Ruta del Rio Grande Heritage Regeneration Project

The CHiFA partnership with Mexican stakeholders aims to establish “La Ruta del Rio Grande,” a sustainable tourism route in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its rich natural and cultural heritage. This initiative focuses on supporting local communities by creating new economic opportunities tied to the region’s unique environmental and cultural assets. The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, located between Puebla and Oaxaca, is recognized for its biodiversity and archaeological significance as one of the longest-inhabited regions in the Americas.

By developing sustainable tourism through the Ruta del Rio Grande project, the initiative aims to protect this valuable cultural landscape while providing local communities with sustainable livelihoods. This project will also reinforce the stewardship of the valley, ensuring the preservation of both its natural environment and its archaeological resources.

The cultural sites of this area attest to thousands of years of human history. Archaeology suggests that this region may have been the cradle of agriculture in North America.  Combined with the beauty of the landscape and the diverse cultural history, with seven distinct ethnic groups still inhabiting the region, it offers a varied and fascinating experience. We hope our project will help stabilize the communities of the region and give them new forms of livelihood by managing the cultural tourism that has begun to develop since World Heritage status was awarded in 2018.

– Bonnie Burnham, President of CHiFA

The Ruta del Rio Grande Heritage Regeneration Project is focused on the World Heritage Site of Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, a large area to the southwest of Puebla and northeast of Oaxaca, divided between the two states of the same name. The project will protect and interpret local cultural assets in three rural communities – Dominguillo, Quiotepec, and Valerio Trujano. One notable cultural feature along the route is the Cuicatec culture’s “Cave of the Little Hands” (Cueva de las Manitas), which contains unique rock art.

Funding will catalyze local, regional, national, and international cooperation to protect, valorize and interpret the heritage sites of this culturally rich but little-known heritage area. To date the interpretation of these sites has been minimal, inhibited by a declining awareness in recent generations of community members, by a lack of public investment in their preservation and promotion, and by the increased physical isolation of these communities in recent decadesMembers of the local communities, who are the advocates for the Ruta del Río Grande, will take on the role of stewardship of the project with guidance from Mexico-based experts in heritage interpretation and sustainable tourism. In the process, they will benefit from educational experiences, job creation and training, and community-wide dialogue intended to encourage the communities to develop additional entrepreneurial opportunities throughout the Biosphere Reserve. In addition, the communities will benefit collectively from the financial support directed to improving the condition of local heritage sites and facilities. The project will launch a collaborative heritage management organization amongst the communities. 

Partners

• Mellon Foundation
• Fundación Reserva Biosfera Tehuacán-Cuicatlán
• Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH)
• American Express Foundation

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