FAMM — Monterrey Metropolitan Environmental Fund (Mexico)

The San Juan River watershed supplies more than 60% of the freshwater consumed by the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, more than 4 million residents in Nuevo León, Mexico. By the early 2010s, the watershed faced acute pressure from agriculture and unplanned urban sprawl, threatening the long-term security of this critical supply.

Secure the long-term water supply for the Monterrey Metropolitan Area through a dedicated metropolitan water fund financing reforestation, direct payments for ecosystem services, land acquisition and passive protection across the watershed.

FAMM (Fondo Ambiental Metropolitano de Monterrey) was formally established in September 2013 through a founding partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC), FEMSA Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), with structural private-sector contributions from ARCA Continental, ALFA, Citibanamex, CEMEX, Heineken, Grupo Cuprum and FEMSA, making it Mexico's first metropolitan water fund. FAMM operates as a non-political, evidence-based technical organisation with annual operational reporting and an independent technical committee.

From 2013 to 2017, FAMM implemented conservation on 5,478 hectares: 1,347 ha reforested, 2,796 ha receiving direct PES payments to landowners, 1,200 ha acquired for conservation, and 77 ha under passive protection. By 2018, cumulative outcomes included 2.4 million native trees planted or maintained and 387,980 linear metres of soil-conservation contour lines in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park, with a total rehabilitated area of approximately 9,000 hectares. TNC hydrological modelling projects that improving green infrastructure on 3,400 priority hectares would achieve avoided runoff of 302 m³/ha/year and reduce erosion by 40%.

The corporate water-fund model pioneered by FAMM has been replicated across Latin America through the Latin American Water Funds Alliance, a 26-city TNC/IDB/FEMSA network.