Colima, Mexico - President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday instructed the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (SEMARNAT) to plant at least 180 million trees in Colima as part of the "Sustainable Forest Development Program" launch in 2013. The program aims to protect Mexico’s forests, which have dwindled over the past several years.

The president also announced increased funding for environmental programs in the form of a $7 billion peso fund. The head of the SEMARNAT will create an inventory of the nation’s forests, draft policies, and increase funding for environmental work.

At Hidalgo Park in the capital of Colima, the president said that the constant threat of illegal logging means that forests must not only be replanted, but protected. The president said that because in past reforestation projects, many trees did not survive, the new program will protect trees in the long run. Protecting the environment, he said, is a moral and ethical commitment.

He laughed along with Environment Secretary Juan José Guerra Abud when Guerra Abud said that it was neither the Mayas nor the Aztecs that populated Mexico, but the forests.

The nationwide program, the president said, is important for protecting, utilizing, and replanting forests. "We are a country with a lot forest area, but we haven’t known how to use it," the president said, adding that Chile has almost 30 million acres of forest in use, while Mexico only uses 10 percent.

Governor Mario Anguiano Moreno said that many critics and radicals are now realizing that "Mexico is in good hands" with Peña Nieto. He said that the new administration was creating profound change and the public was optimistic and hopeful about the next six years. The government of Colima is committed to working alongside the president and his administration, Governor Moreno said.