Based on the premise that effective prevention of degradation and pollution in Lake Chapala begins at the source, an environmental protection program called Bosques-Agua-Gente (Forests-Water-People, abbreviated BAG), was formally launched this week under the auspices of Instituto Corazón de la Tierra (ICT).
With a distinguished 15-year history of work in conservation programs in the Lake Chapala region, ICT is now tying in with Cuencas y Ciudades, a national initiative to improve the conditions of 15 watersheds that supply water to cities in 11 states that is operated under the umbrella of the NGO Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza.
BAG is designed to reduce environmental damage to the lake provoked by deforestation, soil and forest degradation and agricultural activities. The program will focus on five micro-basins that feed into the lake from the shoreline municipalities of Chapala, Poncitlán, Atotonilco el Alto, Ocotlán and La Barca. It will encompass educational workshops and training for farmers and inhabitants in 64 rural communities, as well as orientation for water users in urban areas.
The program started in July 2018 with an analysis to identify the lake’s main pollution problems, such as the excess nutrients in the water produced by agricultural activities, livestock feces and waste water drainage. It will continue through 2021 to implement courses in organic farming and proper use of agrochemicals and eventually achieve restoration of degraded forest areas that generate sediments that get washed into the lake.
Goals include restoration and conservation for 300 hectares of forest land; fire prevention for 400 hectares; rotation systems for 300 hectares of grazing land; enrollment of 100 farmers in courses on agrochemical management; 10-percent reduction in the erosion rate per micro-basin; and 10-percent increase in the rate of water infiltration per micro-basin. DHP