New pact aims to restore Mexico’s natural protected areas with 300 million tree plantings
A new alliance between the Sowing Life program and the Environment Ministry seeks to restore 32 natural protected areas in Mexico through the planting of some 300 million trees and other plants in 2026, federal authorities announced this week. The new agreement aims to heal degraded ecosystems while shoring up rural livelihoods. Sowing Life, a federal tree‑planting and rural welfare program, pays small farmers a monthly stipend to plant and care for fruit and timber trees on their own plots, often in combination with traditional crops. Launched by the López Obrador administration and expanded under President Claudia Sheinbaum, the program now operates across much of rural Mexico, channeling support to some of the country’s poorest communities while aiming to reforest degraded land and promote small‑scale agroforestry. Authorities in the Sowing Life program signed the deal with Conanp last week, laying out the plan to plant 300 million trees in Mexico’s natural protected areas. (...