Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – A total of 5,200 trees—now ready and waiting in a local nursery—will be planted across Puerto Vallarta during the upcoming rainy season as part of a major environmental compensation effort. The initiative is designed to offset the ecological impact caused by the Guadalajara–Puerto Vallarta short-distance route project, according to municipal government officials.
Biologist and Director of Environmental Sustainability for the municipal government, Bartolo Cruz Romero, detailed the plan during a recent visit to the nursery. “Five thousand two hundred trees will be planted with the support of the company Recoz (Reforestation-Construction) during the rainy season,” explained Cruz Romero. “Because of the dry season that we are almost entering, I do not recommend planting a tree right now in any public area of Puerto Vallarta.”
Cruz Romero emphasized the need to identify suitable locations for the new saplings. He noted that tree species such as parotas, capomos, primaveras, rosa morada, cedars, and mahogany require ample space to thrive. “We have to look for the areas with the least vegetation or the largest areas,” he said, underscoring the importance of placing the trees in locations where they have room to grow.
The municipal official also highlighted that this reforestation project stems from the environmental damage caused during the expansion of the Vía Corta highway leading to Puerto Vallarta. Specifically, in the area of Las Juntas—between the military zone and the end of the highway—257 mature trees were removed. The plan calls for 833 palm trees to be replanted as part of the compensation; however, additional measures were deemed necessary to fully address the environmental impact.
“This is a historic compensation for damages. We have never had such an approach with a company that had the initiative to address such an important need,” said Cruz Romero. He added that city growth, along with natural disasters like hurricanes, has contributed to the loss of Puerto Vallarta’s tree coverage. “Since the last hurricanes, the last one I believe was Hurricane Lidia, more than 350 trees were knocked down, and no plan for tree planting, reforestation, or restoration was ever made in the municipality.”
With the rainy season approaching, municipal officials and Recoz will coordinate efforts to ensure the newly planted trees take root and flourish in Puerto Vallarta, revitalizing green spaces and helping restore ecological balance.
