For more than a week we have worked to control and combat the forest fire that was started by a lightning strike in a remote area of Lagunita de San Diego, in the Municipality of Landa de Matamoros.  It has affected the temperate forests that were in excellent condition, having been effectively protected by GESG.  It has been a difficult fire to combat, given the rocky terrain, outcroppings of broken limestone with cavities and sharp edges.

Approximately 100 brigade members made up from the Secretariat of Agricultural Development (SEDEA), the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), Comisión Nacional Forestal (CONAFOR), Querétaro Civil Protection, the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), Landa de Matamoros city council and Civil Protection, volunteers, and Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda have taken action to create fire breaks, extend fire breaks and fire fighting.  Due to the topographic conditions of the area, there have been a lot of complications.  Up until now the fire has consumed 150 hectares of forest, it has been controlled but there is more work to be done to monitor the fire and extinguish it completely.

We are thankful for the commitment and dedication of the firefighters and the Institutions that are involved, which have given their best.

We are celebrating our 35 anniversary and the 25th anniversary of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve! Sunday, June 5th, at 6 pm on Facebook Live, where we will bring together conservation voices in Mexico that form part of the history of the Sierra region.

Register here for more details.

Panel of special guests

We continue to reactivate the backyard gardens program.  Through permanent technical assistance we share with the gardeners appropriate bio-intensive practices for vegetable production, working with the cycles of nature. This project was made possible thanks to the support of the Banamex Ecological Development Fund.

Pati Ruiz Corzo, Director of GESG, participated in the XV World Forestry Congress in Seoul, Korea as part of the Guardians of the Earth panel, together with other recent winners of the Wangari Maathai prize. She also participated in the high level debate about the theme of “Putting sustainable and resilient tourism at the heart of an inclusive recovery” convened by the President of the United Nations General Assembly in collaboration with The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

We continue to reactivate the backyard gardens program.  Through permanent technical assistance we share with the gardeners appropriate bio-intensive practices for vegetable production, working with the cycles of nature. This project was made possible thanks to the support of the Banamex Ecological Development Fund.