Viveros de Coyoacán

[3] From its initial creation by Miguel Angel de Quevedo, the area has operated primarily as a tree nursery, growing seedlings for reforestation projects.

[3][5] 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.

[3] 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.

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.

[8] In the colonial period, this land was part of a very large ranch called Panzacola, whose main house can still be seen on Salvador Novo Street.

Quevedo made his fortune building a number of public and privates works in Mexico City and Veracruz, but he also saw the environmental damage and the consequences that these projects caused.

[4] However, Quevedo's major environmental project was to create a system to produce and plant trees to reforest much of Mexico City's damaged landscape.

Quevedo's plan was to produce enough trees to form a ten-kilometer (6-mile) ring of forests around the city to restore the landscape, regulate surface water flow and provide other benefits.

Later, he acquired a portion of the San Pedro Martìr Hacienda, called Potrero del Altillo, with a surface of 301,452m2 and it was annexed to the original land.

[4] The primary function of the area from its conception has been that of a tree nursery, to grow and acclimate seedlings to be planted in reforestation projects.

Extermination efforts mostly have consisted in the placing of environmentally friendly poisoned bait in areas where the rats congregate, repeating every two years.

[6] From 2007 to 2009, the government allowed a small alternative circus called “Otro” (Other) to operate on the grounds as a form of culture.

[5] However, due to strong opposition from the borough, as well as the descendants of Quevedo who stated they would sue for the land if the original donation stipulations were not honored, the proposal for construction was rescinded.