Desire for Greener Land

Land L reeclamaation
by y agavve
fores stry
with w naative
sppecies
Mexico M - Recuperación
de tierrras
degradada as por agaveforrestería
con
es species localess
de agaves, aarboles
y herba aceas (Spanishh)
Agave A forestryy
land reclamaation
system with w native agaaves,
trees, sh hrubs and
grasses
planteed
through parrticipatory
act tion for a susttainable
produ uction of
mezcal m and othher
products in
order to gen nerate high incomes
for far rmers.
Rehabilitation R
oof
degraded lannd
is achieved using native aagave
(Agave inaequidens),
trees
and/or fruuit
trees, shrubbs
and grasse es to create, oover
the mediu um-term (7-10
ye ears), sustainaable
productioon
of a traditio onal alcoholic drink (mezca al) made from
ag gave and/or coosmetic
and mmedicinal
produ ucts, and/or fibbres
and/or fod dder for cattle
an nd/or wood. Beetween
the aggave
plants, na ative vegetationn
is managed or planted for
us se as food, foddder
and/or meedicinal
product ts. Depending on the slope and
the level of
la and degradatioon,
continuouss
planted rows s of agave proovide
a ’green n’ barrier that
co ontrols soil eroosion
and runofff.
Above left: NNative
agave (A A. inaequidenss;
"maguey brutto")
freshly planted
on erodedd
soil
(Acrisol type) ) in the Cointzio o basin, Michoacán
de Ocampo sstate
(Photo: C. C Prat, IRD)
Above right: : Example of a plantation (2002)
of
Agave cupreaata
(“maguey papalote”) p with and
without a treee
cover. Titzio project, Michoaacán
de Ocampo sstate
(Photo: A. A Martínez, UMMSNH)
The
main purpoose
is to achievve
sustainable land rehabilitaation
while gen nerating a high
in ncome for the ffarmer.
This allows
reducing the amount oof
livestock and d overgrazing,
which w is the maain
cause of sooil
erosion in th his region. Thee
production of f mezcal gives
lo ocal farmers high
incomes. TTrees,
shrubs and a grasses foor
medicinal us ses, food, and
fo odder are commplements
of aagave
productio on and are prrocessed
main nly by women,
while w agave harvesting
is a mmale
activity. As A it is very aattractive
financ cially, farmers
st tay in the commmunities
insttead
of emigr rating to citiess
or abroad. Biodiversity B is Location: Mo
pr reserved and iincreased
usinng
native plants
(agaves, treees,
shrubs, gra asses). These Region: Coin
pl lant associations
are effectivee
at controlling g plant pests annd
diseases. Turning T eroded Technology
in nto productive soil sequesterrs
carbon and increases watter
availability as a result of Conservatio
th he new soil covver.
Stage of inte
Unlike U most agave,
Agave inaequidens reproduces ffrom
seed, which w requires reclamation o
ha arvesting the seeds from native
plants in n the fields. OOne
plant gene erates 80,000 Origin: Deve
se eeds with a 900%
success raate
of germina ation, which iss
enough to co over 25 ha of research, rec
ag gave forestry pplantations
sett
up to control soil erosion. AAfter
harvestin ng seeds from introduced th
na ative agaves, trees and sshrubs,
seedlings
and smaall
plants are raised in a ago)
gr reenhouse andd
nursery mannaged
by the owners o and tennants
of the la and in the first Land use: G
ye ear. At the begginning
of the rainy season, these are planted
in plots protected p from (before), Mixe
ca attle grazing foor
at least the first two years s after plantingg.
The harvesti ing activity for Climate: sem
trees,
shrubs annd
grasses is done annually y, but for the aagaves
only on nce every 7 to WOCAT data
12 2 years depennding
on thee
degree of soil degradatiion.
Some months m before cdewocat.uni
ha arvesting, the fflower
from thee
stem has to be cut. The leaaves
are then cut and left in DESIRE site
th he plot while thhe
50 kg hearrt
of the agave e (“piña”) is remmoved.
Mezca al is produced his.eu/en/coin
from
the heart and requires an average of o three weekss
and at least
two men to Related appr
pr rocess 25 agavve
plants (1.5 ttonnes),
which produces about
300 litres of mezcal. economic ben
Poverty
levels in the area aare
medium to o high and thhe
income fro om agriculture Compiled by
ac ccounts for only
10 to 20% oof
the total fam mily budget. Peeople,
therefore e, do not have Recherche po
tim me to install soil erosion protection sys stems in the fields. Cattle graze freely France and A
ev verywhere andd
the number of animals is increasing annnually,
which also a increases Universidad M
so oil erosion. Loccals
know howw
to produce mezcal, m but theey
prefer to buy y it from other Hidalgo (UMS
pe eople who takee
wild plants frrom
their lands to process theem.
The proxim mity of the site Date: 1
to o the Michoacáán
of Ocampoo
state capital and the recoggnition
of the designation d of
or rigin for mezcaal
by the authorrities
will enhan nce its value foor
future produc ction.
st orelia municipa ality
ntzio watershed d, Michoacán s
area: 0.1 - 1 km k
on measure: ve
ervention: reh
of denuded lan
eloped through
cent (