Mexico City’s floating gardens have fed people for hundreds of years. Now they’re threatened

MEXICO CITY -- Cassandra Garduño squinted successful nan sunlight, her pinkish boots smudged by ungraded arsenic she gazed retired complete her family's chinampa — 1 of nan islands first built up by nan Aztecs pinch fertile mud from nan bottommost of a reservoir that, later drained, would 1 time go Mexico City.

Food from these islands has fed group for hundreds of years, but nan chinampas are nether threat from urbanization. The nutrient grown present doesn't fetch overmuch money, and galore families are abandoning nan ancient believe to rent retired aliases waste their onshore for much lucrative uses specified arsenic shot fields.

“People don’t want to workplace anymore,” said Garduño. “They don’t spot it arsenic a necessity, they don’t want to produce, and group don’t want to bargain nan products.”

Some of those remaining, for illustration Garduño, are banding together to sphere and beforehand nan accepted usage of nan chinampas.

“None of this tin beryllium without quality hands, nan hands of those who worked present and created nan chinampa a 1000 years ago,” she said connected a caller greeting arsenic nan smell of celery increasing adjacent filled nan air.

The gardens crisscrossed by canals successful nan capital's confederate Xochimilco borough are built up from layers of dredged soil, held together by tall, bladed ahuejotes — a benignant of willow character — planted astir their perimeter. Xochimilco has much than 2,500 acres of protected onshore owned by generations of section chinamperos, arsenic those who workplace nan islands are known.

Garduño’s earliest memories of her family’s chinampa came from peering done her grandparents’ model astatine nan crippled of onshore and watching canoes weave successful and retired of nan canals. Even then, she saw really nan chinampas were deteriorating nether unit from urbanization and arsenic immoderate farmers began to driblet nan practice.

When her grandfather died successful 2010 and her uncles didn't want to transportation on, Garduño took it upon herself to study and conserve generations of farming. Her neighbors and relatives were skeptical astatine first, but she bought onshore for her ain chinampa from a friend's uncle successful 2020 and now grows an assortment of produce, including sunflowers, eggplant, and nan Mexican marigold “cempasuchil.”

Now nan 32-year-old Garduño is 1 of nan increasing corporate called Chinampa Refuge, started by nan National Autonomous University of Mexico, and she and different famers promote chinamperos to sphere their land. They travel ancient increasing techniques but are trying caller commercialized approaches to compete pinch cheaper nutrient grown connected monolithic farms elsewhere successful Mexico. That includes a typical tag — Etiqueta Chinampera — that tells buyers nan nutrient came from a chinampa, and whitethorn tout things for illustration h2o value aliases nan chinampa's position arsenic a biodiversity refuge.

“Change comes pinch educating nan caller generations,” said Garduño. “Talking astir nan origins and efforts to conserve and why it’s important to do it.”

Luis Zambrano, an ecologist from nan National Autonomous University of Mexico who has worked successful Xochimilco for decades, said nan fields are mostly self-sustaining. Nourished by nan lake, they tin nutrient 3 to 5 crops of vegetables a twelvemonth without nan request of chemicals aliases irrigation, he said.

Moreover, nan ecosystem of Xochimilco benefits nan sprawling city. Many different type of birds and fish thrive there, and nan extended canals thief trim nan city's wide temperature, he said.

But now, connected weekends, it's communal to spot much shot players boating to islands successful their jerseys and cleats than farmers tending their crops. The shot fields agelong for miles on nan canals aft what Zambrano called “a monolithic increase” complete nan past 2 to 3 years.

In Xochimilco, galore group are reluctant to talk astir transforming their chinampas to shot fields. One landowner who declined to beryllium identified for fearfulness of ineligible aliases organization backlash said keeping nan chinampas productive required much activity and financial finance and yielded little revenue. Instead, she has established aggregate businesses connected her onshore — a shot section for play games, a nutrient guidelines and kayaking tours for overseas visitors.

“If you do good (farming) you could gain $5,000 to $10,000 (100,000 to 200,000 pesos) a year," Garduño said. "In nan tourer area you could person that wrong a mates of weekends.”

But converting nan cultivation fields carries ecological impact. While accepted farming methods debar insecticides and fertilizers, nan shot fields are different story.

“It doesn’t look that detrimental because there’s nary construction,” said Zambrano. But “it’s conscionable arsenic damaging because nan magnitude of chemicals that are used, nan magnitude of contamination that is generated is very, very large.”

The chinampas are among nan important features that led Mexico City’s historical halfway and Xochimilco to beryllium recognized arsenic a world practice tract by UNESCO. But immoderate protective measures are up to federal, authorities and section authorities. Carlos Vasquez, head of nan Natural Protected Areas nether Mexico City’s Environmental Department, said they are moving connected proposals to reside nan shot fields.

“Many are antagonistic to nan conservation of nan ecosystems,” he said. “We’re looking to modulate these activities.”

After a agelong day’s activity retired successful nan sun, Garduño and immoderate neighboring farmers congregate nether Garduño’s makeshift hut for a feast of chickenhearted and tortillas. They drawback up connected their tasks and outline what’s near to do.

Juan Ávalos, 63, and his relative Salvador Gonzalez Ávalos, 55, person been moving connected chinampas each their lives. Their family has respective land successful Xochimilco's San Gregorio neighborhood. A twelvemonth ago, aft immoderate convincing by Garduño, nan brothers joined Chinampa Refuge to adopt a much holistic attack to their farming.

Salvador said nan attack is simply a continuous reminder of his family's bequest successful maintaining nan ancient practices — thing they want to walk connected to their grandchildren.

“That’s thing we request to activity connected arsenic grandparents,” he said. “That they merge themselves pinch a sensation for this earth.”

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