Itinerary One Week

This package is aimed at students interested in learning about the task of successful environmental conservation within the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, as well as the progress which has contributed to the community development.

The stay is a unique experience for the students, where they will receive training, both theoretical and practical; by the end of the stay the students will have learned about running a Nature Reserve which, in the case of Sierra Gorda, will be through a social participation model, in a pilot scheme of co-management between the society and federal government.

DAY 1: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

We will visit two school communities and with the environmental education promoters we will discover how to teach these subjects to children and youngsters from the Sierra. In the afternoon there will be a demonstration about the use of solar pots, learning how to cook in the most responsible way, to benefit the environment. And to end the day there will be the Centro Tierra (Earth Centre) conference “Monografia de la Reserva”. [Reserve Monograph]

DAY 2: CLEAN-UP

Today we will visit the recycling centre, where materials are gathered, both the regional centre in Jalpan and the local centre. Here, the local people separate paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and aluminium, amongst other things. Later we will visit the workshop for “Integral Management of Solid Residues”

DAY 3: RESTAURATION AND PROTECTION OF WATER SOURCES

Today is dedicated to visiting conservation projects in a place called Epazotes in Pinal de Amoles. Here, there is a project which studies ground erosion processes. We will return to Jalpan for the “Environmental Services” conference in the Centro Tierra (Earth Centre).

DAY 4: ECOTOURIST PROJECTS

In the morning we will visit the ecotourist project “Rio Escanela” and also the Puente de Dios cave. There we will have food and in the afternoon travel to “La Arenita”, a camp located in the middle of a beautiful pine forest. There we will have the meeting: “Community Tourism for conservation” and we will end the day with a nice, warm bonfire.

DAY 4: PRODUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT

Today we will visit a ceramic workshop in the Soledad de Guadalupe community and in the afternoon make our way to our cabañas in San Juan de los Durán. There we will have the meeting for “The Development of a Conservation Economy”.

DAY 5: GETTING TO KNOW THE RESERVE

To end the trip in Sierra Gorda we will take a walk along an interpretative path in San Juan and then return to Jalpan for the conference “The Conservation of Biodiversity in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve” and finally have an overview of the week before taking some free time to get to know the beauty that is Jalpan by night.

NB: The first and last days of the week are considered as days traveling from the place of origin to Jalpan and from Jalpan to the place of origin, respectively.

Contact us:

e-mail: ecotours@sierragorda.net

Tels. (441) 296 02 42/29 ó (441) 296 07 00

Jalpan de Serra, Querétaro, Méx.