Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo

Portrait of Pati Ruiz Corzo, with saplings she is about to plant near Jalpan de Serra, Mexico.

Ruiz Corzo, an accomplished musician, leads a group of children in song near the village of Lobo in the Sierra Gorda.

Ruiz Corzo bird-watching with two girls. Known as Mexico’s “green jewel”, the Sierra Gorda has six kinds of forests.

Children in school garden in Laguna de Pitzquintla. Over 350 vegetable gardens were planted to promote self-sufficiency.

Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, where four climatic zones converge to produce an astonishing variety of ecosystems.

The Sierra Gorda Reserve covers 32% of Qerétaro and has 100,000 residents. The reserve is 90% privately owned.

Waterfall on the Chuveje river. In 1985 Ruiz Corzo came to the area and found contaminated or evaporated rivers.

White crowned parrot near Jalpan de Serra. More than 360 bird species have been identified within the reserve.

Local woman gardening. Over 30,000 residents of the Sierra Gorda contribute to the region’s sustainable development.

Woman roasting seeds on a newly designed stove which burns wood more efficiently, helping reduce deforestation.

Trinidad Briseño holding a bag full of plastic for recycling outside the recycling centre in Soledad de Guadelupe.

Children in Laguna de Pitzquintla. The biosphere reserve was actually created as a result of pressure from civil society.

Federico Cano constructs a latrine in Soledad de Guadalupe as part of a community improvement programme.

Selective wood harvesting and use are practised at this ecologically sound sawmill in San Juan de los Duran.

Mexican hairy porcupine, one of 131 species of mammal sharing the reserve with an astonishing variety of fauna.

A child from Soledad de Guadelupe holds a sign he made which reads: “Don’t cut down trees”.