Viveros de Coyoacán is a combination tree nursery and public park which covers 38.9 hectares in the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City. The nursery was founded by Miguel Angel de Quevedo in the early 20th century as a way to provide seedlings for the reforestation of Mexico's badly damaged forests, especially around Mexico City. The first lands were donated by Quevedo himself with the federal government then getting involved, allowing for the planting of 140,000 trees between 1913 and 1914 alone. Today, the nursery produces one million seedlings per year mostly for projects around Mexico City. The park attracts between 2,500 and 3,000 visitors daily, many of whom come to exercise or feed the area's very tame squirrels. The overpopulation of squirrels and a large rat population have been problems for the park.
Description
The park has an extension of 38.9 hectares, located in the far west of the Coyoacán borough next to Ciudad Universitaria . From its initial creation by Miguel Angel de Quevedo, the area has operated primarily as a tree nursery, growing seedlings for reforestation projects. The nursery operation produces about one million seedlings per year, which are mostly planted in and around Mexico City. Most of the park's area is planted with trees, and it is considered to be one of Mexico City's “lungs.” Other areas are dedicated to seed beds, orchards and greenhouses. The area used to be part of a ranch called Panzacola, and a few remains of this can still be seen such as the ruins of a small rectangular chapel and a well, with a date marking of November 18, 1918.
In the 1930s, the area became open to the public as a park and today, Viveros receives anywhere from 2,500 to 3,000 visitors each day, many of whom come to exercise, especially along its jogging paths. Another popular pastime is the feeding of the park's very tame squirrels. Squirrel overpopulation is a serious problem at the park, provoked both by the feeding and by the fact that there are almost no predators. Only four wild falcons are known to live in the area. The squirrels cause damage to mature trees and more so to the young plants in the seed beds, as they scurry between them looking for a place to hide. To combat this problem, feeding is not permitted in the nursery areas but is still allowed in other areas of the park. While most of the park's area is green space, 1.7 hectares are developed and used for a number of federal and local government offices. These include the offices of the Obras, Services y Desarrollo Urbano, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Centro Cultural Ambiental, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Comisión Nacional Forestal, Urbano de la Delegación Coyoacán, Servicio Nacional de Sanidad and Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. The park contains a popular plant market, and hosts five exhibitions each year. The first is for azaleas in February, followed by the Rose Exhibition in May, dahlias in August, houseplants in October and nativity scenes in December.
History
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