In the last decades, deforestation, monoculture, and large corporate agriculture interests have devastated native landscapes and dried up watersheds for local small-scale farmers in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Maguey, a traditional feature of Mexican landscapes, has been cleared from ecosystems, seriously affecting local biodiversity. In response to this, the Vicente Guerrero group is supporting communities in Tlaxcala to restore their ecosystems, as well as mitigate and adapt to the changing climate patterns which are already impacting livelihoods.
The Vicente Guerrero group is a small NGO with national and international reach. With forty years of experience spearheading agro-ecological techniques to support food security and sustainability, their newest challenge is restoring local biodiversity and adapting to the climate crisis. Their innovative approach is to focus on recovering ancestral agricultural practices and encouraging community members to become custodians of their lands.
Farmers in Tlaxcala need to adapt to longer periods of drought, add moisture to their soil, capture carbon in the atmosphere, and cultivate species that can be commercialized or consumed in times of resource scarcity. To meet these needs, the Vicente Guerrero group is now engaged in a project of transplanting 20,000 Maguey (Agave atrovirens) seedlings (grown with the support of JoinTrees in 2022-2023), plus reproducing an additional 20,000 Maguey plants and 10,000 Mexican Pinyon Pine trees (Pinus cembroides). These two species are planted together using an ancient indigenous agriculture system called Metepantle, which is an agroforestry system in which a variety of species are intercropped. In this project, and in all of the program's regenerative agriculture work, the Vicente Guerrero team is promoting interventions that will restore native biodiversity, increase soil fertility, and further natural solutions to the climate crisis.
Ancestrally, Maguey is known as the wet nurse of Mexican ecosystems. The first archaeological evidence of Maguey cultivation dates to 6,500 years ago. The core of the plant, known as the 'heart', holds up to ten liters of water, sustaining moisture on the land. The whole plant serves as a haven for pollinators and small fauna. According to research carried out by the Vicente Guerrero group, the soil where Maguey are growing remains just as fresh or cooler than the topsoil of nearby forests. There have been studies that state that this species is also as efficient as trees at capturing carbon. In fact, some studies suggest that Maguey might even be better than trees, given that Maguey's carbon capture continues into the night, while trees do so during daylight hours.
By incorporating Maguey into the farming practices of local communities, it will be possible to restore the ancient indigenous agricultural technology called Metepantle. In a Metepantle system, a variety of species are grown together on the same field. In Nahuatl, 'metl' means Maguey or Agave and 'pantil' means division or flag. This ancestral agricultural system has an successful track record of over 2000 years. It is particularly effective in regions with sloping fields, steep hillsides, or mountain ranges where it prevents erosion. The Maguey are placed on terraces as living fences or are inserted between rows of trees, such as Pinyon Pine (Pinus cembroides) or Tejocote (Crataegus mexicana). Within these living fences, native corn is planted (Vicente Guerrero has a seed bank of over 58 species), alongside a variety of beans (Phaseolus Vulgaris, Phaseolus Coccineus, Vicia faba L.), Chiles (Capsicum spp.), and various species of squash (Cucurbita ficifolia, Cucurbita pepo L.). This mix of plants is enriched further with edible Nopal Cactus (Cactus opuntia), and a variety of edible and highly nutritious greens called 'quelites'. Some Metepanles also include medicinal herbs. The result is a field which can provide highly nutritious food for vulnerable communities while also encouraging biodiversity, mitigating climate change and regenerating the soil as its fertility is increased.The Metepantle system being promoted by the Vicente Guerrero program will include the Native Pinyon Pine, as it is also a species that prevents erosion and it connects its roots to underground aquifers providing further moisture to the soil. Recent research suggests that this Mexican variety of Pinyon Pine also has significant carbon capture abilities.
The Vicente Guerrero Group has now grown and cared for 30,000 Magueys that are mature enough to be transplanted into their permanent locations. More small Maguey and 10,000 Pinyon Pine seedlings are growing in their nursery. The team members have been sharing with 100 farm families the virtues and importance of Maguey and Pinyon Pines and reintroducing Metepantles for the local ecosystem. The Vicente Guerrero team visits the families and their farms, answering any questions the families might have, and supporting the design of each individual Metepantle system. In parallel to this process of farmer to farmer educational exchange, they have now begun to transplant Maguey onto newly created Metepantle fields.
The objective of the program is to expand these agroforestry actions, recovering bio-diversity and ancestral regenerative agricultural practices on 800 small scale farms. This will translate into between 200 and 300 hectares of restored lands. The goal is that these actions will serve as an example to others in the country who wish to mitigate climate change, restore local biodiversity, and mitigate food insecurity.
