Tequila is conquering the world, but the world is paying a price for it. In Mexico’s tequila-producing territory, trees are cut down, unique archaeological sites are plowed under and for seven years the agaves are bathed in highly toxic pesticides.
Then their flowers are cut, leaving them genetically anemic.
All of this leads to an imbalance in the ecosystem, loss of biodiversity and the cutting off of wildlife corridors.
While many environmentalists look upon the scene with a jaundiced eye, a few members of the tequila industry itself have decided to try to do something concrete about the situation.
The Agave Rewilding Project (ARP) was developed by members of Tequila Tromba distillery, located in the Highlands of Jalisco.
Well managed rewilding, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, rebuilds disturbed ecosystems using the plant and animal life that would have been present had the disturbance never occurred.
“Our mission,” says Tromba co-founder, Nick Reid, “is to rewild and reforest land damaged from the over-cultivation of the blue agave for the production of tequila. In the next ten years, we hope to rewild 1,000 hectares. Maybe it could be considered similar to generating carbon credits.”
The Tromba crew began looking for land they could return to nature by planting endemic species of agaves and trees—not in rows, of course.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.