers for the Formation of the PMC. The list of the members of this Commission can be found in (annex 1). The First Meeting for the Formation of the PMC was held in November 2005 in Mexico City and was financed by the INE-SEMARNAT. The meeting was attended by 51 researchers from 17 Mexican institutions ( Annex 2). The result was the formal constitution of the PMC.
