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Lake Texcoco, first Ecohydrology Demonstration Site in Mexico by UNESCO
Mexico celebrates the registration of Lake Texcoco as its first Ecohydrology Demonstration Site by UNESCO, a designation approved by the International Scientific Advisory Committee of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) that recognises places in the world where nature-based, sustainable and innovative solutions are implemented in which different academic disciplines and actors from different sectors collaborate for a holistic vision of action for recovery.
The announcement was made by Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, and UNESCO Representative in Mexico, Andrés Morales, during a visit to the Ecological Park and a special ceremony with community representatives within the framework of World Wetlands Day (2 February).
The UNESCO designation recognises actions at the site to advance the improvement of water quality, biodiversity, ecosystems, resilience and mitigation of the impacts of climate change, as well as consolidating the link with areas such as culture, education and governance to seek a balance between the potential of the ecosystem and social needs.
The Lake Texcoco area was decreed as a Natural Protected Area (NPA) in 2022 (22 March). The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) formed an inter-institutional team to develop its own Water Programme to recover the lake and its wetlands and generate both environmental and social benefits for more than 12.5 million inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico. Now, after almost three years, Mexico stands out for its actions at a global level.
Bárcena Ibarra mentioned that the actions are a commitment to the communities to rescue Lake Texcoco and ‘return the water to its source’. She also stressed that, as with Xochimilco, a World Heritage Site, UNESCO can help to strengthen the APRN of Lake Texcoco and make it a place of coexistence where all that it has can be appreciated.
The seek to redouble nature-based solutions that interlink hydrological and biological processes to respond to the challenge of water security: how to increase water resources and improve their quality while reducing negative impacts on ecosystems.
Some measures implemented in Lake Texcoco have been the treatment of water using wetlands for its quality; the generation of evidence and knowledge about its availability and the behaviour of its bodies to recover environmental services; and actions to revitalise its historical and cultural heritage, as it is the main body of water in the lake system of the Valley of Mexico basin that was reconfigured since the 17th century by colonial constructions on dry land instead of the islet on which Tenochtitlan was settled.
Noting that 64% of the world's wetlands have already disappeared, Andrés Morales welcomed the new UNESCO designation for a lake wetland so important for biodiversity and ecosystem conservation in the Valley of Mexico, joining 63 other Ecohydrology Demonstration Sites around the world.
He also reaffirmed UNESCO's commitment and willingness to support the Lake Texcoco Ecological Park and to continue working with Mexico for its biodiversity conservation, promote its natural heritage and strengthen the management of its natural resources.
Covering more than 10,000 hectares, Lake Texcoco is home to more than 250 species of flora, more than 370 species of fauna and more than 10 species of fungi and mosses, including some that are threatened according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) . For example the critically endangered salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum); the rough-necked alligator lizard (Barisia rudicollis) and the Chapultepec split-finned fish (Girardinichthys viviparus), both in danger of extinction; and the vulnerable and declining population of the plain’s pipit bird (Anthus spragueii).
As in other sites designated by UNESCO, such as Biosphere Reserves, World Heritage Sites or Global Geoparks, the participation of society is vital to foster a new paradigm of interaction with the planet to heal the human relationship with nature and the exchange of knowledge where populations actively participate.
Ignacio del Valle Medina, leader of the Peoples' Front in Defence of the Land of Atenco, one of the municipalities that share the APRN, underlined the importance of listening to the people's knowledge and the sum of the proposals of governments in responding to their commitment to improving present conditions, without forgetting that the union of the peoples is indispensable.
The ceremony announcing the new UNESCO designation for Mexico was also attended by Pedro Álvarez Icaza Longoria, National Commissioner for Natural Protected Areas (CONANP); Patricia Guadalupe Herrera Ascencio, Director General of the Mexican Institute of Water Technology (IMTA); and Paola Félix Díaz, General Coordinator of Inter-institutional Relations and International Affairs of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA); Dulce María Avendaño Hernández, Director of the Ciénegas del Lerma Flora and Fauna Protection Area (CONANP); and Camilo de la Garza Guevara, National Natural Sciences Officer of UNESCO in Mexico.
