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.
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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.
The Rainforest Alliance's Work in Mexico
We are working to grow Mexico’s domestic market for sustainably produced products.
Maya Communities Join Forces to Boost Sustainable Forestry in Southern Mexico
A jointly owned carpentry center transforms sustainable wood into fine wood products.
All resources for Selva Maya
New report finds that community production forestry is an effective approach to conservation
A new report published today by the Climate, Nature and Communities in Guatemala (CNCG) project analyzes deforestation trends in the 2.1 million-hectare Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR), the largest protected area in Mesoamerica. The report confirms that production forestry in the hands of local communities can conserve forests as effectively as strict reserves. CNCG is a project financed […]
Deforestation Trends in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala (2000 – 2013)
Covering close to 2.1 million hectares, Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) is the largest protected area in Central America and home to about 180,000 people, as well as globally important biodiversity and cultural heritage. This report by the Rainforest Alliance, Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (CONAP), and the Wildlife Conservation Society analyzes deforestation trends in […]
First Grade Curriculum: Belize
Learn about the mystical forests of the Maya and the second largest barrier reef in the world! Toledo Institute for Development and the Environment (TIDE) is working with communities in southern Belize to protect a huge swath of the Selva Maya (or Maya forest) and the coastal ecosystems downstream. Students will learn about the jaguars, […]
The GuateCarbon initiative and REDD+ readiness in Guatemala
As one of the only such projects in the world that is building on community-based production forestry and enterprise, GuateCarbon is generating important lessons with global significance.
Strengthening FORESCOM and the Community Forest Enterprises of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala
Before the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) was established in the Petén in 1990, the area was plagued by illegal logging, which focused on removing only the most valuable tree species, such as mahogany. At the same time, civil conflict and displacement resulted in significant in-migration to the region, sparking extensive conversion of forests for agricultural […]