FAO This Monday, the Secretariat of the GIAHS Programme in Rome, Italy, informed Erasto Ensástiga Santiago, General Coordinator of the AZP (Authority in charge of the conservation of the Chinampa area) of the Government of Mexico City, that all the requirements of the Scientific Advisory Group were met and the system is designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). The application of the chinampa system was endorsed and supported by the Government of Republic of Mexico through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The AZP has put in place an action plan for the conservation and maintenance of chinampas that aims to preserve them for future generations and promote the sustainable development of local farming communities.

There are currently 38 GIAHS sites worldwide, and the Chinampa farming system becomes the first designated GIAHS in North America and the third in Latin America and the Caribbean, after Chiloé (Chile) and Andean agriculture (Peru).