An update from PEASMA
By Eugenia Velasco Vergara August 1, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

It is with great pleasure we announce and recognize Save the Laja, Inc., a new major supporter for the Environmental Education Project San Miguel de Allende (Proyecto de Educación Ambiental San Miguel de Allende, PEASMA). PEASMA now has eight civil organizations and four government departments providing economic support, advice and feedback for this successful educational project. The project began in 2005 with five organizations and three government departments, including creator and coordinator of the project, FAI (Fundación de Apoyo Infantil) Save the Children Mexico Guanajuato Region; Audubon Society of Mexico (Sociedad Audubon de México); Salvemos al Río Laja A.C.; Center of Adolescents of San Miguel de Allende (Centro de Adolescentes de San Miguel de Allende, CASA) and the botanical garden El Charco del Ingenio (Jardín Botánico el Charco del Ingenio).

The government departments that participated initially were SAPASMA, Environmental Department (Direccion de Medio Ambiente) and the Ecology Institute of Guanajuato (Instituto de Ecología del Estado de Guanajuato). In 2006, the Garden Club of San Miguel de Allende (Club de Jardinería de San Miguel de Allende) joined the group. In 2007, there were more additions to PEASMA: the Department of Municipal Public Services of Allende (Dirección de Servicios Públicos Municipales de Allende) with the PET Plastics Collection and Recycling Program (Programa de Acopio y Reciclaje de Plástico PET) in elementary schools. This year (2008) we welcome We Reforest Mexico (Reforestamos Mexico) and Save the Laja as new partners to the PEASMA project. It is thanks to the support, knowledge and experience of all these partners that PEASMA has successfully implemented its environmental education project and raised the level of environmental education and awareness of school children, communities and society at large in San Miguel. The PEASMA environmental curriculum was accepted by the State of Guanajuato who supported the printing of a manual and teacher training. The project has broadened its scope and outreach statewide through its manual and teacher training workshops raising the environmental awareness of teachers who in turn use the PEASMA methodologies and subject matter to teach the children in their own communities.

Save the Laja was founded in 1999 by Susan Porter Smith, a marvelous woman, ecologist, artist and pioneer in the equal rights movement in the labor force. She eventually established her home in San Miguel where she was vice-president (1984–1993) and president (1993–1996) of the Audubon Society. She was also associate director of the Ecological Fund of Guanajuato (Fundación Ecológica de Guanajuato) from 1997 to 2003 and director of Cuerpos de Conservación Guanajuato (2002–2003). She worked tirelessly over five years to restore the micro-stream of the Laja River by associating herself with local organizations that had experience and strong ties to local communities. Her work was extremely important given that the Laja River is an essential biological corridor for migrating and local bird species, as well as riverside communities. The Laja River is a contributor to the Lerma River, one of the longest rivers in Mexico and part of the eco-region considered globally relevant by the World Wildlife Fund due to its fish population being virtually unsurpassed in North America and rare worldwide. One goal of Save the Laja is to educate the general public to the benefits derived from environmental protection/conservation using media such as publications, trade fairs, workshops, conferences and public announcements.

Save the Laja’s concerns are supporting the maintenance and preservation of rivers, lakes, forests, jungles, parks, ecological preservation zones and protected natural areas. Betsy January (betsy@bobjanuary.com) currently leads Save the Laja.

Save the Laja joins the PEASMA Project with a US$45,754.62 donation, the largest in PEASMA’s history. This grant covers the expenses of one environmental educator, including wages, travel, rural visits, educational tools and administrative expenses to educate a total of 4,200 boys and girls from the fourth grade, 80 teachers and 300 parents over the course of three years (2008–2010).

Thanks to the support of Save the Laja, the PEASMA objectives of the workshops and rural visits to fourth-grade kids are:


· To familiarize participants with the basic elements that make up a micro-stream, ecosystems and food chains

· To promote thought and reflection as to the function and benefits of vegetation

· To develop their organizational capacity, team work and democratic decision making

· To promote an environment of living together, respect and listening among children, teachers, parents and other workshop participants



Lastly, it is worth mentioning that the Environmental Education workshops with fourth-grade elementary schools of San Miguel first commenced in 2003 under the auspices of the Environmental Education and Interpretation Pilot Project coordinated by FAI and El Charco del Ingenio botanical garden. This initial project was the impetus for creating PEASMA.


Eugenia Velasco Vergara is the PEASMA coordinator. She can be reached at peasma05@yahoo.com.mx.