Community: The Secret to Stopping Deforestation in Guatemala
The forest concessions of the Maya Biosphere Reserve have boasted a near-zero deforestation rate for 20 years.... Continue Reading
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The Selva Maya is the second largest tropical rainforest in the Americas, spanning southeastern Mexico, northern Guatemala, and part of Belize. Here, the Rainforest Alliance partners with 25 ejidos organizations in the Yucatan Peninsula and 12 community forestry concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve to promote community forest management. These communities pursue sustainable economic opportunities while conserving the forest and its biodiversity.
The Selva Maya (including Belize) encompasses 14 million hectares. More than half a million of those hectares are FSC-certified in Guatemala and Mexico. This means that between one and two trees per hectare are harvested every 40 years, and forest harvesting is approved and monitored by local authorities though management plans. About 70,000 people directly or indirectly benefit from the healthy forest.
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The Selva Maya: a Community Forest Management Offer for Responsible Markets
The Rainforest Alliance promotes local community forest management. With ATIBT, we seek access to new markets for communities and Indigenous Peoples to thrive.
Forest concessions in Petén, Guatemala
This study presents a systematic analysis of the socioeconomic performance of community enterprises in the Maya Biosphere Reserve of Guatemala.
Markets for a Sustainable Future
Under the Alliance for Sustainable Landscapes and Markets initiative, the Markets for a Sustainable Future program gathered producers, companies, and organizations together to access local responsible markets.
Climate, Nature and Communities in Guatemala (CNCG)
The CNCG project helped to mitigate climate change in Guatemala through an integrated approach that improves government and community management of natural resources, biodiversity and helped to build institutional and technical capacity.
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Women and Forests: A Winning Team in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve
If ever there were a question as to whether community forestry is an excellent conservation strategy, one would only have to look to the concessions of the Maya Biosphere Reserve for an answer—and to the women leaders who live there.... Continue Reading
The Rainforest Alliance's Work in Mexico
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Maya Communities Join Forces to Boost Sustainable Forestry in Southern Mexico
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All resources for Selva Maya
Indigenous Women Launch a Furniture-Making Business in Mexico
Sustainably harvested wood is at the heart of this new business run by indigenous Maya women.... Continue Reading
Guatemala’s Forest Guardians Go To Washington D.C.
We shared our conservation achievements in Guatemala with congressional staffers.... Continue Reading
Maya Communities Join Forces to Boost Sustainable Forestry in Southern Mexico
A jointly owned carpentry center transforms sustainable wood into fine wood products.... Continue Reading
Indigenous and Local People Lead Major Conservation Initiative in Mexico
An innovative new project puts indigenous and local communities in the driver's seat. ... Continue Reading
2017-2019 Kleinhans Fellow: Megan Butler
Improving Community Forest Enterprise Governance in the Maya Biosphere Reserve This project focuses upon the social organization and governance of community forest enterprises (CFEs) in the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) of Northern Guatemala. CFEs operating in the MBR face intense land-conversion pressure and challenges related to organizational governance. The goal is to improve the organizational […]... Continue Reading
Sustaining the Harvest in the Maya Biosphere Reserve
Assessment of the conservation status of big-leaf mahogany, Spanish cedar, and three lesser-known timber species populations in the forestry concessions of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Petén, Guatemala Ensuring the sustainability of forest harvesting is a cornerstone for developing competitive community forest enterprises (CFEs). Without continued availability of the forest products upon which an enterprise relies, […]