Central America & Mexico

On the Front Lines of Conservation

What's at Stake

Mexico and Central America are world leaders in granting land rights to local and indigenous people—a crucial step in protecting forests. But even with significant gains in rights, forest communities are facing threats from agricultural expansion, illegal loggers, and drug traffickers.

On the front lines of climate change

Farmers in Mexico and Central America are already dealing with the effects of climate change: shorter growing seasons, unpredictable rainfall, and a surge in plant diseases and pests. Crops like coffee and bananas could become rare delicacies in the future without bold climate action—but the livelihoods and well-being of farming communities are in jeopardy now.

Our Impact

Our impacts in Mexico and Central America are nothing short of stunning: In areas managed by our partner communities in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, for example, logging has remained at almost zero since 2001—remarkable given that adjacent areas suffer some of the worst deforestation rates in the Americas.

Growing coffee, fighting climate change

27,000 cars

equivalent annual emissions of greenhouse gases removed from the atmosphere

We provided technical assistance to a group of coffee farmers in Oaxaca, Mexico, who launched an agroforestry project to remove 130,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions (the annual emissions of 27,000 cars) from the atmosphere over 30 years through reforestation of degraded land.

Spreading conservation awareness through education

12,806 students

have studied our environmental curriculum in Mexico and Guatemala

We not only provide training and curricula to teachers in southern Mexico and Guatemala, but we also help build local networks so educators can sustain this vital environmental education work in their communities for years to come.

Our Work

In a region hard hit by climate change, the Rainforest Alliance focuses on advancing community forestry, sustainable agriculture, ecotourism, and environmental education to defend vulnerable landscapes and support rural communities.

All resources for Central America & Mexico

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A Day on a Guatemalan Coffee Farm

Experience life on Finca El Platanillo, a Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee farm in western Guatemala.... Continue Reading

Article
June 4, 2019
Fernando Orellana

What’s Behind Migration? In Part, Climate Change

Droughts and severe weather have devastated farms in Central America.

With the “caravan” of asylum-seekers now approaching the US-Mexico border, many news organizations have rightly pointed out that these are people are fleeing extreme poverty and gang violence caused in part by US intervention in their home countries. But there’s another reason behind the exodus: climate change.

"It’s almost impossible to know what the climate will be like at any given point in the year. When your survival...... Continue Reading

Article
November 2, 2018