Benefits of Urban Greening
Harnessing the Power of Plants
Altépetl Bienestar is founded on scientific evidence showing that healthy ecosystems and plant diversity are vital for Mexico City’s food and water security. Research by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), and the Secretariat of the Environment of Mexico City (SEDEMA) demonstrates that the city’s Conservation Land—59 per cent of its area—regulates climate, recharges aquifers, and sustains pollinators essential to crops.
Guided by these findings, the programme applies agroecology and ecosystem restoration science to regenerate soils, forests, and water systems. Actions such as native reforestation, soil enrichment, and erosion control are based on ecological diagnostics and monitored through biodiversity and soil-health indicators.
Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs) act as field laboratories where local knowledge combines with scientific monitoring. These spaces demonstrate measurable gains in pollinator abundance, soil fertility, and crop yields.
Delivering Multiple Benefits
Altépetl Bienestar harnesses the potential of plants and ecosystems to deliver ecological, social, and economic benefits simultaneously. Through agroecological restoration, native vegetation and productive species regenerate soils, increase water infiltration, and enhance biodiversity while also improving food yields and rural livelihoods. Reforestation with pollinator-friendly and nitrogen-fixing plants strengthens both ecosystem resilience and agricultural productivity, proving that conservation and production can coexist.
The programme is fully embedded in Mexico City’s Climate Action Programme (PACCM 2021–2030), SEDEMA, and the City’s Rural Development Law, which recognise the Conservation Land as essential infrastructure for urban sustainability. This legal and planning framework ensures stable funding and long-term continuity.
Governance relies on community participation and intergovernmental coordination. Ejidos and communal assemblies manage Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs), while DGCORENADR provides technical oversight. The initiative has strong political backing from the Mexico City Government, reflected in annual budget allocations, public recognition by the Head of Government, and alignment with city-wide sustainability and resilience goals.
Through this integrated policy approach, Altépetl Bienestar demonstrates that restoring plant ecosystems can simultaneously secure food systems, safeguard biodiversity, and build social equity across a megacity.
The City’s Bold and Innovative Vision
Altépetl Bienestar envisions a city where food security, biodiversity, and community wellbeing are built through the regeneration of natural ecosystems. Its boldness lies in reframing Conservation Land not as a protected fringe but as living infrastructure essential to Mexico City’s sustainability.
The initiative is unique in integrating ecological restoration, agroecology, and social inclusion within one public policy. It unites more than 600 rural producers and 1,400 community members through the creation of Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs)—self-managed zones where environmental recovery and productive use coexist.
Innovation also comes from the Green Seal certification, which establishes city-level agroecological standards for food production and connects rural producers with urban markets.
Funding mechanisms blend public investment and community labour incentives, ensuring continuity and ownership.
By linking biodiversity restoration with economic opportunity, Altépetl Bienestar delivers a new governance model that treats farmers as environmental managers and plants as agents of social and ecological transformation—redefining how megacities can achieve resilience from the ground up.
Partnerships and Collaboration
Altépetl Bienestar is built on collaboration across disciplines and sectors, recognising that urban resilience emerges from the intersection of ecology, planning, and community wellbeing. The programme brings together ecologists, agronomists, hydrologists, urban planners, and social scientists under the coordination of SEDEMA’s DGCORENADR.
It partners with UNAM, CONABIO, and the Secretariat of Integrated Water Management (SEGIAGUA), to align ecosystem restoration with water recharge and watershed management strategies. Cooperation with the Secretariats of Rural Development and Labour strengthens training, rural employment, and agroecological production.
Health professionals and nutrition experts promote chemical-free, locally produced food, while architects and urban designers support the creation of green corridors and community markets linking producers to urban consumers.
Through this multidisciplinary collaboration, Altépetl Bienestar becomes a living platform for cross-sector innovation, where ecological restoration, food security, and social inclusion reinforce one another—showing that true sustainability in a megacity depends on partnerships beyond the environmental sector.
Addressing Urban Challenges
The Issue
The public problem that Altépetl Bienestar addresses is the loss and degradation of ecosystems in Mexico City’s Suelo de Conservación/Conservation Land caused by urban expansion, land-use change, and ecological fragmentation, which threaten biodiversity, agricultural productivity, and community livelihoods.
This issue is a major challenge for the city, as the Conservation Land represents 59 per cent of Mexico City’s territory and provides vital ecosystem services, including aquifer recharge, air purification, temperature regulation, and food supply. The deterioration of forests, agricultural soils, and wetlands directly undermines the city’s environmental resilience, climate regulation, and water security, while also worsening social inequality among rural populations living in conditions of high and very high poverty—around 311,000 people across nine boroughs.
If the problem were not addressed, the urban sprawl would continue encroaching on conservation areas, accelerating biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and hydrological imbalance. This would reduce groundwater recharge, intensify flooding and heat-island effects, and further marginalise rural communities. The weakening of ecosystem connectivity would also undermine the region’s capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate change, deepening socio-environmental vulnerability across the metropolis.
In sum, Altépetl Bienestar tackles a problem that is both ecological and social, linking environmental degradation to rural poverty, and seeks to ensure the long-term sustainability and wellbeing of Mexico City’s urban and rural populations through conservation, restoration, and agroecological production.
The Impact of the Issue
The severity of the issue addressed by the Altépetl Bienestar programme is profound, as it directly threatens the ecological and social foundations of Mexico City. The city’s Conservation Land covers 88,442 hectares (59 per cent of the territory) and harbours two per cent of the world’s biodiversity, including over 2,200 plant species and hundreds of animal species. Yet, this area is under critical pressure from urban sprawl, ecosystem fragmentation, deforestation, and pollution, all of which degrade forests, wetlands, and agricultural lands.
These problems severely affect nature, livelihoods, and urban life. They reduce aquifer recharge, worsen floods and air quality, and diminish local food production. Around 311,000 residents in rural boroughs live in conditions of high or very high poverty, depending on these lands for food, employment, and cultural continuity. Without intervention, the loss of ecosystems would accelerate climate vulnerability, undermine water and food security, and deepen social inequality across the metropolis.
Through the Altépetl Bienestar initiative, the city is harnessing plants and natural systems as solutions. Over 37 million trees, shrubs, pollinator, and medicinal plants have been established on 33,826 hectares, restoring degraded land, improving soil and water quality, and enhancing biodiversity. Agroecological production, native seed conservation, and pollinator recovery programmes integrate people and ecosystems, turning conservation into a driver of rural development.
In essence, Altépetl uses Nature-based Solutions to heal ecosystems, empower communities, and secure the city’s ecological balance—creating a more resilient and liveable future for Mexico City.
Nature Positive Solutions
Implementation
Over the past five years, Altépetl Bienestar has transformed how Mexico City protects its Conservation Land, turning it into a living system that sustains food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Implemented by SEDEMA’s DGCORENADR, the programme merges ecological restoration and agroecological production through community-driven initiatives.
Since 2019, more than 50,000 hectares have been restored within Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs) through native reforestation, soil recovery, erosion control, and wildfire prevention. In parallel, 600 producers and 175 certified products under the city’s Green Seal now anchor a sustainable urban–rural food system. The programme directly benefits over 14,000 residents of rural Mexico City—45 per cent women—through technical assistance, training, and financial support.
With an annual budget of approximately 45 million dollars, Altépetl Bienestar maintains stable investment in both environmental and productive actions. A robust monitoring system—combining scientific assessment and community participation—shows clear gains in pollinator abundance, forest health, and agricultural yields, confirming its nature-positive impact.
By linking ecosystem restoration with livelihoods, Altépetl Bienestar successfully addresses urban expansion and land degradation, proving that community-led conservation can deliver measurable ecological and social resilience in a megacity context.
Feasibility
Altépetl Bienestar has a strong foundation for feasibility through sustained financial and logistical commitment. For example, the 2024 Rules of Operation publicly declare a budget of MXN 1.1 billion for that year. Logistically, the programme is embedded in governance mechanisms. It is housed under the DGCORENADR within the SEDEMA. This anchoring ensures operational continuity and integration into the city’s institutional framework.
Regarding policy change and planning integration, the programme is explicitly linked to the management of the city’s 88,442-hectare Conservation Land which constitutes 59 per cent of the city’s territory. The 2024 Rules of Operation reflect a new line of support (“Bienestar para el Campo”/“Rural Wellbeing”) and explicitly mention gender perspective, indicating the programme’s evolution and embedding in policy. External evaluation work (such as the socio-ecological evaluation for 2019-2024) shows that the programme is being studied systematically, which supports its legitimacy and integration in planning.
Thus, the programme demonstrates both financial feasibility—with robust budget lines—and logistical and governance feasibility, through institutional anchoring and a multi-component structure. At the same time, the success to date, including the large number of beneficiaries, hectares restored, and production transitions, have contributed to embedding the initiative into the city’s policy framework and planning mechanisms, making it not just a pilot programme but a structural part of the city’s green strategy.
Multi-Stakeholder Support
Altépetl Bienestar is a multi-level, cross-sectoral initiative led by DGCORENADR of SEDEMA, under the leadership of Humberto Adán Peña Fuentes with the full support of Mexico City’s Head of Government, Clara Brugada Molina, and Secretary of the Environment, Julia Álvarez Icaza Ramírez. The programme is also one of the core initiatives to be included in Mexico City´s Climate Action Programme that will contribute to Mexico´s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
More than 14,000 residents—45 per cent women—participate annually through restoration brigades, agroecological production, and seed conservation activities. Collaboration extends to ejidos, communal assemblies, and Indigenous communities, who co-manage Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs) and Communities of Rural Learning (CAC) as platforms for self-governance and capacity building.
Scientific and technical support comes from UNAM, CONABIO, and the Secretariat of Integrated Water Management (SEGIAGUA), which align restoration and watershed management actions. The Secretariats of Rural Development, Labour, and Women strengthen training, employment, and gender inclusion.
Through the Green Seal certification, partnerships with businesses, markets, and restaurants promote sustainable value chains and consumer awareness.
This wide and sustained coalition demonstrates strong political backing, scientific collaboration, and community ownership, ensuring Altépetl Bienestar’s long-term impact and institutional durability.
Management and Maintenance
Altépetl Bienestar is a permanent public programme formally established through the Rules of Operation published in the Official Gazette of Mexico City. These rules define its objectives, eligibility criteria, budget structure, and monitoring mechanisms, ensuring transparent management and continuity across administrations. The programme operates under SEDEMA, through the DGCORENADR. This institutional framework guarantees technical oversight, intersectoral coordination, and direct accountability.
Financial planning is secured by multi-annual budget allocations (approximately MXN 800–1,100 million per year) divided into three operational components: “Bienestar para el Bosque”/“Forest Wellbeing”, focused on the restoration and conservation of natural resources; “Bienestar para el Campo”, which supports agroecological and sustainable production; and “Facilitadores de Servicios”/“Technical Service Providers”, which provides technical support and promotes knowledge exchange among producers.
Additionally, the components include “Sembrando Vida Ciudad de México”/“Sowing Life Programme – Mexico City” and “Desarrollo de Capacidades y Bienestar Rural”/“Capacity Development and Rural Wellbeing”. Each component has clear indicators and verification procedures, embedded in a Result Indicator Matrix (RIM).
Management efficiency is maintained through standardised calls for proposals, community agreements, and field verification by support technicians for the productive system and DGCORENADR brigades. Among initial challenges were administrative delays and fragmented local governance; these were overcome by streamlining procedures and strengthening coordination with ejidos, SEGIAGUA, and UNAM.
This solid regulatory and institutional design ensures that Altépetl Bienestar remains an enduring pillar of Mexico City’s environmental and rural policy.
Measuring and Reporting Impact
Monitoring Results
Altépetl Bienestar employs a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and measurable environmental impact. According to the 2024 internal evaluation report, the programme applies a multi-tier protocol combining administrative, technical, and community-based instruments.
Progress is tracked through the Result Indicator Matrix (RIM), which measures restoration areas, number of beneficiaries, reforested hectares, and producers supported. Field verification protocols include georeferenced surveys, photographic evidence, and GIS mapping of the Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs) to validate surface coverage and vegetation establishment.
Environmental indicators—such as plant survival rate, soil stability, water infiltration, and pollinator presence—are monitored through technical reports and sampling by DGCORENADR brigades. Community brigades also provide participatory records, ensuring real-time tracking and local ownership of outcomes.
The 2024 evaluation confirms measurable progress, including more than 50,000 hectares restored, millions of native plants established, and a consistent increase in biodiversity and agricultural productivity.
Through these rigorous monitoring protocols, Altépetl Bienestar demonstrates verifiable, long-term nature-positive outcomes for Mexico City—enhancing ecosystem resilience, rural livelihoods, and the city’s capacity to adapt to climate change.
Demonstrating Progress
The Altépetl Bienestar monitoring system strengthens Mexico City’s ability to demonstrate measurable environmental and social progress, turning field data into strategic planning tools. The programme’s Result Indicators Matrix (RIM), combined with GIS-based verification and community reporting, provides reliable evidence of hectares restored, biodiversity recovered, and producers transitioned to agroecological practices.
This evidence informs annual budget planning and inter-agency coordination, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and directed to areas with the highest ecological value. Transparent results—such as 50,000 hectares under restoration, 14,000 beneficiaries, and 175 certified agroecological products—demonstrate success to both public auditors and external partners.
This traceable progress has positioned Altépetl Bienestar as a flagship nature-based policy, enabling the city to secure sustained investment from local and federal funds and to design new strategies for urban biodiversity corridors, climate adaptation, and sustainable food systems.
By linking data-driven monitoring with decision-making, Mexico City expands its greening ambitions and builds confidence among funders, researchers, and communities—transforming evidence into the foundation for a greener and more resilient metropolis.
Measuring Impact
Altépetl Bienestar has achieved tangible ecological and social results by integrating restoration, sustainable production, and community governance. Between 2019 and 2024, the programme restored more than 50,000 hectares of the Conservation Land through reforestation, soil recovery, erosion control, and fire prevention. It has directly benefited over 14,000 residents, with 45 per cent women, and supported 600 producers in transitioning to agroecological practices, creating 175 certified products under the Green Seal label.
Impact is measured through a mixed-method system combining quantitative indicators—such as hectares restored, number of plants established, budget executed, and producers trained—with qualitative data from community testimonies, participatory monitoring, and field narratives.
The Result Indicators Matrix (RIM) and GIS-based environmental monitoring allow verification of vegetation cover, biodiversity, and soil and water improvements. Reports are compiled annually by DGCORENADR and validated through community assemblies and external reviews.
Findings from the 2024 Evaluation confirm a measurable increase in biodiversity, soil fertility, and water retention, as well as stronger local governance. These results are shared publicly through SEDEMA’s reports, ensuring accountability and reinforcing Altépetl Bienestar as a cornerstone of Mexico City’s nature-positive transformation.
Learning and Transferability
Adaption and Enhancement
Since its launch in 2019, Altépetl Bienestar has evolved through a process of adaptive management, using monitoring results and stakeholder feedback to refine its design and delivery. Annual evaluations conducted by DGCORENADR and community brigades have led to key improvements in both operational efficiency and environmental outcomes.
In response to monitoring data, the programme strengthened its plant survival protocols, introduced species selection based on microclimate and soil analysis, and expanded water-harvesting and erosion-control practices. Budget allocation has also been adjusted to increase investment in Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs) and agroecological training, ensuring stronger local resilience.
External stakeholders—including UNAM, CONABIO, and the Secretariat of Integrated Water Management (SEGIAGUA)—have contributed scientific and hydrological expertise to improve restoration planning and biodiversity monitoring. Meanwhile, ejidos, Indigenous communities, and producer cooperatives have provided field feedback that shaped the implementation of the Green Seal certification and community learning networks (CAC).
Through this iterative process, Altépetl Bienestar has become a dynamic and evidence-based policy tool—continuously enhanced by science, community knowledge, and interinstitutional collaboration to secure long-term ecological and social success.
Potential for Replication
Altépetl Bienestar has generated a transformative cascade effect that extends well beyond its original scope. Its success in combining ecological restoration with community-led food production has reshaped Mexico City’s approach to managing natural ecosystems, integrating rural territories into the city’s broader sustainability agenda. Marketplaces where these products are sold are attracting way more customers than originally expected, leading to an increasing interest in visiting the conservation areas.
The programme’s model—linking plants, ecosystems, and livelihoods—has inspired new lines of action in the Climate Action Programme (PACCM 2021–2030) and the Environmental Agenda 2024–2028, where Nature-based Solutions and community governance are now central pillars.
Knowledge transfer is embedded through the Communities of Rural Learning (CAC), where farmers, technicians, and researchers exchange practices in seed conservation, soil regeneration, and pollinator-friendly cultivation. This network has strengthened technical capacity across ejidos and neighbouring municipalities, creating a shared culture of ecological stewardship.
Unexpectedly, the programme’s visible results—improved vegetation cover, reduced wildfires, and stronger local economies—have also motivated private and academic sectors to adopt agroecological standards and support restoration initiatives.
Through these cascading effects, Altépetl Bienestar has evolved from a conservation programme into a city-wide framework for living with nature, influencing planning, education, and governance in ways that will shape Mexico City’s environmental legacy for decades.
Inspiring Other Cities
Altépetl Bienestar offers a replicable model for megacities seeking to balance urban growth with ecosystem restoration and food security. Its integration of Nature-based Solutions, community governance, and agroecology within a formal public policy has drawn attention from other Mexican and Latin American cities facing similar territorial and climatic challenges.
In Mexico, representatives from Guadalajara and Mérida have engaged with SEDEMA to study Altépetl Bienestar’s framework for managing peri-urban conservation land. Internationally, Buenos Aires has expressed interest through regional climate cooperation platforms.
A Technical Cooperation Agreement was expected to be signed with the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires by November 2025 in which the Altépetl Bienestar model for payments for agroecological services would serve as the main approach. The programme’s measurable results—50,000 hectares restored, millions of native plants established, and hundreds of agroecological producers certified—make it a compelling case for Buenos Aires, and other cities in Latin America aiming to integrate biodiversity, climate adaptation, and social inclusion.
Its methodology—anchored in annual Rules of Operation, Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs), and participatory monitoring systems—can be adapted to diverse governance and ecological contexts.
Through international forums and cooperation projects, Altépetl Bienestar has positioned Mexico City as a leader in urban-rural ecological management, inspiring other cities to adopt community-driven greening strategies that regenerate ecosystems while strengthening local economies and cultural identity.
Resilience
Reducing Negative Impacts and Ensuring Sustainability
Altépetl Bienestar integrates climate mitigation and adaptation directly into its design. By restoring over 50,000 hectares of Conservation Land, the programme enhances carbon sequestration through native reforestation, soil regeneration, and protection of forest ecosystems that absorb thousands of tonnes of CO₂ annually.
Operationally, Altépetl Bienestar has reduced its carbon footprint by prioritising local plant nurseries, community-based brigades, and low-emission transport and equipment, minimising fuel use across remote restoration sites. Training programmes promote organic soil management, composting, and water-efficient irrigation systems that further cut emissions associated with synthetic fertilisers and energy consumption.
Environmental safeguards are embedded in the Rules of Operation and the Result Indicators Matrix, ensuring all actions undergo ecological impact review and monitoring. Each Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Area (ARCAC) includes erosion-control structures, water-harvesting systems, and fire-prevention corridors to protect long-term ecosystem integrity.
These combined systems guarantee that Altépetl Bienestar not only avoids unintended environmental impacts but also builds resilient, low-carbon landscapes. Through sustainable rural livelihoods, continuous monitoring, and community stewardship, the programme strengthens Mexico City’s capacity to achieve lasting, climate-positive outcomes.
Environmental Considerations
From its inception, Altépetl Bienestar has incorporated ecosystem-based planning to ensure that all restoration and production activities are environmentally sound and adapted to local conditions. Plant selection follows ecological zoning and microclimate analysis, prioritising native and endemic species—including oaks, willows, ahuejotes, magueys, and pollinator-friendly shrubs—that are resilient to drought, frost, and climate variability.
All plant material is produced in local community nurseries, such as “Vivero Nezahualcóyotl” and “Vivero Margarita” located in Conservation Land. This reduces transport emissions and ensures genetic compatibility with the region’s ecosystems. Reforestation and agroecological practices integrate diverse species mixes to enhance soil fertility, water retention, and carbon storage, while decreasing pest vulnerability.
To address water scarcity, the programme promotes rainwater harvesting systems, infiltration trenches, and recycled-water irrigation within Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Areas (ARCACs).
These design decisions anticipate future environmental challenges, guaranteeing that restoration, food production, and biodiversity recovery evolve together. By linking ecological science with local knowledge, Altépetl Bienestar ensures that every intervention contributes to resilient, regenerative, and resource-efficient landscapes across Mexico City’s Conservation Land.
Use of Natural Resources
Altépetl Bienestar is guided by a circular and regenerative approach to natural resource use, ensuring that restoration and food production strengthen local ecosystems. The programme forbids extractive practices such as importing topsoil or using potable-grade water for irrigation, prioritising instead on-site soil recovery through composting, mulching, and organic amendments from local biomass.
Water management integrates both modern and ancestral techniques. Alongside rainwater harvesting, infiltration trenches, and recycled-water irrigation, the programme supports the revitalisation of the traditional chinampa system—an ancient wetland agriculture technology based on raised plots surrounded by canals.
This system, practiced for centuries in Tláhuac and Xochimilco, naturally filters and recycles water, enhances soil fertility, and sustains year-round food production. It remains a core social and cultural component of Mexico City’s Conservation Land and a model for sustainable hydrological management.
Each Community Environmental Restoration and Conservation Area (ARCAC) includes erosion barriers, contour planting, and native grass recovery to prevent soil loss.
By combining scientific innovation with ancestral wisdom, Altépetl Bienestar ensures efficient, low-impact use of soils and water—creating resilient ecosystems that sustain biodiversity, agriculture, and community identity.
Initiative: Programa Altépetl