- ProMéxico

Destination La Chuparrosa Enamorada
M
n
ee o
Gr exic
Green
roof
effect
=
An Endless
Urban Mosaic
vi - 2009
Organic Agriculture
investment
Opportunities in
Renewable Energy
Ecologically Productive Worms
Forests
Productivity and Protection
Under the Same Seal
2 Negocios
35
Firms
6
Green Mexico
Negocios Goes Green
By Bruno Ferrari
Green
Roof
Effect
An endless urban mosaic.
Contents
11 Briefs
28 Mexico’s Partner
26 Report
40 Figures
8 Business tips: opportunities in renewable energy
Productivity
and Protection
of Forests
22
Under the Same Seal
Organic
Agriculture
Ecologically Productive Worms
20
Coconut
A Star in the
Organic Food
World
32
offices abroad
Singapore Regional Director
ProMéxico Headquarters
+ 52 (55) 544 77070
[email protected]
www.promexico.gob.mx
[email protected]
Offices: Mumbai, Singapore,
Sydney, Taipei
Mumbai
[email protected]
Singapore
[email protected]
Sydney
[email protected]
Taipei
[email protected]
America
Sao Paulo Regional Director
[email protected]
Offices: Buenos Aires, Bogota, Guatemala,
Santiago, Sao Paulo
Buenos Aires
[email protected]
Bogota
[email protected]
Guatemala
[email protected]
Santiago
[email protected]
Sao Paulo
[email protected]
Houston Regional Director
New York Regional Director
[email protected]
Offices: Chicago, Miami, Montreal,
New York
Europe
London Regional Director
Chicago
[email protected]
[email protected]
Offices: Brussels, London, Madrid,
Milan, Paris
Miami
[email protected]
Brussels
alejandro.saldivar @promexico.gob.mx
Montreal
[email protected]
London
[email protected]
New York
[email protected]
Madrid
[email protected]
Milan
[email protected]
Asia
Shanghai Regional Director
[email protected]
Offices: Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Vancouver
[email protected]
Offices: Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai,
Seoul, Tokyo
Dallas
[email protected]
Beijing
[email protected]
Houston
[email protected]
Hong Kong
[email protected]
Los Angeles
[email protected]
Shanghai
[email protected]
San Francisco
[email protected]
Seoul
[email protected]
Vancouver
[email protected]
Tokyo
[email protected]
Paris
[email protected]
Frankfurt Regional Director
[email protected]
Offices: Dubai, Frankfurt, Moscow,
Stockholm, Switzerland
Dubai
[email protected]
Frankfurt
[email protected]
Moscow
[email protected]
Stockholm
[email protected]
Switzerland
[email protected]
4 Negocios
Directory
Feedback
in favor
of nature
Pronatura watches over the conservation
of Mexico’s true wealth
ProMéxico
Bruno Ferrari
CEO
Ricardo Rojo
Image and Communications
Director
Andrés Tamariz
Sebastián Escalante
Managing Coordinators
Miguel Ángel Samayoa
Advertising and Suscriptions
[email protected]
Copy Editing
Gabriela Mejan Ganem
60
taller méxico
Alejandro Serratos
Publisher
[email protected]
Emmilú López Valtierra
General Manager
[email protected]
Felipe Zúñiga
Copy Editing
[email protected]
The lifestyle Contents
Jorge Silva
Design Director
[email protected]
Ma. Elena López
Design
[email protected]
Juan Pablo R. Valadez
Design
[email protected]
Report
Mazunte
From Turtles to Cosmetics
Piso de ediciones
Vanesa Robles
Senior Writer
[email protected]
56
50 The Lifestyle Briefs
42 Report
the collector’s
wardrobe
Series of Thoughts
Related to Art Acquisition
46 Destination
La Chuparrosa
enamorada
Tasty meets organic
54 Communication
pecha-kucha
Sounds and Whispers
Karla Juárez
Sandra Roblagui
Lucila Valtierra
Mauricio Zabalgoitia
Staff Writers
Proof Reading
And Translation
Lozano Translations
contributors
Jennifer Chan, Santino Escatel,
Fidelia Fadel, Oldemar.
This is an editorial project for ProMéxico
by Taller México & Piso de Ediciones.
ProMéxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of
their economic solvency. Title certificate of lawfulness 008404. Text certificate of lawfulness 5017. Number of Title Reserve 04-2005-11292235400-102.
Postal Registry PP09-0044. Responsible editor: Sebastián Escalante. Printing: Cía Impresora El Universal, S.A. de C.V. Distribution: ProMéxico Camino a
Sta Teresa 1679, México D.F., 01900. Phone: +52 (55) 5447 7000. Negocios is an open space where diverse opinions can be expressed. The institution
might or might not agree with an author’s statements; therefore the responsibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when it
states otherwise. Although this magazine verifies all the information printed on its pages, it will not accept responsability derived from any omissions,
inaccuracies or mistakes. June 2009.
Download the PDF version of Negocios
magazine in www.promexico.gob.mx
and browse throught more information
in the site negocios.promexico.gob.mx
An Amazing Country
One out of every 10 cars sold in the
United States is made in Mexico
Mexico is one of the leading car
manufacturers in the world, in 2008 alone
this industry’s exports exceeded 55 billion dollars.
Last year, Mexico exported 80 million mobile
telephones and manufactured one out of every
four televisions sold in the United States.
In the same period, the country's Information
Technology (IT) industry experienced 15% growth.
It is quickly evolving into Business Procces
Outsourcing (BPO). In Mexico, there are more
than 2,000 companies and 500,000 professionals
specialized in IT.
With more than 190
established companies,
Mexico is the sixth largest
aeroespace industry
supplier to Europe and
the ninth to the United States.
Mexico is one of the world's top ten
tourist destinations. Each year over 21 million
visitors enjoy the 7,000 km of beaches, as well as the
country’s colonial cities and archaeological sites.
Currently there are important infrastructure projects
underway that will help the tourism industry and will
allow Mexico to be the ideal destination for retirees
looking for a second residence or wishing
to settle in the country.
6 Negocios
From the CEO.
Green Mexico
N
early forty years ago, June 5 was
designated as World Environment Day
to contribute to current and future
actions that guarantee the conservation
of the Earth’s natural resources.
Negocios joins this celebration and goes green with this issue.
Mexico, one of the countries privileged for its megadiversity, is
aware of how much it means for humanity to preserve all of its
natural resources.
The country identifies as one of its biggest commitments
to significantly reduce its carbon gas emissions to help
counteract the effects of climate change. Governments, society
and companies throughout Mexico are encouraging initiatives
to promote the well-balanced and sustainable development of
the economy.
In the business world, this commitment translates into unique
opportunities in such sectors as energy production and the
improvement of eco-technologies.
Our current issue presents some of the initiatives that
demonstrate it’s possible to have profitable businesses that
not only respect the environment but also promote the
preservation of natural resources. In our country, there’s
great potential to green businesses with good development
prospects.
Welcome to Mexico.
Bruno Ferrari,
ProMéxico CEO
8 Negocios
illustration oldemar
Clean Investment
Investors seeking opportunities in renewable energy should definitely
consider Mexico. The country has an abundance of renewable power
resources and a keen consciousness of the environmental and social
benefits of alternative energy development.
Mexico’s energy sector is undergoing a profound transformation. The country’s consumption of energy is growing much more
rapidly than in other countries and this has
become an important challenge.
In order to cover this growing demand,
a substantial number of projects will need
to be developed. Among them, generation
of energy through renewable sources arises as a strong alternative to achieving the
country’s energy goals. The Mexican government is planning to increase power generation through renewable energy sources
over the next several years. According to
the National Infrastructure Program, 25%
of the country’s electricity should be generated through renewable energy by 2012.
This means an unprecedented opportunity
for investors.
Given the country’s available renewable energy resources, domestic and international incentives regarding clean energy projects and a recently modified legal
framework, investors seeking opportunities in this kind of energy should consider
Mexico as an option.
Incentives for Investment
Mexico’s law encourages investment in re-
newable energy projects in several ways.
Federal tax laws allow for 100% depreciation in the first year for all renewable
energy capital investment. There is also a
fiscal credit of 30% for research and development of clean technologies.
Mexico’s law encourages
investment in renewable
energy projects in
several ways.
Federal tax laws allow
for 100% depreciation
in the first year for all
renewable energy
capital investment.
There is also a fiscal credit
of 30% for research
and development of
clean technologies.
Another source of incentives is the
Kyoto Protocol, which took effect in 2005
and aims to reduce carbon emissions and
address the problem of global warming.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, Mexico was
designated as an Annex II Country, which
means it is eligible for Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) projects. The objective
of CDM is to displace future carbon emissions by rewarding investors who build
power generation plants or other facilities
using cleaner technology as opposed to hydrocarbons, coal or other fossil fuels that
produce harmful carbon emissions.
In Latin America, Mexico is second to
Brazil in the creation of carbon credits. As
of January 2008, the country accounted for
100 of the nearly 900 CDM projects registered worldwide. About a third of Mexico’s
CDM projects are in the energy sector and
renewable energy projects in the country
account for the largest number of credits
awarded.
Once the Mexican government certifies a project as a CDM, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change has to approve it under the Kyoto
Protocol. Based on the number of carbon
emissions the project avoids by not using
carbon-based fuel, the owner of a CDM
project will earn carbon emission reduction credits. These credits have economic
value that can be monetized and used as a
source of capital for the construction of a
renewable energy project. n
business tips
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[email protected]
+ 52 (55) 5447 70 70
briefs.
services
Leading
provider of
Information
Technology
By 2013, Mexico will be the second leading
provider of IT outsourcing services to the
United States, according to estimates by
CompuCom Mexico.
The capacity of Mexican engineers,
their ability to learn English,
its proximity to the US market, its
customer service culture and peso to
dollar exchange rate are all factors
favoring Mexico.
Photo courtesy of gartner
In an interview with the Mexican daily
“El Financiero,” Luis Roberto Sánchez, general director of CompuCom Mexico, said
that recent studies, like Gartner’s annual
analysis of the 30 leading countries that provide information technology services, place
Mexico among the three leading IT providers in the medium term.
www.compucom.com
energy
Photo courtesy of cfe
New Geothermal
Electricity
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)
has awarded a 58.4 million usd contract to
Alstom Mexico, a subsidiary of the French
group Alstom, for the construction of the
Geothermal Electricity Central Los Humeros II. The facility, located in the state of
Puebla, is guaranteed to generate a net capacity of 25 MW.
Alstom Mexico, which previously constructed the Los Azufres Central in Michoacán, will finish building the new plant in
October 2011.
www.alstom.com
12 Negocios
Photos courtesy of cfe/ge/blackberry
economy
hotels
Mexico, First
Hispanic
Economy
City
Express
Acquires
Credit
Mexico’s buying power ranks it number one
among Spanish speaking countries, including Spain, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mexico is
ranked first among Ibero-American economies and 11th worldwide based on calculations by the IMF. It is ranked higher than
Spain even though that country’s gross domestic product by inhabitant is nearly double
than that of Mexico. The IMF bases its numbers on buying power parity –a system used
to determine the richness economies generate, without the distortions created by price
differences in each country.
www.imf.org
Energy
New Gas
Pipeline in
Manzanillo
A 304 kilometer long gas pipeline that will
supply 500 million cubic feet of natural gas
for 25 years will be constructed in Manzanillo, located in southern Mexico along the
Pacific Coast.
The Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)
awarded the company Transcanada a contract of more than 294 million usd for its construction. The company, through its Mexican
subsidiary Energía Occidente de México, will
also transport natural gas to CFE’s thermoelectric centers in Manzanillo and Guadalajara. This will be done through the natural gas
terminal pipeline that goes from Manzanillo
to Guadalajara.
The pipeline, which will take around 22
months to complete, is one of the electrical infrastructure projects that are currently being
constructed in the country. www.transcanada.com
Mexican hotel chain City Express has obtained credit for the construction of six new
hotels in the country. The group announced
it has a financing program with International
Finance Corporation, which is affiliated with
the World Bank Group. The hotel chain expects to construct 720 new rooms by 2010. It
currently has 4,252 rooms in more than 65
hotels around the country.
www.ifc.org
briefs.
telephone
Chinese Bank Gives
Loan to America Móvil
Telephone company America Móvil has received from the China Development Bank a
1 billion usd loan for the purchase of cellular
network equipment. This is the first loan a Chinese bank has given a Mexican company. The
company, owned by Mexican tycoon Carlos
Slim, is the biggest telephone operator in Latin
America and with its presence in 16 countries is
the fifth biggest in the world.
www.americamovil.com
engineering
GE’s New House
General Electric (GE) in the next few months is
set to build a new Center of Advanced Engineering in Turbo Machines (CIAT). This space will
help promote the development and creativity of
the 1,200 engineers who work in the company.
It will also permit the contracting of 300 more.
The company is allocating 40 million usd
for the center’s construction in Querétaro. GE
is already studying viable land where it can
complete its project, which will have offices,
laboratories, green areas and playgrounds
industrial
over an area of 14,000 square meters.
The goal of this new facility is for company
engineers to have a space that is similar to a
university campus and where they will find
the necessary conditions for the development
of their work. This will be GE’s most important center for the design of airplane motors
and the second most important for the design
of energy industry products. In addition, it
will develop software applications, thermodynamic calculations and components for lubrication systems, among other activities.
www.ciat.com.mx
Mailhot
Debuts
New
Plant
Canadian company Mailhot Industries has
begun operating in the Santa Fe Industrial
Park, located in Puerto Interior at Silao, Gua-
Experience
50 years of experience
5 manufacturing plants in Quebec,
Ontario and now in Mexico
More than 50% of production is
exported to the United States and
countries in Central and South America
Europe is its next objective
najuato. Mailhot manufactures hydraulic,
telescopic and industrial pistons and cylinders. The company invested more than 10
million usd in its new plant, from where it supplies a diverse number of companies from the
automotive and mining sectors and employs
150 people.
www.mailhotindustries.com
14 Negocios
photo archive
Long Life for Water
For CBR Ingeniería, the only thing clearer than water
is reducing contaminants poured down the drain.
By Jennifer Chan
They say water is life and CBR Ingeniería
is betting on a clean rebirth. This novel
100% Mexican firm was formed at the start
of 2008, with the expectation of supplying
solutions on the treatment of water for
companies, hotels, restaurants and homes.
Its base plant is located in Querétaro but it
has the capacity to offer its services in any
part of the country. To date, it has completed more than 90 projects in such places as
Cancún, Aguascalientes, Irapuato, Estado
de México and Mexico City.
CBR Ingeniería uses extended aeration
technology to activate sludge and treat waste-
A Model Home
•
•
•
•
•
•
There are 4 to 5 people living in an average home.
Each person uses an average of 180 liters of water per day.
Just to water a garden, 5 liters per square meter are used.
80% of water used at home can be treated and reused.
A plant that treats wastewater for domestic use has
a daily capacity of 1,000 liters.
100% of treated water can be reused for various purposes.
water. It dates back to the 1970s but, just like
good wine, it has become better with time.
“Modernization permits us to offer a superior product to bad smelling, older plants that
generate waste products which have to be
disposed of,” said Rodrigo Bribiesca Rangel,
sales director for the company.
Today’s plants occupy a third of the
space of their ancestors, don’t generate
sludge or bothersome noise, can be located
below ground and have reduced their costs
and management requirements. They can
be constructed from fiberglass, stainless
or concrete steel, with fiberglass being the
most popular option for smaller plants.
“The treatment of dirty water is really
the same treatment nature has always done
in rivers, lakes and which has infiltrated the
subsoil,” Bribiesca asserted. “What we do is
the same process in less time.”
In considerably less time. With capacities that go from .015 liters of water
per second for a home plant to between
300 and 600 liters of water per second
for so-called large flow plants, all of CBR
Ingeniería’s current projects treat more
article cbr ingeniería
Clean water in five steps The five stages of water treatment
•
•
•
•
•
Conditioning Reactor Bacteria or organic matter is put in a latent state, fostering nourishment in better than normal conditions.
Second Reactor Bacteria is grown and strengthened so it can be reproduced.
Third Reactor Digestion begins. A balance is created where the organic bacteria isn’t fed and starts to eat itself. This is called “bacteria
cannibalism.”
Disinfection Water is disinfected. This can be accomplished through ultraviolet light or a chlorination process similar to what is done
with a swimming pool. The second option is more economical and uses commercial tablets. The first option requires an initial major
investment in costly equipment but has the advantage of an autonomous plant that can be monitored through the Internet.
Return The sludge or leftover flocculent material (undigested bacteria) is returned to the first reactor to repeat the process. This is called
“sludge return” and it is what allows equilibrium between nourishment and organic load.
than 150 million liters of dirty water each
week. It turns the liquid into an optimal
condition so it can be reused in the irrigation of green areas or car washes and
restrooms.
CBR’s plants are designed to comply
with the Official Mexican Standard NOM003-ECOL-1997, issued by the Ministry of
the Environment and Natural Resources
(SEMARNAT). It establishes the maximum pollutants permitted in wastewater
treated for reuse in public services.
The treatment process, regardless the
size of the plant, lasts 18 hours and its average cost is less than 7.5 usd for each 100
cubic meters of water.
Zero Perfect
Recently, the large flow plant installed
by CBR Ingeniería in Cancún obtained
DBO0 certification. This parameter,
related to the biological demand for
oxygen, measures the amount of material susceptible to being consumed or
oxidized by biological means and is used
for determining its degree of contamina-
tion. NOM-003 allows a maximum of 30
milligrams of pollutants for each liter of
water. Cancún’s plant obtained the DBO0
parameter, signifying zero parts per million or zero milligrams of contaminants
for each liter of water. “It’s the first plant
with an attainment of zero,” Bribiesca
informed. “This treated water could be
drinkable, although, clearly, there exists
the taboo that it comes from wastewater.”
Coming Soon
CBR Ingeniería’s future is taking aim
equally at home maintenance and the exploration of new territories. The company is looking to strengthen its presence in
the internal market by developing more
manageable and profitable treatment
plants. At the same time, it’s preparing to
expand operations in Central and South
America.
To reduce costs and decrease the impact on the environment, the company
is exploring renewable energy options.
These include the use of biogas and solar
energy to produce the electricity needed
to operate the plants. Currently, CBR Ingeniería is allocating part of its revenues
to the research and development of such
technologies. But above everything, it is
looking to increase consciousness on the
importance and benefit of wastewater
treatment. “Taking care of the environment is everyone’s concern. We have to
assume a culture in which we take care
of water and with aid of technology contribute to improve the environment condition,” Bribiesca said. n
16 Negocios
infographic oldemar
Environmentally
Friendly Diapers
To help conserve the environment, Grupo Productos Internacionales
Mabe, a Mexican company dedicated to the manufacture of hygienic and
disposable products, is using biodegradable materials to create its diaper
brand “Biobaby.”
By Karla Juárez
A baby needs minutes, and sometimes less,
to dirty a diaper that will take up to 500
years to biodegrade. On average, a baby uses
close to 7,500 diapers during its first three
years of life. In Mexico, about 5 million disposable diapers are consumed each year.
Concerned with the impact these figures can have on the environment, Grupo
Productos Internacionales Mabe, has created the disposable diapers “Biobaby,” which
have a high yield and are made of materials
that biodegrade in about seven years.
The secret of these diapers hides in the
materials used to make them. Most of them
are of natural origin: organic cotton, corn and
potato starch and natural oils. They help in the
diapers’ rapid disintegration.
The company began operations in 1977
in Puebla with the manufacture of sanitary
towels. Five years later, it ventured into the
production and sale of disposable diapers.
Over several years the company focused on
offering comfortable and practical underwear for the little ones. It was also a pioneer
in launching into the market different sizes
for the distinct stages of a baby’s growth. The
company was also the first to offer training pants and it adapted a formula –PRODERM– to help prevent and control chafing.
In 2007, after years of research and invest-
While a disposable diaper is
typically made with a maximum
25% of biodegradable materials,
Biobaby is made with 50%.
ment, it launched Biobaby, a diaper with the
largest number of biodegradable components
in Mexico. This underwear revolutionized a
market that traditionally used materials derived from oil to manufacture diapers. While
a disposable diaper is typically made with
a maximum 25% of biodegradable materials, Biobaby is made with 50%. This product
was born in the company’s plants in Tijuana,
Puebla and Brazil, where technicians and researchers did their homework to create the
first planet-friendly diaper.
tively participates in reforestation programs in
Mexico. For these and other actions, in 2002,
the company was recognized by the country’s
federal environmental protection office.
In 2006, Grupo Productos Internacionales Mabe had revenues of 230 million usd in
Mexico and more than 430 million in the
rest of the world. With Biobaby, Mabe continues looking for the ideal diaper. n
A Compromise with the Environment
In the last 10 years, Productos Internacionales Mabe has invested around 7.5 million usd
in research, equipment, publicity and promotion for its Biobaby line.
Since its start, Mabe has greatly increased its
technological process facilities. The acquisition
of laboratories and factories in distinct parts of
the world, as well as the opening of sales offices
in different countries, has given the company an
important place in the international market for
disposable and hygienic products. It is in addition among the Mexican companies that have
the biggest commitment to the environment.
With six production plants in Latin America, Mabe not only advances its product but also
its labor and preoccupation with the environment. In its policies and processes, it integrates
tools that help reduce the impact its products
have on nature. In addition, the company has
set up systems that allow to reduce its use of
electricity, reuse part of the water it consumes
through an irrigation system and lessen and
control its management of waste. It also ac-
The materials used to make the diaper
have various natural ingredients:
“Recipe”
Organic cotton
A synthetic superabsorbent
center and a natural polymer
starch base
Inner covering with natural fibers
External covering made
of a biodegradable polyethylene
and natural cotton
A skin formula that has
chamomile, ylang-ylang, geranium,
lavender and perfume
The diaper bag is also made
of biodegradable polyethylene
Source: www.biobaby.com.mx
product biobaby
Biobaby
International
Presence
Mabe has six
production
plants
Tijuana
sales offices in
the Americas
and Europe
United States
of America
Spain
Mexico
Portugal
Puebla
Colombia
Peru
Brazil
Uruguay
35
countries
where it has
presence
20%
of its sales
in 2007 were
from exports
Argentina
18.1%
is its share of the disposable diaper
market in Mexico, ranking it among
the top diaper producers in the country.
SOURCE: WWW.GPOMABE.COM.MX
Chile
18 Negocios
Mexico,
A Megadiverse
Country
Mexico is among the most naturally
diverse countries in the world.
This has not only turned the
country into an attractive
destination, it has also encouraged
multiple initiatives to preserve its
natural richness.
By Karla Juárez
Mexico is recognized around the world for
its natural diversity. It ranks fourth on the
list of 12 countries that possess between 60%
and 70% of known animal and plant species. This is due to the country’s large variety
of ecosystems: from deserts and forests to
jungles, coastal and marine areas, including
numerous reef chains.
According to the International Convention
of Wetlands and the Treaty of Ramsar signed
in 1971, Mexico counts with 11 out of the 1,675
world’s most important wetland sites.
Mexico is a megadiverse country, making
it a privileged place to develop productive
activities. The variety of its climates, for example, has enlarged the food industry with
such products as cocoa, tomatoes, prickly
pears and guavas –which play an important
role in the daily diet of millions of people. It
is also a factor that favors the development
of agricultural businesses with competitive
costs and high production levels. Historically,
the country has been one of the main producers of hydrocarbons and today it is one of
the regions with the biggest potential for the
development of alternative energy sources.
Mexico’s natural richness is, without a
doubt, a competitive advantage for the development of successful businesses. But it also
implies an enormous responsibility that calls
on the country to protect and conserve the
diversity that characterizes it.
In the last few years, the world has become more conscious of the need to protect natural wealth to ensure humanity’s
development and, above all, to guarantee
Photos Courtesy of pronatura
its future. Mexico has not withdrawn from
this tendency. Within the country there
are more governmental, social and private
initiatives that look to reorient the use of
resources through sustainable methods and
revert the negative impact that industrial activity, urban development and demographic
growth have had on the environment.
The National Commission of Protected
Natural Areas (CONANP) is in charge of
watching over locations designated as Protected Natural Areas (ANP). These are ecosystems of outstanding biodiversity, considered fundamental for conserving the world’s
environment.
Created in 2000 as an organization decentralized from the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), CONANP’s mission is to preserve the
country’s natural wealth and promote a culture of conservation and sustainable development within every community.
Increasingly it’s the private sector,
through socially responsible Mexican companies, that are fulfilling actions that contribute to social, economic and environmentally viable development. Their activities go
beyond those required by law.
The examples are abundant. In 2000, the
bank Banamex created its own ecological association with the goal of contributing to the
safety of protected natural areas, endangered
species and water. It’s a group committed to
preserving the environment and promoting
sustainable development of communities.
Other companies, like Productos Internacionales Mabe, integrate materials and actions that help reduce their activities’ impact
on nature. These include systems that save
energy, the reuse of wastewater and garbage
management. In 2002, all of these efforts
were awarded by the Federal Attorney’s Office of Environmental Protection, the Mexican government agency in charge of compliance with environmental laws.
In addition Productos Internacionales Mabe,
as well as other companies like Grupo Bimbo
and Wal-Mart of Mexico, have undertaken diverse programs to help reforest the country.
For CONANP, it’s important that all of society’s sectors join the care of the country’s
most representative ecosystems. The agency
is in charge of formulating, promoting, directing, negotiating and supervising programs and projects with this goal. Among
its priority projects is the monitoring and
watching over the biological diversity, the
communities, ecosystems and the natural
changes with ANPs.
Since the 1990s, the Mexican government
and the World Bank have looked for funding
for the conservation of the country’s ecosystems. The Protected Natural Areas Fund
(FANP) was created as part of the Mexican
Nature Conservation Fund.
FANP is funded by endowment monies
and the interest generated each year is used
to support the conservation of Protected
Natural Areas. To date, this fund has 67.7 million usd, obtained mainly through contributions from the Global Environment Facility,
the Mexican government, private foundations and state governments. With these resources, 23 protected natural areas throughout the country are guarded. The fund has
been internationally recognized for its good
quality performance.
Firms involved in the protection of ANPs are
labeled as a “green company” by CONANP. This
is done by printing the company’s name or logo
in one of the agency’s different publications.
The commission can’t directly deduct
taxes for those that participate. But it does
it through the civil associations authorized
by the Ministry of the Treasury and Public
Credit (SHCP) along with SEMARNAT to
work on behalf of the environment, in particular with Protected Natural Areas.
CONANP is hoping that in six years a national system of protected areas made up of
representatives from the government, civil
associations and communities near these
natural environments is consolidated. All of
this actions share the common goal of conserving Mexico’s natural wealth. n
Report Natural resources
Yucatán
The Protected Natural Areas
financially supported by FANP are:
Río Lagartos Biosphere Reserve
Campeche
Quintana Roo
Calakmul Biosphere Reserve
Montes Azules Bisphere Reserve
Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve
Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve
Chiapas
Baja California Sur
El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve
Ocote Jungle Biosphere Reserve
La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve
La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve
El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve
Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve
Baja California
and Sonora
High Gulf of California
and Colorado River Delta
Biosphere Reserve
Morelos
The Plant and Animal Protected
Areas of the Chichinautzin Wild
Biological Corridor and Tepozteco
National Park
Sonora
Chihuahua, Coahuila
and Durango
Plant and Animal Protected Area
of the Gulf of California Islands
The Plant and Animal Protected
Area of Sierra de Álamos-Río Cuchujaqui
Cuenca del Río San Pedro
El Pinacate and Gran Desierto
de Altar Biosphere Reserve
Jalisco and Colima
Chihuahua
Tehuacán-Cuicatlán
Biosphere Reserve
Sierra de Manatlán Biosphere Reserve
The Plant and Animal Protected
Areas of Maderas del Carmen
and Cañón de Santa Elena
Biological Corridors
Flora and Fauna Protected
Area of Cuatrocienegas
Baja California Sur, Sonora,
Sinaloa and Nayarit
Michoacán and Estado de México
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
Mapimi Biosphere Reserve
Puebla and Oaxaca
Coahuila
20 Negocios
Photo ARCHIVE
report mexican coconut
Coconut,
a Star in the
Organic Food
World
Ever since an appetite for organic
products has become more popular
around the world, Mexico’s
production and exportation of
organic coconuts has skyrocketed.
The fruit has become a star in the
country’s food industry.
The demand for organic products has
grown around the world and countries like
Mexico, with a natural richness that expands
from the mountains to the tropics, have headed the exportation of some food products
considered delicacies in other locations.
Coconut is one of them and without a
doubt, it’s a good example of the type of
fruits that have it all: exoticism, flavor, variety
and nutritional properties.
Mexico,
No. 1 in organic coconuts
Mexico has become the top producer of
organic coconuts thanks to the National
Integrator of Coconuts Plus, which in
2008 increased its daily exports from
28,000 to more than 280,000. National
Integrator is an alliance that Audelino
Salgado began with 32,000 coconut producers in the states of Guerrero, Michoacán and Tabasco. These producers have
received organic certification in 80% of
the hectares they have planted.
Source: SAGARPA.
The fruit is rich in fiber, potassium, copper, phosphorus, zinc, folic acid and iron. It
also has high concentrations of vitamin E and
group B, as well as mineral salts and sugars.
If that wasn’t enough, coconut has an easily
extracted oil that contains the highest rate of
saturated fatty acids –the kind that go directly
to the liver instead of the body’s fat areas and
which have cosmetic and medicinal uses like
hair conditioner, skin cell rejuvenator, natural
antibiotic and antiseptic. With all these qualities, it is not surprising the coconut is one of
the trendy fruits in Europe.
Mexico is one of this fruit top sellers and
producers. In response to the growing demand for organic products in international
markets, most coconut production is done
the old-fashioned way, without chemicals or
industrial processes to accelerate its growth.
Organic coconut fields extend over an
area of 80,000 hectares throughout the
country. The state of Michoacán has 60%
of the production, followed by Colima,
Guerrero and Chiapas, Sinaloa, Jalisco and
Campeche.
Since 2006, when several companies from
Michoacán signed important agreements
with companies from the Netherlands, England, Germany and France, exports of ecologically cultivated coconuts from Mexico have
grown with great success. Between 2006 and
2007, the volume of organic coconut exports
went from 9,630 tons to 12,000 tons. Those
exports accounted for 1.9 million usd in 2006;
3.8 million usd in 2007 and 4.86 million usd
in 2008, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Ranching, Rural Development, Fishing,
and Food (SAGARPA).
Also in 2006, the Coconut Palm Product
System was created. It promotes the planning of a chain of 60,000 producers, developers and dealers. Thanks to this chain, most of
the coconut meat sold in the European and
North American markets comes from Mexico. Today, 80% of Mexican organic coconut
exports and their byproducts have destinations like the United States and Canada, with
the rest going to Europe. n
22 Negocios
Organic
Agriculture,
Ecologically
Productive
Worms
The company Fertihumus is proving that chemicals are not required to
fertilize soil. Hundreds of thousands of earthworms are taking care of this
dirty job.
By VANESA ROBLES
Edgar Messina García’s employees are worth
liquid humus. From there, the product is distheir weight in gold. Together they weigh
tributed to Mexico’s main cities and exported
three tons and their daily labor consists of
to Egypt, various countries in the Middle East
providing the main ingredient for the manuand to Hungary in central Europe.
facture of a unique agricultural fertilizer. This
It sounds easy but one most take into
product combats plagues, possesses natural
consideration that Edgar Messina was a civil
antibiotics, restores
engineer who all his
soil’s biological activilife had worked in real
ty, helps establish levestate. Then, six years
An organic company,
els of nitrogen, phosago he told his famby the numbers
phorus, potassium,
ily and friends he was
magnesium and calstarting a new busi6 years in business
cium in the soil and
ness. The responses
doesn’t harm the enfrom nearly everyone
3 tons of earthworms
vironment. It is called
were expressions of
“work” for the company
humus and comes
surprise and disbelief.
from the excrement
Messina had bought
3,500 kilograms
of an annelid that can
a ton of earthworms
of solid humus are
be frightening: the
from an old client who
produced annually
red California earthwas not doing too well.
worm.
“When they of100,000 liters
Fertihumus
is
fered me the business,
of liquid humus are
owned by Messina
I focused more on the
produced annually
and his daughter,
positive aspects than the
Paulina Lisette, both
negative ones. I studied
of whom cannot
the market and discovcomplain about having office claustrophobia.
ered it had potential. I grew it,” Messina recalled.
Their office is La Cofradía ranch, located 20
The next step was to look for certification
kilometers above the town of Comala, on the
that guaranteed the product was absolutely
sides of Volcán de Fuego, a volcano in the state
organic, meaning only natural elements and
of Colima. In the middle of a fairy tale landno manmade or chemical resources were
scape, their company annually produces 3,500
used in its creation. Fertihumus was certikilograms of solid humus and 100,000 liters of
fied by the Italian organization Bioagricert,
Photo ARCHIVE
report ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
24 Negocios
PHOTO ARCHIVE
report ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
according to guidelines from Inputs, an international auditing standard.
On living together with earthworms, there is
not much to say. It’s easier than with other species, including humans. They only need to be in
an adequate location and fed vegetable waste.
Everything happens in river-beds and dirt
furrows that are 1.5 meters by 25 meters. The
worms eat, excrete and reproduce like crazy.
The next stage is more complicated or
at least longer. The excrement has to be humidified, decomposed or ripened for eight
months and then sifted and placed in either
sacks or bioreactors where it is moistened to
remove the liquid.
What’s obtained in the end with solid humus is a material similar to typical humus,
a layer of between 8 and 15 centimeters of
leaves and branches that after tens of years
becomes compost that naturally covers forests and nourishes the regeneration of ecosystems. “Here we obtain the same material, but
we accelerate the time thanks to the earthworms,” said Messina.
If you think you know what earthworm
humus smells like, the answer is contrary to
your preconceived ideas. It is odorless. This
is different from other fertilizers and chemical pesticides, which sometimes affix themselves to the fruits, plants and vegetables.
Using humus is simple. But if someone
asks for advice, the company has a group of
external specialists qualified to do the job.
Endless positive qualities can be listed
about humus. Here is a summary of some of
them: it increases crop production; it doesn’t
burn seeds or crops, even in excessive doses;
it doesn’t attract harmful insects; it retains
humidity at six times its weight; it decompresses clay soils and nourishes sandy ones;
it is totally digestible and nontoxic to plants;
it’s a bioregulator and improves soil; and it
fights fungus and pathogen bacteria, thereby
increasing immunity against plagues.
For insects and harmful fungi that are
more resistant, Fertihumus creates natural extracts from garlic, chili, cinnamon, flor de cempasuchitl (marigold flowers) and higuerilla (fig
tree), according to the company’s information.
In the last six years, Messina has learned
more than ever. “We are finishing off the planet
and it shows. Today we have to look at La Cofradía ranch for the climate that only a few years
ago could be found 20 kilometers below, in Comala. We are on time to revert this,” he reflects.
Maybe we should start with having more
respect for earthworms. n
26 Negocios
photo courtesy of Magnus von Koeller
Monterrey fights
pollution with garbage
The city of Monterrey is not simply throwing away its trash.
Instead, it’s converting it into biogas, which fuels public transportation,
provides illumination for city streets and government offices and also
helps to save the environment.
By VANESA ROBLES
Garbage is what moves the city of Monterrey.
What is considered an ecological toll in other
cities and countries, garbage in the capital
of the northern state of Nuevo León is an alternative for taking care of the environment.
Electric energy used in city subway lines,
public lighting and government agency offices
is generated with biogas, produced with the
city’s decomposed trash.
The project started in 2003, with a 7
million usd investment from the System for
Eco-management and Garbage Processing
(Simeprode), a state agency, and from private company Bioeléctrica de Monterrey.
From that ecological partnership came
Bioenergía de Nuevo León, SA de CV (Benlesa), one of the world’s largest bioenergy
plants and a pioneer in Latin America. This
enterprise has contributed to the reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions in Monterrey
while at the same time lighting up the streets
at night for a city of four million people.
Benlesa provides electric energy to Monterrey’s Water and Drainage Department,
state offices and other government agencies.
Every day the energy generated by Bioenergía is used to feed the metro area’s public
lighting, which remains on from 7:00 p.m.
to 7:00 a.m. It is also used to move the city’s
public transportation system cars, which according to the state ferry 300,000 passengers each day.
The use of biogas will prevent the emission of 2 million tons of carbon dioxide in
Government Offices
with Ecological Lighting
- Metrorrey Collective
Transportation System - City of Monterrey - City of San Pedro
Garza García - City of San Nicolás
de los Garza - City of General
Escobedo - City of Santa
Catarina - City of Guadalupe - City of Apodaca - Monterrey Water
and Drainage - Nuevo León State
Government - Nuevo León Integral
Family Development System -
the next 20 years. This is the main cause
(about 60%) of the greenhouse effect, which
keeps heat closer to the Earth’s surface. This
emission reduction will be due to Benlesa’s
natural gas and fuel savings, which is equal
to removing 150,000 motor vehicles from
Monterrey’s streets.
And everything is being done with a profit. More than 19 million tons of garbage accumulated in the Salina Victoria landfill will
be used to produce biogas for 20 years. This
means investment in the generating plants is
self-sufficient.
The Science of not Polluting
The biogas that lights Monterrey’s metro
area is generated in the city landfill of Salina
Victoria, where the garbage disposed by four
million residents is taken every day. No oxygen is used to decompose the organic trash
deposited here. Instead, methanogenic bacteria, which produces methane gas, is used.
For the extraction of this gas, the company dug several wells connected through
a network of pipes that send the fuel to a
central chamber, where it is conducted to
motors that make the combustion. Through
generators, also connected to the system,
the mechanical energy produced by those
motors is transformed into electricity that is
sent to the city through the Federal Commission of Electricity network. n
source: nuevo león state government
report eco-energy
28 Negocios
photos courtesy of tecnosilicatos de méxico
Reinventing refuse
Tecnosilicatos de México has made managing waste into
a tidy business opportunity.
By Jennifer Chan
When talking about the proverbial dirty job
that someone has to do, companies like Tecnosilicatos de México are taking a clean step
forward in that effort.
The company was started in 2005 with
an initial investment of nearly 400 million
usd from a group of Mexico City businessmen who wanted to promote alternative solutions for the sustainable and comprehensive management of waste.
“We are promoting the closure of all
landfills since it’s been clearly demonstrated
they immediately become a long lasting environmental liability that emit gases leading
to climate change and are unhealthy. They
also emit impurities that contaminate surface waters as well as groundwater, affecting
the health of those living in these areas,” said
Rogelio López López, founding partner, vice
president and director of construction and
operations for Tecnosilicatos de México.
Currently, the company operates in the
metropolitan zone in the Valley of Mexico (in
the Mexico City area). It has 175 direct employees and each day receives more than 1,000
tons of non-hazardous trash. The company anticipates that figure will increase to 4,500 tons
per day by the third quarter of 2009.
The Tultitlán Project
In 2005, the recently started company received much publicity due to its relationship
with the municipal government of Tultitlán,
in Estado de México. The two entities partnered on two projects: the technological
management of an open-air dump that had
been closed for 20 years and the sanitation
of land where a chemical firm had operated.
“Tultitlán had two grave environmental
problems: a dump and the environmental liability of land where the company Cromatos de
México had operated, leaving hundreds of tons
of Hexavalent Chromium in the subsoil and contaminating the water table,” said López López.
After getting an estimate from Tecnosilicatos de México, the municipality’s government had the company sanitize Cromatos
de México’s property and reopen the dump
to transform it into a controlled landfill. But
this had to be done without affecting the municipality’s finances.
The intention was to reduce the percentage of waste located in the landfill and
increase its value by up to 80% through
technology, equipment and industrial processes. The technologies selected for this
goal included the mechanical separation of
trash, and the smashing, mineralization and
gasification of it to create energy.
Investment in this project was nearly 4.3 million usd and in 2009 it’s expected to increase to
10 million usd. To date, the project has created
a controlled landfill with a capacity of 1 million
tons of trash and constructed a conversion plant
that will begin operating in 2009. Currently, a
temporary trash warehouse, with a capacity to
receive 15 million tons in its first stage, is being
built. The facility, set to be completed in 2012,
will work with plants that convert waste.
López commented that after the Tultitlán
project different companies from large metropolitan areas –like Invercoba in Jalisco–,
are looking to duplicate models that comprehensively manage waste and reduce its negative effects on the environment and health.
Looking to the Future
Among the company’s short and medium
term projects are: the daily collection of 5,000
tons of waste from the metropolitan zone of
the Valley of Mexico as well as from regions in
the northern and western part of the country;
the construction of waste conversion plants
that will use 2,500 tons on a daily basis and the
creation of partnerships with leading companies in the cleaning industry.
Other areas Tecnosilicatos de México is
thinking of focusing hard in are the generation
of electricity through thermal processes by using sustainable technology and the creation of
land for agricultural and forestry use through
the mineralization of organic waste.
“Natural resources are finite, the same as fossil fuels,” said López. “Recycling targets all those
potentially reusable materials. The development of technologies, equipment and processes
that eliminate contaminants from harmful
waste cast into the atmosphere, soil and subsoil
can benefit all of us.” n
With a little help from their friends
These are some of the international companies
that have worked with Tecnosilicatos de México
to make trash more useful.
Biogas Technology (England)
Construction of biogas collection wells and
a system for transporting, cleaning and
burning it. The company is also taking part
in the evaluation process for the United
Nation’s Program for the Development of
Cleaning Mechanisms (for the payment
of carbon bonds).
Proleben (Mexico) Environmental
auditoriums, municipal and state projects for
environmental closure and management.
Untha Shreeders (Austria)
Compacting equipment for the appraisal
of waste.
X Products GMBH (Germany)
Technology for the mineralization of
dangerous organic and inorganic waste, and
the creation of glass without contaminants
and that is reusable for different processes.
Imabe Iberica (Spain)
Equipment for plants that select, compact
and crush.
GPEC (Canada)
Gasification and generation of electricity.
Above The rough material at Tultitlán.
entrepreneur mueblekipal
Gardenia Sahagún Ruiz has gone
from business dreams of sending
guacamole to Japan to starting
a company that turned into the
biggest exporter of equipales.
And she is only 25 years old.
By Sandra Roblagui
The Japanese love guacamole. Gardenia Sahagún Ruiz discovered this when she took a
Japanese course. She was a marketing student at the Western Technological and Advanced Studies Institute (Iteso) in Guadalajara
when her entrepreneurial spirit emerged: she
planned to export tons of guacamole to Asia.
But her project soon disappeared. Today, the
25-year-old marketing specialist knows the
entire world loves muebles equipales (leather
covered chairs and other pieces of furniture
created back in the pre-Hispanic era) and she
has become one of its main Mexican exporters.
Her company, Mueblekipal, emerged
in 2005 in association with Basilo Cantor
Hernández. An artisan by heritage, Cantor
Hernández was director of Equipales Corporation, a community cooperative in Zacoalco
de Torres, the birthplace of equipal in southern Jalisco. Today it produces at least 600
pieces –up to 1,000 if necessary– of this type
of furniture each month. They are mostly for
restaurants but a small number are for collections. He participates at exhibitions around the
world and his products are displayed in different cities in Colombia, Guatemala, the United
States and Canada. He has a store in Texas and
sends containers to Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria.
“Equipales are in fashion around the world
and we have much work. In Seville, Spain, for
example, we are going to furnish a franchise
of 10 restaurants,” Sahagún Ruiz commented.
She is grateful for the “coincidence” that made
her change her entrepreneurial goal from exporting guacamole to Mexican furniture.
In 2005, while still a student, her obsession with guacamole took her to a business
planning course sponsored by Iteso’s Young
Business Office. “During the workshop, I
discovered that making the salad would be
more expensive than what Japan was prepared to pay for it. I was disappointed but I
decided to stay in the course because I had
already paid for it. Since I didn’t have a proper project, I offered to help an engineer who
had a project to produce equipales.”
During a visit to Zacoalco, Sahagún Ruiz
decided to export equipales and registered her
project at the university’s business incubator.
Surprise!
According to her project, she would have her
first sale in three months. Thus, in 2005, after
only knowing the Mexican furniture market,
she participated at Guadalajara’s Expomueble
Fair with a small sample of equipales.
Some Austrian furniture buyers became interested in the products and wanted to see more
so they could send back a medium sized container to their home country.
Her university’s business incubator helped
her figure out that 150 pieces of furniture could
fit in a container. But the problem was she didn’t
have 150 pieces made, not even in her wildest
dreams. “I only learned about equipales three
months before!” she said. She went back to the
business incubator, where she discovered she
was in luck. They put her in contact with the
Equipales Corporation: a cooperative born a
few years before thanks to Iteso.
It was a Friday. The following Sunday Sahagún Ruiz needed to have everything ready
and take the Austrian clients to Zacoalco so
they could see “their” production. On her free
day, she had to choose and prepare the exhibition of the pieces she would export, make
agreements with the artisans and investigate
what she would need for exportation.
Everything came out perfect that day; so
much so that the young woman, then only 22
year old, lost her fear of international trade.
Since then, much has happened. The best
has been the annual exportation of 2,500 pieces,
close to 36% of Mueblekipal’s commercial production. In addition, she partnered with Basilio
Cantor Hernández, “Mexico’s best artisan”, and
they decided to establish an independent workshop of 10 workers. During busier periods, they
work with five other workshops in Zacoalco. Sa-
hagún Ruiz is in charge of sales, Cantor Hernández of production and another partner, Óscar
Sotelo takes care of exports.
— What were the keys to success?
— The main thing was I believed in the idea.
Then I consolidated my relationship with
Equipales Corporation to better organize production, followed up with clients and worked
to have more buyers. It’s essential working
with new technologies. Last week, I sent a container to Sicily, Italy. I don’t know my clients
and they don’t know me. But both of us trust
the Internet. They got their products delivered
and I promptly received 3,500 euros.
Another golden rule is innovation, Sahagún
Ruiz said. There will always be clients who buy
the most traditional things, even when there are
new things in your catalogue. Innovation moves
equipales throughout the world because the
production level as a whole is what distinguishes
a company from others. One of the most important lessons is listening to what the clients want;
their needs tell what the seller needs to do. Another lesson: having people capable of doing this.
The next key is returning to nature what you
have borrowed from it. Some of the essentials to
make equipales are sweetwood and rosewood,
a tree with dry branches but a beautiful orange
vein in the center. To avoid the depletion of these
resources, Mueblekipal reforests an area of
nearly four hectares. “Our intention is not to cut
down the trees but only their branches, which is
equivalent to trimming them.”
Among all these rules, Sahagún Ruiz has a
main one: “Never think about taking advantage
of anyone and work with honesty.”
— What happened in the end
with guacamole?
— Guacamole can wait! n
www.equipalrestaurantero.com
Photo courtesy of mueblekipal
The story of a
young woman
who planted
guacamole
and harvested
furniture
30 Negocios
photo courtesy of pronatura
21st Century
Mexico Forest Expo
Strengthening
the green Sector
Thanks to its growing number of exhibitors, buyers, visitors and multiple
focused businesses, the 21st Century Mexico Forest Expo is recognized as
the most important event of its kind in the country. Its impact and prestige
surpasses national borders.
By conafor
Mexico City will host the seventh edition of the
21st Century Mexico Forest Expo. It is an event
designed to strengthen the sector through: the
creation of effective businesses; the promotion
and sale of products, raw materials, machinery and equipment; and the exchange of ideas
such as the generation of new strategies to integrally increase competition in the country’s
forest industry.
The expo will take place at Centro Banamex
in Mexico City from September 24 through
September 26. It is sponsored by the National
Forest Commission (CONAFOR), the Ministry
of Economy and ProMéxico. Its objective is to
expand the possibilities of the forest production chain on a national and international scale.
More than 60,000 visitors and more than 450
exhibitors are expected to attend the expo,
which is taking place in a 16,000 square foot
area that will also include meeting rooms for
national and international businesses.
Business Meetings
During the expo’s three days, intense commercial activity takes place on the exhibition floor,
much like an international business meeting.
Investors, producers, representatives from
state governments and institutions can explore
new business opportunities and have direct
contact with each other.
The Expo’s 2009 edition will intensely promote private investment in commercial forest
plantations, with the goal of strengthening this
alternative for the country’s timber production.
It will also establish commercial agreements for
future transactions with possible buyers.
Technical Program
An essential part of the event is its technical program, which includes masterful and thematic
conferences, forums and technical meetings.
These activities are directed at foresters, private
businesses, community groups, public institutions, researchers and other professionals related
to the sector.
International organizations focused on environmental and forest issues like the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO), the World Bank and the US Forest Service
will participate, as well as prominent specialists
and representatives from different countries.
The Forest Expo is the best setting for
forest-based businesses and for the diversification of the catalog for suppliers and buyers of services, raw materials, equipment and
machinery for the sector.
Exports of wood, charcoal and timber
products (in millions of dollars).
2000 - 519.5
2001 - 389.0
2002 - 358.6
2003 - 331.2
2004 - 381.2
2005 - 408.4
2006 - 467.9
2007 - 422.1
2008 - 389.3
source: world trade atlas,
2009.
High potential for forest activity
'
In Mexico, forest activity has a strategic plan for its sustainable development. It makes up around 11.5% of the
Gross Domestic Product of the agricultural, forester and fishing sectors
and it generates close to 300,000 jobs
in the country.
Mexico ranks 12th in the world in size
of forest areas –64 million hectares of
forests and jungles. It is 26th in timber production, churning out around
7 million cubic meter rolls each year.
It’s estimated that 21 million hectares
of native forests and jungles have
industrial timber potential. Of this
amount, between 6 million and 7 million hectares are being managed for
commercial use. An alternative way to increase timber
production in the medium term is the
use of commercial forest plantations.
There are about 11 million hectares of
agricultural land with the potential to
be converted for this purpose.
For more than a decade, the Mexican
government, private investors, financial and forestry institutions have
promoted the establishment of commercial forest plantations to reach
production levels that respond to
market needs.
l
In 2008, the main foreign market
for Mexican forest products was
the United States, with 92% of the
exported value that year. That was
followed by the Dominican
Republic- 2.3%, Guatemala- 1.4%
and Peru- 0.64%.
That same year, total imports of timber products in the United States was
14.1 billion usd; in Japan they reached
11.2 billion usd; and in Canada they
rose to 3.1 billion usd.
report forest expo
Edition
Number
of Exhibitors
Number
of Visitors
Participating
Federal Entities
Technical
Events
Total Amount of Sales
(millions of dollars)
2003
2004
2005
200
280
329
14,000
13,690
17,950
27
30
31
11
23
35
.37
.35
.38
2006
335
13,000
31
28
.40
2007
2008
443
474
15,603
18,717
32
32
19
49
5.6
7.5
Location
Expo Guadalajara Jalisco
Expo Guadalajara Jalisco
Convention and Expo
Center of Morelia
World Trade Center
Veracruz
Expo Guadalajara Jalisco
Expo Guadalajara Jalisco
*calculated values based on the bank of mexico’s fix exchange rate from june 3, 2009: 13.3 pesos per dollar. www.expoforestal.com
photo courtesy of green roof systems de méxico s.a de c.v.
32 Negocios
cover feature green roofs
Green
Roof Effect
Seen from the air, Mexico City is an endless urban mosaic.
José Antonio Flores had observed the scene many times.
Until one day he imagined it green.
Efecto Verde (Green Effect), a civil association that promotes eco-friendly projects, is
creating gardens in buildings throughout
Mexico. Thanks to a benefit plan for all the
companies or individuals involved, the association has made possible a novel and economical system to create green urban areas.
As a postgraduate student in sustainable
urban planning at University of Ferrara in
Italy, Flores led a research based on the concept of “urban symbiosis,” which examines
the correlation between the energy used by a
city and what it gives back to its surroundings.
The formula seems simple but the result tends to erase any optimism. Ideally, a
large city should return to its surroundings
as much energy –or even more– as it consumes. Very few cities reach this balance and
the majority doesn’t even get close.
From that research emerged a strategic
plan for the “economical-urban-environmental regeneration” of the country’s capital
that aims to place vegetation on 40% of Mexico City’s metro zone by 2030. This would
be 590 square kilometers of the more than
1,480 occupied by the metropolis.
The strategy to reach this goal is easy:
create corridors of vegetation through the
city by designing nature areas on buildings,
better known as green roofs.
According to figures from the National
Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)
the population of the Mexico City metro
area in 2005 reached more than 19 million
residents. That same year, the city had more
than 2.5 million homes, which for green roof
enthusiasts represent fertile ground to create little natural environments that counteract the negative effects of urban growth,
reduce the heat island effect and substantially improve the quality of air breathed in
the city.
The idea to create nature zones on buildings is not new. Since the 1970s, countries like
Germany, Canada and Japan have promoted
this activity as an alternative to reducing environmental problems in urban zones.
In Tokyo, for example, they plan to cover
1,200 hectares of roofs with vegetation by 2011.
This will, according to the city’s government, help
reduce the metro area’s average temperature by
one degree centigrade. In Germany, the world’s
34 Negocios
Efecto Verde will take part in
creating close to 4,000 square
meters of green roofs at the
Iberoamericana University, in the
Santa Fe zone, and the Children’s
Papalote Museum.
photo courtesy of Efecto verde
cover feature green roofs
biggest supporter of this activity, the number of
ecological roofs went from 9 million square meters in 1994 to around 15 million by 2004.
The greening of roofs is rooting around
the world. Besides the environmental benefits this activity has demonstrated, creating
gardens on building roofs brings multiple
economic and social benefits.
According to international studies, a
green roof on average increases the commercial value of properties by 15%. It also translates into significant savings in the consumption of electrical energy by reducing the heat
island effect and the use of air conditioning
systems. It also results in property management saving as a green roof needs to be rain
proved only once every 35 years.
Green roofs arrived in Mexico in 1999
with a project promoted by the Biology
Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Natural
Resources Commission of the Mexico City
government. With financing from Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, this project installed the first green roof in the country on
one of the buildings of the Biology Institute’s
botanical garden.
Currently, even though green roofs are not
a new practice and their benefits have been
proven, the cost of a rooftop garden continues
being high for the general public. The cost is
close to 100 usd per square meter, in addition
to the monthly maintenance costs.
There are some companies in the country dedicated to the design, development and
installation of green roofs. In Mexico City
there is Green Roof Systems of Mexico. It has
been responsible for projects like the roof of
The novelty
of Efecto Verde
The group uses containers
with a novel design that is
practical for greening Mexico
City’s structures.
The containers are manufactured
with 100% recycled plastic.
For the production of the flower
pots, Efecto Verde receives
donations of recycled trash.
Six containers are required
to cover a one square meter area.
Their installation doesn’t
require special preparations nor
specific structural conditions.
The area where these nature
zones are placed is calculated
based on the structural capacity
of each building and the only
requirement is the waterproofing
of the roof.
For each square meter
of area covered with this system,
33 liters of rainwater is stored
and not sent into the
drainage system.
The average cost with Efecto
Verde’s system is from 60 usd
per square meter.
HSBC’s corporate building in Mexico City; the
ecological development of Grupo San Carlos
in Zapopan, Jalisco; and the Steel Museum
at the Foundry Worker’s Park in Monterrey. In Guadalajara, Jalisco, Idea Consultoría
Ambiental offers its counseling services for
the design and installation of these gardens.
However, so far only a few companies and
individuals have been inclined to make the
investment.
Nevertheless José Antonio Flores’ project
has converted green roofs into a viable practice.
The key to reaching the project’s goal of
“economical-urban-environmental-regeneration” in Mexico City is a system of natural
spaces that considerably reduces the installation and maintenance costs of a green roof
and a promotion plan that allows those interested to recoup the biggest part of their
investment by making it tax deductible.
The young architect designed a system
that reduces by up to 40% the cost of installing and maintaining a green roof so to make
its use more common.
This system is based on the use of plastic containers that don’t require any special
preparation to be placed. It’s also based on
waterproofing the area and minimum maintenance.
Six of these containers, manufactured
with 100% recycled plastic, cover an area of
a square meter. For each square meter made
natural with this system, 33 liters of rainwater are stored, which brings additional benefits. These include reducing maintenance,
avoiding the channeling of waters into drainage systems and the evaporation of water
and its return to the environment. Based
36 Negocios
on this, it’s estimated that at the end of this
green roofs project in Mexico City, around 9
million cubic meters (9 billion liters) of rainwater will be stored each year.
The manufacture and greening of these
containers will also have important economical benefits for the city. Plastic waste generated by businesses and homes in the city are
used to create them.
The plants used in green roofs are cultivated and grown in these containers, increasing their chances of survival. They are
fertilized with compost created by organic
waste produced in the city. In addition,
plants that have been adapted to the environmental conditions of the region are used,
which makes the project self-sustained.
Mexico City uses plant species that are
produced in the Xochimilco lake zone, located south of the metro area. This will help
promote the economic revitalization and
conservation of Xochimilco’s chinampera
(or floating gardens) zone, which in 1987 was
declared Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO. Agricultural production will count on
advice from UNAM’s botanical garden. The
plants’ lives are guaranteed for one year.
To close this virtuous circle, the commu-
photo courtesy of idea/green roof systems de méxico s.a. de c.v.
nity association Efecto Verde was founded in
2007 and is in charge of executing the strategic plan designed by Flores.
In 2008, Efecto Verde formed an alliance
with Ecological Promotion Banamex –an
institution created by the Administrative
Counsel of Banco Nacional de México (Banamex) to contribute to the preservation and
restoration of the environment in the country. From this alliance came the Green Effect
Environmental Fund (FAEV), a subsidiary
account to finance projects that support the
integration of eco-technologies such as green
roofs in urban buildings.
FAEV operates on donations from individuals and businesses. These donations
have two features: they can be “tagged” and
they are tax deductible.
Therefore, a company can request to use
their donations to create green roofs in a
specific site or zone in the city. Donations can
also be deducted from income tax payments.
In addition to the fiscal advantages that
would come from financing the installation
of green roofs on their buildings or the zones
where they operate, companies that participate in this project would have access to
other benefits. These include energy use sav-
Some benefits from green roofs:
Environmental
•
Vegetation from building roofs captures suspended particles in
the air –such as lead– that attach themselves to the plants and don’t go back
into the atmosphere.
•
Absorbs carbon dioxide and creates oxygen.
•
Decreases the heat island effect and the production of ozone.
•
Retains rainwater for its subsequent evaporation.
•
Reduces flooding problems in drainage systems saturated
by rainwaters.
Economical
•
Energy savings from reduced use of air conditioning systems.
•
Reduction in building operation and maintenance costs.
•
Noise insulation for the interior of buildings.
•
Increase in building property values.
Social
•
Green roofs transform the urban landscape and have a positive effect
•
on the daily lives of individuals.
•
They contribute to improving social coexistence and reducing the
stress levels.
•
They don’t alter the physical structure or the proper dynamism at urban centers.
ings, being socially responsible (which helps
attract investors), establishing alliances with
companies from other countries, having access to sources of financing and being certified as a green company. But the important
benefit is giving back to their surroundings
a bit of what has been provided to them for
the development of their businesses.
Under this effort, Efecto Verde will take
part in creating close to 4,000 square meters
of green roofs at the Iberoamericana University, in the Santa Fe zone, and the Children’s
Papalote Museum. For the bicentennial celebration of Mexico’s independence in 2010,
70% of Mexico City’s historic center will
have green roofs. These are the first steps in
reaching the ambitious goal of transforming
the face of the country’s capital.
While Efecto Verde’s main project is the creation of green roofs in Mexico City, many of its
operations, like FAEV, are national in scope. The
effort to cultivate green roofs in urban zones can
be replicated in any city of the country.
Also, the technology used by the association can be exported. Flores knows the green
roof effort they have used to promote participation can turn into a reference to support
similar projects in other latitudes.
Some companies dedicated to the production and distribution of construction materials have shown an interest in selling, both in
Mexico and abroad, the containers designed
by Flores. This would help extend the greening of buildings under this novel system.
By 2030, Efecto Verde expects to have
green roofs in 40% of the structures in the
Mexico City metro zone. It’s an ambitious
goal but one the association will not carry
out alone. Improving the quality of life in cities is a dream shared by many. n
special report Certified Forestry Companies
Productivity
and Protection
of Forests,
Under the
Same Seal Private companies and
government agencies in
Mexico are working
together to ensure the
country’s development
and use of its forest
resources is done in a
sustainable way.
Sustainable Production
On average, national production of wood is
approximately 7 million cubic meter rolls
each year. The majority of this production is pine wood. Only 5% is from tropical
wood. The National Forestry Commission
(CONAFOR), a Mexican agency in charge
of managing the country’s forest resources,
estimates this activity generates around
300,000 jobs. According to figures from this
governmental agency, five states are responsible for about 70% of the country’s wood
photo courtesy of conafor
From environmental, economic and social
perspectives, forestry activity is strategic for
Mexico. The country’s forests and jungles
occupy an area of approximately 65 million
hectares, which are home to a great diversity
of species that are relevant worldwide. In addition, 13 million to 15 million people live there
and these forests’ resources are an important
source of income for those individuals.
Today, there are strong social and governmental initiatives that promote the production and consumption of certified forest
products. This has led to a growing number
of public and private companies that have a
clear environmental responsibility. Over a decade ago, Mexico adopted forestry certification as an instrument to guarantee the conservation of woods through the
sustainable use of their resources, mainly
timber.
38 Negocios
production: Durango (26.6%), Chihuahua
(18.5%), Michoacán (9.4%), Oaxaca (7.5%)
and Jalisco (6%).
Of the country’s wood production, approximately 15% comes from property that
has been certified by the Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC). The Rainforest Alliance, the
main certifier in Mexico, estimates the commercial volume of certified wood products in
2008 was 787,763 cubic meters, representing
total sales of more than 100 million usd.
In addition, 18 companies from diverse
regions in the country have chain of custody certification to sell wood in rolls, wood
sawed-off in small and large dimensions,
platforms, squared for broom handles, packing boxes, pilings, stakes and supports. All
together, these certified companies in 2008
used 30 million planks and 33,548 cubic meters of wood in rolls, representing a total of
175,770 cubic meters of certified wood. This
is equivalent to 32% of the country’s total
certified volume. The rest, 535,679 cubic
meters, is sold in generic markets.
A Push to Forestry Certification
Those mindful that the sustainability of for-
photo courtesy of conafor
estry certification –which occurred in 1995–
depends in large part on the development of
the internal market have accomplished important efforts to promote the creation of a
solid market for these certified products.
Currently, companies like the Indigenous
Community of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro in the state of Michoacán produce furniture
with certified wood. This company sells 95% of
its production to El Palacio de Hierro, one of the
country’s main department store chains.
Companies in Zapoteca communities in
Ixtlán de Juárez, Pueblos Mancomunados
and Santiago Textitlán in the state of Oaxaca,
are suppliers of furniture for schools in their
state’s public education system.
In 2007, a significant advance in the construction of a market for certified forestry
products was a decree that requires federal
government organizations to buy only wood
products and furniture from companies that
sell such goods.
Forestry Certification
Forestry certification is a process to guarantee
that products originate from managed forests:
meet adequate environmental standards, are
economically viable and socially beneficial.
It’s a voluntary auditing system that is developed in two spheres: forest management
and the chain of custody of forest products.
Forest Management Certification is a
type of certification that involves the auditing of companies to verify that forests are being managed according to the standards established by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Chain of Custody Certification involves
the evaluation of the production line, from
the tree to the creation of the final product
in order to verify the wood being used comes
from a certified forest.
Forestry certification seals inform consumers that wood products being offered
are certified and originate from a forest
managed under technical, environmental
and socially accepted conditions. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
is an institution that accredits independent
organizations and issues them certifications.
FSC promotes sustainable forest management that is responsible, socially beneficial
and economically viable. This is done through
the verification of a series of principles and
criteria related to forest management. n
special report Certified Forestry Companies
A Model Forest
Company
The communal landowners
of El Balcón, in the state of
Guerrero, have consolidated a
powerful company that respects
the environment. Today, this
cooperative is an example of
responsible productivity and
management of forest resources
The cooperative El Balcón, located in the
town of Ajuchitlán del Progreso in Tierra
Caliente, Guerrero, has managed to consolidate one of the most productive forest industries in southern Mexico.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the government-based forest company Vicente
Guerrero was in charge of the area’s forest
resources. In 1987, the community took the
A business with
strong roots
El Balcón manages forests that cover
an area of 16,065 hectares.
Its main activity is cutting
down pine-wood. It produces
close to 26,000 cubic meter
rolls each year. Its annual sales are more
than 2.6 million usd. Of this
amount, around 15% is allocated
for social programs in the
community, which has 836
inhabitants.
It exports between 40%
and 50% of its annual
production, which represents
60% of its total sales.
reins and became the main industrial producer of wooden boards as well as the first
with an agrarian administration. But after
1989, it was run more as a business.
Under this plan, El Balcón raised its extraction, transportation and sawmill capacities and improved its marketing strategies.
This helped it position its products in both
national and international markets.
In January 2003, El Balcón obtained the
Good Forest Management certification from
Smartwood, an entity coordinated by the Rainforest Alliance and approved by the Forest
Stewardship Council. In 2004, El Balcón also
received the Chain of Custody certification.
With these qualifications, the cooperative
was recognized for complying with federal
and state laws regarding forest materials and
the environment. Thanks to the assembly’s
control of forest activities, there is no illegal
logging in this area. The company’s development has brought important benefits to the
community, like the creation of jobs and investment in social programs. n
40 Negocios
Negocios figures
Biodiversity
in Mexico
ONLY 12 COUNTRIES CONTAIN BETWEEN
60% AND 70% OF THE PLANET’S
BIODIVERSITY, THUS EARNING THE
HONOR OF BEING CALLED MEGADIVERSE.
MEXICO IS ONE OF THEM.
IN MEXICO, 12 OUT
OF EVERY 100
KNOWN SPECIES
IN THE WORLD
CAN BE FOUND.
MORE THAN
40% OF MEXICAN FLORA IS
EXCLUSIVE TO
THE COUNTRY.
Ecologic Zones in Mexico
Eco Zone
Area*
Dominant Vegetation
Tropical Humid
22
Tropical evergreen forests and savannas
Tropical Sub-humid
40
Deciduous forests
Temperate Humid
1
33
Pine-Oak and mixed forests
Arid and Semiarid
99
Shrub and Grassland
250
2,400
900
4,900
3,600
Source: National System of Environmental and Natural Resources Information, Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources
Number of species
in Megadiverse Countries
Flora
Brazil
Colombia
China
Mexico
Australia
Amphibians
Some plants originating from Mexico
Main Use
55,000
516
Colombia
407
358
282
270
Mexico
Indonesia
Reptiles
Mexico
Green Manure
Nourishment
45,000
30,000
26,000
25,000
Brazil
Ecuador
Drink
707
597
529
462
433
Condiment
Indonesia
519
Mexico
439
421
410
409
Stimulant
Fiber
Australia
Indonesia
Brazil
India
Mammals
infographic oldemar
Flora endemits
5,000
6,000
3,000
7,000
6,000
Mixed forests
Temperate Sub-humid
*Millions of hectares
Flora species
Brazil
China
Zaire
Source: Mittermeier, R. and C. Goettsch/Mexico before
the challenges of biodiversity/Conabio, Mexico, 1992.
Gum
Wax
Decorative
Pigment
Name
Guaje Leucaena
Avocado
Cocoa
Pumpkin
Sapodilla
Bean
Guava
Jícama
Tomatoes, Red Tomatoes
Corn
Mexican Hawthorn
Green tomato, tomato rind
Prickly pears and their fruit
Maguey cenizo, maguey del cerro
Maguey mezcalero, maguey espadín
Maguey tobalá
Maguey pulquero, ixtle
Maguey tequilero, maguey azul
Annatto
Chili, chili ancho, serrano, jalapeño and others
Vanilla
Tobacco, yetl (Aztec name for tobacco)
Cotton
Henequen (an agave)
Gum and Sapodilla
Catkin
Marigold (flower of the dead)
Poinsettia
Anil
Source: Conabio
The lifestyle
In Favor
of Nature
T h e Complete Guide of the Mexican Way of L i fe .
Report
Photo Courtesy of MuAC - UNAM
The Collector’s
wardrobe
A Series of Thoughts
Related to Art acquisition
6
p. 42
p. 60
42 Negocios i The Lifestyle
The
Collector’s
Wardrobe
Negocios suggests Guillermo
Santamarina, curator manager
of the University Museum of
Contemporary Art (MUAC)
at the National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM),
a series of ideas and thoughts
related to art acquisition
By santino escatel
Currently, MUAC’s works are facilitated
thanks to three cultural systems: the first
one is the university heritage, with works acquired by a committee designated expressly
for this goal. The second is made up of 128
works from international artists bestowed as
long-term loans by Patrick Charpenel. The
third integrates works by 16 prestigious artists from around the world that the Corpus
Contemporary Art Collection, A.C. lent to
the museum for its housing and exhibition.
Collecting
Art is a reflection of lively times. It focuses pleasures and definitions on individual existence,
on the existence shared between two people
(memory of seductions), configuring family living (inheritance of likes), ranking coincidences
in style. It is the materialization of illusions,
spiritual victories, aesthetic arguments, the
terrors and the productive spare time of the
social fabric. Collecting, just like creating art,
is an eternal goal or an adventure you keep
returning to. If you collect art, you keep confirming the extent of your soul, without leaving
your home. By collecting you are also planting
seeds. You determine economic investment
and open conversational themes.
Criteria for forming a collection
Like everything, collecting is accompanied
by experience and experimentation. The criteria that guide the exercise are as abundant
photo courtesy of muac by barry domínguez
report guillermo santamarina
44 Negocios i The Lifestyle
as individuals. Affection or affectations are
sustained. In those cases, impartial subjectivity doesn’t even matter, and consequently
neither the wandering path. Every honest
collector finds his path, his sources and his
niches that best suit him. Molds, protocols, negotiations, and above all proposals are more
complex when the chase is distinguished (or
negotiated) by more than one person. More
complex networks emerge because of reasons of speculation, valuation and location of
works that make up a cultural heritage. These
come from their effectiveness in the projection of a corporate image or consistency on
the dictation of aesthetic control.
Defining a good collection
I will begin my answer from the most republican and representative criteria: a good col-
photo courtesy of muac by barry domínguez
lection brings together indisputable works of
artists who are undoubtedly important for it
and for the great social body.
Another compromise expresses the importance of works based on the institutional
prominence of their creators, works that
resignify historical contexts and those that
signaled the aesthetic discourse of periods
within the national culture. Cooperative collections tend to establish a fruitful investment
in the medium and long term. There are
others, however, that confuse the projection
of art in public conditions and are victims of
land speculation or political dystrophy.
Private collections usually are guided by
taste and their owners decide if the results
are good or bad. Some of these are considered
good by consensus for having discovered early
on talent that in the end was recognized. Oth-
ers were recognized for having supported a
stylistic movement or new technological methods that encourage the creative expression.
A good collection should have:
Coherence
The signatures are no more relevant than
the works. The decorative qualities also
can’t be privileged. In the case of public collections, the vision has to obviously be wellbalanced and intentions have to be based on
institutional responsibility.
Tendency, technique/support
The fascination with new forms of creativity
sometimes has triumphant discoveries that are
immediately positioned in history. It can also
cause enormous mistakes and irreparable dam-
report guillermo santamarina
age. Here, coherence counts for much. But personally, I prefer to nurture adventure and risk.
Close to collecting emerging artists
Finding success as a collector of works by
emerging artists takes one to noble and lucrative pleasures. Acquiring works that way can
be seen as a philanthropic and generous gesture. Those who take on this exercise participate in fortunate bets, a luxury few assent to.
MUAC’s collection
The university’s collection establishes its
institutional parameters in the acquisition,
custody and exhibition of excellent works of
art, created in a specific period and fundamental to the modern complexion of UNAM.
It is responsible for the institutional capitulation that recognizes and rewards creativity
that other governmental outlets have left and
continue leaving outside of our nation’s cultural course. It also embraces the expression
founded in the interdisciplinary and in the
extraordinary. Also, it favors national talent
and university graduates over the works of
foreign artists, internationally approved firms
and the maneuverings of artists legitimized
by political favor or social advantages.
Individual exhibitions at MUAC
Exhibitions of works of a single artist that take
place in this museum will be of international
figures whose works establish a link with the
central thematic points that guide their cycles.
Accepting gifts or
works donations for MUAC It can’t be done. All works proposed for inclusion in the university’s museum collection are
subject to evaluation and judgment from experts (curators, artists and university employees) and academics that form two committees
focused on this exercise.
Finding good works
The best, the most successful and the most
logical of those nominated lay the foundation for the construction of an institutional
collection. Such parameters are not exclusive of tough critic manifestations, or those
that might break the law. And there are also
experimenters who encourage new models,
languages and technology for artistic expression. They are also not discriminated by age,
sex, sexual orientation, social status, etc. Certain techniques are also not given preferential treatment. n
46 Negocios i The Lifestyle
photo Courtesy of ayuntamiento de culiacán by fernando haro
destination bacurimi, sinaloa
La Chuparrosa
Enamorada,
where Tasty
meets organic
La Chuparrosa Enamorada is a country-like restaurant
in the northern state of Sinaloa. Menu offers traditional
dishes, which strive to be natural and organic without
sacrificing the rich flavors of this vibrant cuisine. It is served
in an eco-friendly setting that blends with the region’s
traditions and natural settings.
In the northern city of Culiacán, Sinaloa,
there is a family making history, and making
it deliciously. Jorge Peraza and his three sons
are preparing organic, eco-friendly northern
Mexican food. La Chuparrosa Enamorada
serves meals tourists will remember forever
and local costumers can often indulge in but
without the guilt.
In the outskirts of Culiacán, there is small
rural town called Bacurimí, where Peraza
grew up. In the family home –next to the
Rosales Canal– they used to call “el rancho”,
corn was abundant and an ever-present part
of Peraza’s life.
“The first lighting of the oven to make
‘pan de mujer’ (a local type of bread) was
frequently baked with corncob. When the
donkeys couldn’t perform their breeding
duties, grandfather would order: rub their
ears with the biggest corncob and see how
it doesn’t fail to solve the impotency problem,” Peraza remembered. He even calls
his hometown “Bacurimí de los Olotes” (Bacurimí of the Corncob).
Peraza’s love for corn –a key staple in Mexican cuisine– has prompted him to include it
in the meals served at La Chuparrosa.
In that little ranch next to the river where
Peraza grew up La Chuparrosa now sits. It
is an outdoor restaurant with many moods
and many flavors. Peraza started it in 2003
with the idea of serving fresh food with
his mother’s original recipes. Everything
in La Chuparrosa is made on-site inside of
fireplaces. “It’s the old style. No cans are
opened,” described Jorge Peraza Sato, the
founder’s eldest son, “The eggs come from
hens raised and kept in the back of the
ranch; the jocoque (dry yogurt), cream and
ice cream are made in the creamery, right
next to where people enjoy their dinners;
and the bread and tortillas are baked there.”
More than organic, they like calling their
cuisine slow cooked, fresh or natural food.
“I’m not sure if we are considered organic. We are definitely eco-friendly,” said the
young Peraza. “We don’t open a Maggi sauce
“I’m not sure if we are
considered organic. We are
definitely eco-friendly,”
said the young Peraza.
48 Negocios i The Lifestyle
or Worcestershire bottle. We grind our corn.
We make beef consomme. Our hens aren’t
stressed out to make them produce eggs.
Our hens sleep at night and live during the
day. They are free.”
“Our roosters fight with the sparrowhawks
so they won’t eat the chickens,” he added, “I
have seen sparrowhawks come down to take
the chickens and the roosters kicking them
out. That is more than organic, that is real.”
Going to the restaurant is like having a
natural, ecological experience. The main
terrace of La Chuparrosa reminds one of a
country restaurant full of Mexican kitsch ornaments. Each table displays a painting of a
“Art and culture is the way
we want to relate to the community,”
Peraza said.
photo Courtesy of ayuntamiento de culiacán by fernando haro
Mexican icon, from folk singer Pedro Infante
among other fixtures of Mexican pop culture. From there, costumers can see the outdoor kitchen, with women making tortillas
and offering visitors freshly made salsas.
Venturing farther inside there’s the
hamaca (hammock) section, which invites
people to spend the afternoon relaxing and
listening to the river’s water flow or the
roosters crow. The kids can always play and
enjoy the Iguanario (an iguana farm) the
Perazas created a few years ago. Last time
they counted there were 120 iguanas, all
completely free. “All we do is give them some
food,” Peraza commented.
La Chuparrosa is in the process of becoming the first restaurant in the state certified
by Destino. It is a new certification by the
city that means the restaurant is committed
to taking care of the environment (no bottled
water sold here!) and promoting regional
values and culture. With La Chuparrosa’s
original and natural food and its efforts to
conserve the area’s trees and animals, no
one doubts it is eco and culturally friendly.
Every year, during the not so hot months,
La Chuparrosa celebrates the ‘Fiesta de los
Días Frescos’ (Party of the Cool Days). It is
a series of activities and events to promote
culture, art, literature and music. It features
plays and pottery lessons for children and all
sorts of cultural events for adults. “Art and
culture is the way we want to relate to the
community,” Peraza said.
One of the family’s plans is to franchise
the restaurant and its food. One day their
chilorio (a pork dish), chorizo (pork sausage),
beans, jocoque, or ice cream will be available anywhere in the world. But for now, it
is a must to visit the restaurant in Bacurimí,
right next to the river, and enjoy delicious
meals right next to the iguanas. n
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[email protected]
+ 52 (55) 5447 70 70
50 Negocios i The Lifestyle
photos courtesy of archive/ café punta del cielo
city
The City
of Mole
Some historians say it’s the result of a fortunate coincidence; others believe it was the
product of a meticulous process. What’s true
is that mole is one of the most representative
dishes of Mexican cuisine.
Mole is a thick sauce made with a base of
cocoa or chocolate, peanuts and other nuts,
and a mix of peppers and spices. It has a total
of more than two dozen ingredients that are
carefully blended to achieve a unique flavor.
It is traditionally served with turkey meat,
but it also goes well with pork, beef or chicken.
When it comes to mole, the best ones
are served in Puebla, considered the birthplace of the dish. In the streets of this town,
there are all types of restaurants, from small
diners to places like Fonda de Santa Clara,
María Bonita, La Casita and La Guadalupana where anyone can enjoy this exquisite
dish along with other traditional ones like
chiles en nogada, cemitas and escamoles.
www.puebla.gob.mx
awards
Celestial
Coffee
Coffee brand Punta del Cielo bought the entire
production by the farmers who won the Premio Cosecha 2008 (the Harvest Award), which
is given by the Mexican Association for a Productive Coffee Chain (AMECAFE). Punta del
Cielo will package this coffee as a special edition that will be distributed in some Mexican
cities and mainly exported to Spain.
www.puntadelcielo.com.mx
The Lifestyle briefs
government policies
www.ine.gob.mx/dgioece/con_eco/encuentro_islas_2009.html
photo © Edward Porter /© The Nature Conservancy
The goal: the conservation and the sustainable
use of Mexico’s island resources. The means:
the National Meeting for the Conservation
and Sustainable Development of Islands, taking place from June 23-26 at the Center of
Scientific Investigation and Higher Education
in Ensenada, Baja California (CICESE). The
gathering is organized by the National Institute of Ecology, The Nature Conservancy, the
Ministry of Interior, the National Commission
of Protected Natural Areas, the Center of Scientific Investigation and Higher Education in
Ensenada and the Island Ecology and Conservation Group. In Mexico there are 2,800
island-like bodies, including islands, cays, reefs
and rocks.
photo © Connie Gelb / © The Nature Conservancy
A Meeting
for Protection
of Islands
52 Negocios i The Lifestyle
photos courtesy of hsbc.com/wikipedia
ecotourism
photo courtesy of destination marketing office/community tours sian ka’ an
Punta Allen,
Among Land,
Sea and
Paradise
One of the best locations for an ecological trip
in Mexico is Punta Allen in the Mayan Riviera.
It is in Sian Ka’an, “the place where the sky
begins,” about 180 kilometers from Cancún in
the state of Quintana Roo. It is a coastal area of
530,000 hectares and 100 kilometers of reefs
that in 1986 were designated as Biosphere Reserve by the Mexican government. This came
one year before it was declared Patrimony of
Humanity by UNESCO. Punta Allen’s inhabitants, about 300, strive to bring in responsible
tourism. Sian Ka’an has at least 12 hotels with
ecological cabins made of wood and palm leaf.
Visitors can enjoy the 1,400 species of plants,
800 of flowers, 340 of birds and 100 of mammals that inhabit the reserve.
www.sedetur.qroo.gob.mx
mexico city
photo gerardo becerril ®
A legend
inside a
park
The Ecological Park of Xochimilco is made
up in part by 165 hectares around a legendary Mexico City lake that in 1987 was named
Cultural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO. The park is an invitation to take a walk,
ride a bike or go rowing.
www.xochimilco.df.gob.mx/turismo
The Lifestyle briefs
construction
A Rectangular
Bubble in the Capital
A rectangular bubble in Mexico City’s Zona
Rosa is part of an effort to save nonrenewable
resources and offer a breath of fresh air for
2,800 of the metropolis’ inhabitants. It is an intelligent building from the English bank HSBC,
located in front of the Ángel de la Independencia, one of the city’s emblematic monuments.
It has 23 floors and parking on ten levels. The
tower, where the flow of millions of dollars in
Mexico and Latin America is controlled, is efficient in every sense. Those inside can breathe
securely thanks to an air filtration system
that doesn’t allow suspended particles inside.
Thanks to an automated system, it combines
natural sunlight with electricity to provide illumination. The building saves water thanks
to a system that absorbs and filters rain, which
is used for the bathrooms. The financial palace
was designed by the Mexican construction
company Hicsa and it’s one of the bank’s five
“intelligent” buildings. The others are in the
United Kingdom, India, Hong Kong and the
United States.
www.hsbc.co.uk
literature
culture and arts
Cultural
Showcase
on the Net
Queen Sofía Poetry Prize
for José Emilio Pacheco
Mexico’s cultural life is on display for the
entire world to see through the Cultural
Information System, an Internet page from
the National Board of Arts and Culture
(CONACULTA). Users of the Web page can
check details from each region of the country about Mexican heritage, festivals, cultural institutions and financing sources.
Mexican poet José Emilio Pacheco (born 1939
in Mexico City) was honored on May 7 with the
Queen Sofía Poetry Prize. The prize –nearly
57,000 usd- is awarded in Madrid to recognize
the career of a living author from Ibero-America and Spain. Emilio’s work has since the 1950s
been included in various anthologies. Highlights of his work include “The Elements of the
Night,” “The Fire’s Rest,” “Don’t Ask Me How
Time Passes,” “Since Then” and “The Moon’s
Silence.” His poems have also been featured
in certain translated works and bibliographic
collections. It is the first time a Mexican has received the prestigious award.
sic.conaculta.gob.mx
www.usal.com
54 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Pecha-Kucha
Pecha-Kucha, in Japanese,
would be the sound made
when whispering
It was conceived in 2003 by Astrid Klein
and Mark Dytham (Klein Dytham Architecture) in Tokyo, as a format for designers
to display their work and as an informal
way to exchange opinions. The fundamental idea behind Pecha-Kucha is for a person
to communicate a proposition in a brief
and concise manner. For this, the format
“20x20” was created. It is 20 images or slides
projected for 20 seconds each. This gives
the presenter a total of six minutes and 40
seconds to talk about a project or share an
opinion about a certain theme.
This singular format has become popular and its use has been extended to such
fields as art, architecture, photography
and even business. Currently, more than
100 cities around the world have adopted
the Pecha-Kucha format to create meeting
spaces, mainly for young people.
In Mexico, they are periodically organized in Guadalajara and Mexico City.
There have been two in Tijuana and occasionally some are organized in Oaxaca,
generally in bars where spectators can
drink something and whisper while the
presentations take place.
Information about places, dates and presenters around the world for Pecha-Kucha
can be found on the Web at www.pecha-kucha.org Information about Pecha-Kucha in
Mexico is available at www.pechakucha-df.
org for Mexico City, and at www.pechakuchagdl.org for Guadalajara.
If travelers are fortunate, they can coincide with a date for Pecha-Kucha in the city
they are visiting. n
illustration Ma. elena lópez
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[email protected]
+52 (55) 5447 7070
56 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Mazunte,
from
Turtles to
Cosmetics
The small Mexican Pacific
coast village of Mazunte has
gone from an economically
depressed turtle fishing village
to a community that has
remade itself with cosmetics,
ecotourism and the aim of
cooperative organizations.
By Fidelia Fadel
For generations, the residents of Mazunte –a
small beach town on the Pacific Coast in the
southern state of Oaxaca – made their living
from turtle fishing and hunting. But in 1990,
the practice was forbidden by law and the
locals soon were plunged into poverty and
high unemployment.
But thanks to a little hard work, ingenuity
and a helping hand from cooperative organizations and businesses committed to rural
communities and the environment, Mazunte
is climbing out of its economic troubles and
reinventing itself by looking to alternative
forms of industry like cosmetics and ecotourism.
The change began in 1993 when a project promoted by the Tropical Forestry Action Plan helped install solar energy cells
throughout the entire town. The area was
also reforested with vegetation suitable for
such an ecosystem. In addition, cabins were
built with adobe. This element is used in
rectangular units and it doesn’t have a negative impact on the environment because the
materials to produce it are as simple as soil
and water. In opposition to regular bricks,
raw adobe doesn’t need to be fired –which is
a major source of pollution–, it is dried thanks
to the solar energy. It is also worth to mention
that the design of all structures in Mazunte is
based on an architectural model that blends
in with the natural landscape.
photo archive
report mazunte
Mexican Government called for the
creation of the National Mexican
Turtle Center in September of 1991
58 Negocios i The Lifestyle
photos courtesy of mazunte cosmetics
01 body oil.
02 Lip Balm.
03 even anticelulite -reductive gel
is also sold by Mazunte.
04 shower gel.
05 moisturizing body cream, another
of the Mazunte organic products.
On the opposite page the other main tourist
happenings, the Mexican Turtle National Center.
01
03
02
04
05
It was also in the early 1990s when someone came up with an unusual but brilliant
idea: “What if we produce cosmetics instead
of hunting turtles?” That led to the creation
of Cosméticos Naturales de Mazunte, which
today employs ten women and three men.
The project began with help from the
British cosmetics franchise The Body Shop.
The late former director of the company,
Anita Roddick, visited Mazunte and was astonished by the efforts of its residents. The
Body Shop supported the endeavor by training workers in cosmetics production.
Reyna Rosario Robles, one of Cosméticos’
founders, says the company now has more
than a decade of market presence. But that
has come through the daily hard work of
many, including Robles.
“There have been many duties. I was in
charge of production. Then I was responsible for the warehouse and raw materials.
Next I was in the shop and now I’m in the
sales department,” she describes.
Cosméticos now produces natural sham-
poo, hair conditioner, body oil, moisturizing
cream and other products.
Sales in Mexico have done very well. But
Robles has always hoped her company’s
products would go beyond Mexico’s borders.
“Our products are being sold in our country. Our dream has always been to export so
we can give more jobs to people in our community,” she said.
That dream came through in early 2008
when Novo-Deal, a Swiss-Mexican enterprise
founded in 2001 with the goal of trading natural products worldwide, began exporting Cosméticos’ hair care line to Switzerland.
NovoDeal’s philosophy seemed to match
perfectly with the leitmotif of the Mazunte
community. They both had common goals
of enriching different countries with cultural
knowledge, offering customer satisfaction
with natural high-quality products and helping to develop producers.
Pretty soon, other products like lotions,
soaps, lip balms and massage oils were added to NovoDeal’s exports list. The firm now
offers online Cosméticos’ entire collection
and sends them anywhere in the world.
Besides creating new industry, another of
Mazunte’s main commercial strategies has
been turning the coastal town into an ecotourism destination.
In 1994, the doors – as well as ponds–
Mazunte Numbers
Cosméticos Naturales
de Mazunte has 14 different
product lines and one
ecological hotel.
Bioplaneta has worked with
up to 55 communitarian
enterprises in 12 states
in Mexico. In Oaxaca, the
network has incorporated
the work of 30
small producers.
photo courtesy of destination marketing office
report mazunte
of the Mexican Turtle Center opened. It is
home to every species of salt and fresh water turtles from the region, including the
Lora turtle, an exotic variety that can only
be found along Mexican coasts. In addition,
the center’s surroundings are made up of a
beautiful botanical garden with semi-desert
plants from the region.
Robles says there are other paths to improve Mazunte’s future, including the construction of a cabin complex that can be
rented to vacationers.
But Mazunte’s efforts to redefine itself
have not been an isolated project. It has also
been helped by the Bioplaneta Network.
This is a national network in Mexico of
rural and self-sustained cooperative organizations whose goals include protecting the
environment, fair trade, improving living
standards of its member communities and
promoting ecological tourism. Its director is
Héctor Marcelli Esquivel, a Mexican expert
on environmental development.
“We have been working for years to con-
solidate community enterprises. Our idea is to
make them self-efficient,” said Sandra Contreras, Bioplaneta’s administrative director. “Our
duty is to support them, advise them, create
workshops so they can reach their goals. It is always done in an ecological and social manner.”
Contreras said Cosméticos Naturales de
Mazunte is a good example of projects occurring along the coast of Oaxaca, which are
linked to one another and support each other.
Cosméticos Naturales supports and promotes the sale of peanut butter, a project of a
factory located in La Ventanilla, two kilometers
away from Mazunte.
“What (the factory) used to do was sell
peanuts at very low prices, less than 1 usd.
Now they sell peanut butter at (around) 4
usd each,” Contreras said.
Bioplaneta has also partnered with other
fair trade projects affiliated with its network.
“We work in the area of Pinotepa Nacional in
Guerrero, with a network of Mixteca weavers
(an indigenous community). We organize fashion shows where their techniques are incorpo-
rated with trendy clothing and patterns to catch
the taste of young people,” Contreras said.
The Bioplaneta network also organizes
workshops in different communities. Those
who attend then discover they can focus in
different areas, from reforestation to cultural
missions or teaching. “The whole community
understands that everybody needs to get involved,” Contreras added.
Bioplaneta’s ambition is not so different
from that of Robles in Mazunte: increasing
their presence abroad through exports.
According to Contreras, Bioplaneta Network goal goes far beyond sales: “From Mexico
City we are currently doing exports, sales and
events but having direct contact with consumers is our aim because this generates environmental education. People get to know the
benefits of consuming organic products and
they assume a social responsibility. It is also important to us that consumers learn something
about the place that produces what they are
buying. Such community labor generates development and growth.” n
60 Negocios i The Lifestyle
In Favor
of Nature
With a portfolio of projects
that is as inexhaustible as its
strength, Pronatura watches
over the conservation of
Mexico’s true wealth.
By Jennifer Chan
From monarch butterflies and frogs in the
Zoque Jungle in southern Mexico to reforestation, environmental education and fair
trade programs, Pronatura Mexico continues
expanding its reach like a protective tree.
This civil association was founded in 1981
and is dedicated to the conservation of plants,
animals and prioritized ecosystems in Mexico. Comprised of representation from around
the country and specifically from five regions
–Northeast, Northwest, the Yucatán Peninsula, the South and Veracruz– Pronatura
works to develop harmony between society
and nature.
Currently, the organization supports 199
conservation projects, 30 regional programs
and five national programs in 46 protected
natural areas, 38 priority land regions, 16 priority marine regions and 56 Important Areas
for Bird’s Conservation (AICAS).
Among Pronatura’s stand out endeavors
is its National Program for the Conservation
of Private and Public Lands. It is dedicated to
the management and protection of ecologically significant lands that are property of cooperatives, communities or small landholders.
In 2008 alone, this program secured the longterm conservation of 93,912 hectares of land.
Two other Pronatura projects are its National
Program for the Conservation of Wetlands,
which in 2008 helped restore 880 hectares,
and its National Program for the Protection
and Bird’s Conservation.
photos courtesy of pronatura
feedback pronatura
Protected
Natural Areas
(Anps)
ANPs are portions
of land or aquatic areas
representative of diverse
ecosystems where the
original environment
has not been
essentially altered.
They are subject to strict rules
of protection, conservation,
restoration and development
that have been established
by Mexican law.
Currently, the National
Commission of Protected
Natural Areas administers
166 ANPs that represent
more than 23 million hectares.
They are classified in
the following categories:
Biosphere Reserves (38)
11,846,462 ha
National Parks (68)
1,505,643 ha
Natural Monuments (4)
14,093 ha
Protected Natural
Resource Areas (7)
3,467,386 ha
Protected Plant and
Animal Areas (31)
6,127,425 ha
Sanctuaries (17)
689 ha
Other Categories (1)
186,734 ha
TOTAL
166 Categories
23,148,432 ha
www.conanp.gob.mx
62 Negocios i The Lifestyle
Perhaps the organization’s most important project is its National Program for Reforestation and Water Collection. Through
this project, 1,648 hectares of land were reforested in 2008 in 11 Mexican states. This
resulted in more than 1.6 million trees being
planted in the states of Coahuila, Durango, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tlaxcala,
Veracruz and Zacatecas. The program was
recognized by the Switzerland-based World
Economic Forum, its objective is to restore
25,000 hectares of highly degraded ecosystems and plant 30 million trees by 2012 . In
2009, it incorporated 5 new federal entities
into this effort: Puebla, Hidalgo, Aguascalientes, Morelos and the Federal District.
photos courtesy of pronatura
Also, each region represented by Pronatura has different programs to promote the
development of sustainable communities.
“The results obligate
us to work closely with those
companies interested in lessening
their impact on nature or
implementing strategies
that directly benefit certain
ecosystems,” Roldán said.
These include environmental policies and administration; the creation and management
of information for conservation; and the es-
tablishment of environmental education and
communication strategies. All the organization’s programs are planned to have short,
medium and long-term impacts and its safe
to say they are here to stay.
In 2009, Pronatura is looking to promote
societal involvement and bring forth to the
general public the tools and mechanisms
needed to help with the conservation of
nature. “This translates into environmental
education,” said Sergio Roldán, director of
communication for Pronatura Mexico. “One
of Pronatura’s main objectives is to strengthen the conscience of Mexicans concerning
environmental issues.”
To accomplish this objective, Pronatura, in
coordination with HAVAS Media, conducted
feedback pronatura
a study to measure the public’s interest and
knowledge of environmentally friendly products. According to this study, 82% of Mexicans
prefer buying products from companies that
have taken measures to counter the effects of
global warming.
“The results obligate us to work closely
with those companies interested in lessening their impact on nature or implementing
strategies that directly benefit certain ecosystems,” Roldán said.
In its constant effort to look for innovative mechanisms for conservation –whether
they be technical, new technologies or even
through marketing– Pronatura meets the
challenges of promoting its results in a charismatic way so that people become as passionate as the organization about wolves and bats.
The association totally depends on funds
from donors and national and foreign corporate sponsors. All donations go directly to
rural projects. For more information or to become part of Pronatura’s protective embrace,
visit www.pronatura.org.mx. n
A Question of Priority
The National Commission for the Awareness
and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) is an organization that coordinates the government’s
efforts related to the conservation of the country’s biodiversity. Through its Priority Regions
Program for the Conservation of Biodiversity,
the organization dedicates itself to identify
areas that through their physical and biotic
characteristics are key zones for the conservation of the country’s natural diversity.
•
Priority Land Regions (RTP): Currently
in Mexico, 152 priority land regions have
been designated. They cover an area of
515,558 square km, representing more
than one-fourth of the country’s territory.
•
Priority Marine Regions: CONABIO
has identified 70 coastal and oceanic
areas considered priorities because of
their great biological diversity.
•
In addition, CONABIO has defined
230 Important Areas for Bird’s Conservation (AICAS) where 26,000
specimens from 1,038 bird species
live. This represents 96.3% of Mexico’s total bird species, according to the
American Ornithologists’ Union.
Source: CONABIO and Pronatura 2008
64 Negocios i The Lifestyle
30
13
PR
offices around
the country
administrative
offices
’S
A
R
TU CES
A
ON SOUR
RE
17
rural
offices
420
advisers
staf
f
320
mem
bers
pa
31
rt
Investment in
conservation
(in USD)
$2.18 million
2
ne
rs
$1.65 million
Pronatura
México A.C.
Pronatura
Northeast A.C.
$1.41 million
Pronatura
South A.C.
$1.15 million
$1.15 million
Pronatura
Northwest A.C.
$593,640
Pronatura
Veracruz A.C.
TOTAL
$8.13
million
7.5%
from
others
27.5%
infographic oldemar
from companies
and individuals
22.1%
from
governments
Investment in
conservation
1990-2008 (in USD)
Pronatura
Yucatán
Peninsula A.C
$7.12
$3.01
million
$4.66
million
$7.86
million
$7.79
million
million
$627,789
The origin of
Pronatura’s
resources
in 2008
42.9%
from foundations
and NGOs
NOTE: ALL FIGURES IS USD