Cactus paradise in San Miguel [] El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden

Organized as a civil society since 1991, its mission is to protect and preserve the biocultural heritage

Published January 21, 2023

Located a few minutes from San Miguel de Allende, El Charco del Ingenio is a Botanical Garden and an extraordinary Nature Reserve. It has an extensive collection of cacti and other succulent plants from Mexico, many of them rare and endangered.

Since 2005, El Charco del Ingenio is part of the largest network of botanical gardens and experts in plant conservation in the world, called Botanical Garden Conservation International. Based in London, England, this organization brings together a large number of botanic gardens in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to link members to create global participatory strategies, in order to ensure plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet.

In a country like Mexico, whose geography includes enormous biotic wealth, botanical gardens play a fundamental role in the knowledge and conservation of biocultural heritage.

In 2004, El Charco del Ingenio was consecrated as a Peace Zone by the Dalai Lama, leader of the Tibetan people and Nobel Peace Prize winner, during his visit to Mexico. Five zones of peace were declared in different parts of the country. These are spaces free of violence and weapons, dedicated to nature conservation and community development.

Simultaneously to its primary task focused on the conservation, study and promotion of biocultural heritage, the Botanical Garden serves as a space for social confluence open to all sectors of the local community, as well as to foreign visitors. Talks, courses, workshops, guided tours, meetings, astronomical observations, concerts, dancing rituals, ceremonies and other festivities take place on the site, a reflection of the dynamic and multicultural society of San Miguel de Allende.

El Charco del Ingenio offers natural history and bird watching tours in English.
To book a tour visit: elcharco.org.mx