Preservation, Rehabilitation, and Management of Heritage Wetlands in Mexico - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 178

Xochimilco as “a landscape deeply embedded in our collective consciousness …
form[ing] part of our symbols and myths as a mystical landscape like a Paradise
Lost” (Hiriart 1992), or as “a cultural symbol of the city … and a center of pro-
found community life and a living vestige of the Prehispanic world in the Valley of
Mexico” (Schjetnan 1995). It is no surprise, then, that in 1987 UNESCO declared
the area a World Heritage Site in order to protect what they referred to as “the living
cradle of civilization,” a term often used, of course, with reference to Mesopotamia
(e.g., Kramer 1967). As a result, many Mexican artists have painted Xochimilco over
the years, infusing it with an almost unreal, Edenic romanticism.

e nvironmental r estoration and r egeneration of n atUral C aPital
The “rescue” or “resurrection” of Xochimilco ( sensu Elizondo 1996; Schjetnan
1996) involved four general goals:

• To provide botanical, historical-cultural, recreational, and economic

improvements and regeneration

• To attend to and update the antiquated sewage disposal system

• To encourage agricultural sustenance

• To provide a forum for ecological education

Specifically, the objectives were to restore the lake and wetland system, maintain
and increase the valley's natural water supply (which was excessive a few times
during the year and insufficient for much of the rest of the year), reactivate the tra-
ditional hydroponic agricultural systems of chinampas and assist in marketing of
the produce grown, redefine and enforce zoning bylaws to regulate development,
enlarge the available green space, and produce historically appropriate architecture
whenever appropriate to help foster a sense of place.
The project has been extremely successful. Over 3,000 ha of chinampas were
protected from further degradation and another 1,200 ha were restored, including
some 200 km of canals that were cleaned and made navigable for the first time
in decades. More than 1,000 ha of land were desalinized and made productive
for agriculture. A new wastewater treatment plant was built that services twenty
thousand residents. Four large detention basins were constructed for stormwater
management, and twenty small dams built to control floods. Finally, forty archeo-
logical sites from 700 to 1500 were excavated which yielded an amazing fifteen
tons of artifacts.
Although tens of millions of dollars in outside funding were raised to accomplish
these and other tasks, it is important to note that the project also developed its own
“restoration economy” ( sensu Cunningham 2002; and see chapter 3). Nurseries were
built to grow the 20 million trees per year needed for the restoration tasks, and three
thousand jobs were created to undertake this work. Up to seven thousand people are
now employed in the agricultural activities in the area, aided by a new $7 million
credit line created for farmers which now supports two hundred families and over
a thousand people. Agricultural improvements such as greenhouses, irrigation sys-
tems, access roads, and the like have contributed to greatly improving productivity.