They suffered the fire of the town they lived in five years ago. And they came together to recover the natural wealth of the place. A goal that keeps them together in the long term: it will take more than 20 years to see results in the task of soil remediation and the flora of the mountain.
In 2019, a fire damaged the
town of Potrerillos
, a beautiful tourist town in the Andes foothills, 50 kilometers from the city of Mendoza.
It was the night of July 20, Friends' Day, when the fire
destroyed more than 20 houses and cabins and destroyed the vegetation of three hills
in the districts of Valle del Sol and Las Vegas, in the main tourist town of Luján de Cuyo. , Mendoza.
The disaster began with a strong Zonda, a north wind with hot gusts, typical of the mountain range. There were hundreds of fallen trees, several houses burned and residents had to be evacuated.
"
The fire generated a meeting in the community
. We began to work to take care of our environment, so that the tourists who came to Potrerillos would not light fires, especially not with Zonda," explains Evangelina,
one of the guardians of the mountain
.
They created the Sumá Nativas
collective
. Along with the women of the town, researchers from Conicet, professionals and students from the Natural Resources Engineering program at the National University of Cuyo worked.
Maria Emilia Fernández was one of the engineers who participated in the creation of Sumá Nativas. "There was very good acceptance at the community level, we held workshops, camps and outings to remediate the soil and replant," highlights the researcher.
Employees, students and housewives, this group of women
decided to act to recover the burned hills
of the Upper Mendoza River basin.
To achieve the objective, they had the supervision of Conicet and the financing of a conservation proposal for the Quilmes Brewery and Malt Shop.
The group, made up of 20 women, created the first community workshop and nursery that began operating in February 2021. Three years later, five of them have managed to make it
a self-sustaining project and a means of income
for their families.
The
Rústica community nursery
was built on land belonging to the El Plata Social Club, in the town of Las Vegas, in Luján de Cuyo. Women produce and sell native plants to boost the development of the local economy.
In this greenhouse-type space, the production of native plants continues. Some of the species they grow are carob, romerillo, melosa, and yellow firewood.
They have about 3,000 seedlings
.
Save the mountain
The hills remediation project
will take more than 20 years
to see the first results. They cover 15 hectares, with tasks of planting native species, and controlling erosion and exotic species.
"In addition to recovering what was burned in the 2019 fire, we have been working on the problem of invasive spices, such as rosehip," says the Conicet engineer.
They work on environmental education with the community to prevent the fire from reaching the area. A group of neighbors
created the Potrerillos Fire Station
after the 2019 fire.
"It is an area that has suffered
years of drought due to climate change
. To which have been added recurring episodes of Zonda Wind," describes engineer Emilia Fernández.
There is a specific point where you can see
the damage that the mountains have suffered
: "If someone stands in front of the church of the Valley of the Sun, they can see the dark green vegetation on one side. And, on the other side, the entire field of color yellow," says the Mendoza researcher.
Five years after the fire, the plants that have been able to sprout are
grasses
. Grasses and shrubs also appeared, such as jarillas and molles, but their growth is very slow.
Fernández estimates that it will take time to return the land to its original state. But, he clarifies: "It will never be the same as before the fire."
The guardians
The Sumá Nativas project has continued working and seeking other financing. "We feel a very great commitment to the community, and we want to continue with this task," says Evangelina, one of the administrators of Rústica.
The nursery team is completed by María Sol, Macarena, Ludmila and María Emilia. Together they are committed to the conservation and preservation of the native flora, and its properties for medicinal use.
The women of the nursery monitor
the new plants
, placed in 2021 and 2022. They want to prioritize the species that have best adapted and replant. "There were about 3,000 plants, but there was some mortality because some species, such as honeydew, did not occur," they explain.
They produce native tall plants, and other xeric plants, which require little water to survive. "We do the process of
seed harvesting, sowing and selling
," says Evangelina. And she asks to share the nursery's telephone number for those interested in buying xeric plants (+542615036114).
"We work in pairs and, once a week, we have a collective meeting. We sell to tourists, neighbors, and landscapers who come to the nursery because there is a tendency to start incorporating xeric gardens," says Evangelina.
They also go to the banks of the river and streams to talk to tourists and prevent them from leaving garbage scattered or defecating in the meltwater channels.
In high season, visitors triple the population of Potrerillos. "We explain to them that they should not pollute. It is a commitment assumed with the space we inhabit," the guardians emphasize.
The Mendoza River is one of the main hydrographic sources of the country, and the river basin is a provider of essential services for the region: water for human consumption, irrigation, energy, refuge for biodiversity and tourism. Climate change, poor planning and population growth affect the quantity and quality of water for all uses.
In 2020, Quilmes developed, in coordination with the public sector and the community, the
Mendoza River Water Fund
, the first in Argentina, which seeks to contribute to water security and sustainable management of the basin. Since 2018, the company has invested $600,000 in water security initiatives in Mendoza, including Sumá Nativas. "It is urgent to continue developing solutions to recover the balance of the basin that supplies more than one million Mendoza residents," said Vanesa Vázquez, manager of Positive Impact and Sustainability.