The avocado is a tropical fruit, belonging to the family Lauraceae, native to Central America. The yellowish flesh of the fruit, covered by a dark green rough skin, boasts considerable beneficial properties. Avocado can slow cellular ageing, helps counter cholesterol deposits, has anti-inflammatory properties, and is rich in vitamins, potassium, magnesium, linoleic fatty acid and omega-3. It was discovered by European populations during the era of Spanish colonialism in the Americas. Since then, Western appetite for avocado has grown exponentially, putting at risk the very forests in which these fruits grow.

Why avocado is causing deforestation in Mexico

In Mexico, the world's leading avocado exporter, cultivation of this plant causes the loss of nearly seven hundred hectares of forest every year. This is the finding of an investigation carried out by Mario Tapia Vargas, a researcher at Mexico's National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Fisheries Research, published in the newspaper The Guardian. To meet the growth in exports, farmers are planting ever more young avocado trees and, to make room for them, felling centuries-old pine trees. The two tree species live at the same altitude, in the mountains of the Mexican state of Michoacán, and compete for soil and light. "Even where deforestation cannot be seen, there are avocados growing beneath the pine branches, and sooner or later the pines will be felled," warned Mario Tapia Vargas.

Water waste and too many pesticides

Avocado trees require a large quantity of water — more than twice what the forest would need. Producing two or three fruits requires as many as 272 litres of water (every acre of avocado trees needs one million litres of water per year). This inevitably leads to an impoverishment of water resources: water is "stolen" from rivers and from underground, to the detriment of local populations and of native flora and fauna. To boost production, large quantities of pesticides and fertilisers are also used, which are poisoning aquifers and rich ecosystems.

More avocado, fewer butterflies

Avocado production, which has tripled in recent years (while exports have increased tenfold), also threatens the survival of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). For this species of butterfly, famous for the incredible mass migration that every winter brings millions of individuals to California and Mexico, the forests of Michoacán are precious. The insects typically overwinter and mate in this area and risk, as a result of deforestation, being forced to alter their life cycle.

The value of avocado

Attempting to restore avocado production so that it no longer destroys Mexican forests will not, however, be an easy task. Cultivation of this plant generates in Mexico a value of over 815 million dollars a year and contributes to the creation of numerous jobs across the various stages of the production process. There is therefore no more profitable crop in Mexico than avocado, not for nothing nicknamed "green gold," by virtue of the enormous demand from foreign markets. The United States is the world's leading importer of Mexican avocado (80 per cent), but demand has also grown considerably in Europe. In Italy, over the last decade, imports of exotic fruits such as avocado, mango and papaya have grown, contributing to the impoverishment of Mexican forests.

Working towards a more sustainable avocado

To preserve forests and local populations, the Mexican authorities are stepping up controls to prevent deforestation in protected areas. For their part, farmers are seeking to use more sustainable cultivation methods, such as planting trees closer together, to reduce the amount of water used.