A squadron of pelicans plunges into the waters of Lake Xochimilco, south of Mexico City. Standing in the shallows a pair of elegant white herons gaze at a group of tourists on a garish, flat-bottomed boat. The carefree bucolic atmosphere of this 7,500-hectare expanse of gardens and canals is in stark contrast with the frenzy of the nearby metropolis. The chinampas, or floating market gardens, are unique, one of the few living reminders of the Aztec city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1521.
Almost 500 years later this network of waterways and man-made islands, which features on the Unesco World Heritage list, is threatened by unbridled urban development and over-exploitation of groundwater. Mexico City council is about to launch an action plan, backed by French funding, to save this huge district of the capital, with its ancestral farming traditions and outstanding biodiversity. “Time is running out,” says Claudia Zenteno, pointing at the tin cans, plastic bags and bottles floating in the stagnant water at her feet.
Zenteno lives on the shore of the lake in an area away from the holidaymakers and landing stages, which are cleaned regularly to welcome 1.2 million visitors annually. Two federal police officers are present round the clock to protect Zenteno, who has received death threats since she started campaigning against illegal encroachments on the chinampas.
“When we first came here in 1995 we had a lovely view,” recalls the former corporate auditor. “Now it’s a slum,” she adds. A nearby sign warns that the lake and its environs are a protected natural area, where building is prohibited.
Dozens of shacks are nevertheless springing up, emptying their wastewater straight into the canals. A recent survey by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Unam) counted 1,373 illegal structures along the canals, which stretch for 116km. Most are connected to electricity meters on dry land. Zenteno reckons this is “proof that corrupt local policymakers and the federal electricity utility are turning a blind eye to illegal urban development”.
Speculators are surfing on the property boom in this tranquil spot, in the midst of a polluted, overpopulated megacity.
“In 2003 I lodged a complaint against a neighbouring family who were building houses illegally on parcels of land round here,” Zenteno explains. “Since then, it’s been hell.” Her car has been vandalised countless times, her husband attacked on several occasions. In 2010 her 20-year-old son was kidnapped and tortured for nine days. Recently her dog was poisoned. In the event of assault she can take refuge in a granary with a metal trap door. “I had no idea I was dealing with such a powerful network, backed by politicians and organised crime,” she says. For her part she enjoys the support of the European commission and the Mexican commission for the defence and promotion of human rights.
The chinampas are attached to the bottom of the lake by the roots of willow trees. For centuries they have produced vegetables and flowers, initially for the capital of the Aztec kingdom, then of New Spain and more recently the Mexican republic, all built in the same place. Lettuces, spinach and coriander flourish on the land farmed by Roman Capultital, 53, in the Cuemanco area, much visited by tourists.
“Thanks to the nutritional properties of the mud and high humidity we can get four to five crops a year,” says Capultital, a descendant of the Xochimilcas, an Indian people who lived in the valley of Mexico before the Aztecs arrived in the early 14th century.
In Nahuatl, an Indian language, Xochimilco means “the place where flowers grow”. It is the last of five lakes that irrigated the area in the pre-Columbian era. The chinampas were invented by the first settlers here, and subsequently enabled the Aztecs to extend their urban settlements.
But Mexico City (population 21.2 million) has destroyed the network of lakes. “Now even Xochimilco is in danger of disappearing,” says Fernando Arana, head of the centre for biology and fish-farming established by Unam in 1999 on the banks of a canal. He maintains that poor water management has jeopardised biodiversity, vital to the capital’s ecological balance. “From the beginning of the 20th century the lake was used to supply Mexico City, steadily expanding, until the underlying aquifers were depleted. Waste water contaminated with heavy metals was even emptied into the canals. In the 1970s water was taken from the capital’s treatment plants to restore the supply to the lakes,” Arana explains.
Thousands of plant species are under threat of extinction, in particular the ahuejote (Salix bonplandiana), a variety of willow, essential to the survival of the chinampas. Three hundred species of vertebrates are also endangered, including many migratory birds.
The Mexican duck (Anas diazi), Tlaloc’s leopard frog (Lithobates tlaloci) and acocil crayfish (Cambarellus) are also endemic species. But the most famous of all is the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), a form of salamander with exceptional biological, physiological and medicinal properties.
“In the past 100 years this amphibian, which remains youthful for all its life, has almost completely disappeared from its natural habitat,” Arana says, adding that the fragile Xochimilco ecosystem plays a key role in the city’s climate-change resilience. The lack of water and increasing pollution are also endangering an ancient farming heritage. “The output of flowers is plummeting,” says Antonio Martinez, 73, who lives at San Luis Tlaxialtemalco, a small town south-east of the lake.
According to the authorities, more than two-thirds of the chinampas have been abandoned. Without upkeep the plots tend to subside into the water or dry out completely, depending on which way they slope. “At this rate, our lakeside horticulture will have gone in 10 years,” Martinez warns. His family have been chinamperas for four generations. To compensate for the declining yield, without resorting to fertilisers, he put a large part of his lavender bushes, vegetables and herbs under glass.
Unesco has warned of the threat to traditional farming, drawing attention to the poor quality of the water and depleted groundwater. In December 2012, in a bid to retain its World Heritage status, the city council established an authority for the Xochimilco heritage area, tasked with restoring biodiversity in and around the lake. A few months later Nicolas Hulot, the French government’s special envoy for the planet, signed an agreement with the mayor of Mexico City, Miguel Angel Mancera. The council is banking on a €1.5m ($1.65m) donation from France to save Xochimilco. “The money will come from the French Fund for the Global Environment,” says Jean-Marc Liger, who heads the French Agency for Development in Mexico and is assisting the council with the project.
“The funds will be used to study the polluted canals, then to define a strategy for cleaning the water to protect biodiversity,” Liger explains. “After that it will be a matter of improving coordination between public bodies, raising public awareness and developing viable, pollution-free business.” But will that be enough to survive rampant urban sprawl? Zenteno is not convinced.
In 2012 she scored her first victory, when the courts found her neighbours guilty of environmental offences. But this has not stopped illegal development near her home. Nor is the June legislative election conducive to tight controls on such practices. “To win votes policymakers look the other way,” Zenteno says.
This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde
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