Huichapan "Cerro Pardo" y "Puzolana" (Mexico)

About the Program
Mexico is a megadiverse country, ranking eleventh among the nations with the greatest biodiversity in birds, fifth in vascular plants, fifth in amphibians, third in mammals and second in reptiles. Huichapan is a municipality located in the Valle del Mezquital, west of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. It is a semi-arid temperate region dominated by scrublands and grasslands, although much of the area is also used for agriculture. The team at CEMEX works to improve habitat conditions in the surrounding desert through soil restoration and reforestation actions, in order to recover the vegetation cover, to stop and counteract the erosion process and gradually recover the capacity and natural potential to provide environmental goods and services.  

Practices and Impacts

• The team leads an awareness project based on the Participatory Environmental Education model, which recognizes and incorporates the knowledge and practices of the participants in the educational process. Participants learn and build environmental awareness dynamically by interacting with different environmental phenomena in their communities and engaging with local technicians, scientists and specialists. The program reaches an estimated 1,500 people each year.
• The team, in collaboration with the local community, has engaged in reforestation efforts using agave salmiana (Maguey pulquero) and other native plants propagated in the CEMEX Huichapan nursery. 
• The team also manages a community garden of regional plants, which is maintained by local students as part of an environmental education program.
• Monitoring has shown the presence of nearly 100 pollinator species on site, including butterflies, bees and birds. The team has installed insect hotels for the benefit of native insects. 
• Wildlife monitoring data collected from the facility and across the larger community is uploaded to the Naturalista citizen science platform.