54 55 Today, the brand new chinamperos have mixed blood in their veins, being descendants of both the creators and destroyers of the floating gardens. They nonetheless propose to export this model all around the world, to heal and save it from soil destruction and biodiversity loss. Specifically, Arca Tierra is the organization aiming to connect the chinampa farmers with the nearly nine million inhabitants of the metropolis, as it was in ancient Tenochtitlan, and to promote tourism in order to showcase it to the world as an anti-utopian and factually possible paradigm. This paradigm is represented by a soil capable of achieving an eleven percent organic matter content, with minimal forced irrigation thanks to the use of foliage from trees, well-defined cultivation techniques and proximity to water. In contrast to modern Western models, this system, essentially combining agroforestry and permaculture as it involves cultivating multiple varieties simultaneously, can attract both avian and fish fauna to its canals, allowing hunting and fishing, therefore maintaining a perfect balance in which nature can regenerate without disruptive cycles in the eternal alternation of death and rebirth, introducing agriculture as a form of landscape renewal, social relationship rehabilitation, and as a challenge to the city's water system recovery. In the perspective of a near future, where the ancient deities may no longer rescue us for obvious reasons, only the secrets of land care coming from ancient realities like the Xochimilco gardens will be able to shoulder the heavy task of saving us from ourselves. www.arcatierra.com
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