MEXICO
>> GEF-SGP biodiversity projects
>> UNDP Equator Prize Finalists and Winners
Selected GEF biodiversity projects:
>> Protected areas programme:
This project supports selected conservation activities based around detailed management plans for ten protected area sites. The development and supervision of management plans will be guided by Technical Advisory Committees, composed of representatives of local communities, non-governmental organizations, local governments and other stakeholders. An ecotourism plan will be prepared and implemented in one of the protected area sites on a pilot basis, for potential replication in other areas. An endowment fund will be established to provide stable long-term financing for basic protection and conservation activities in and around the ten protected areas.>> National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan and Report to the CBD:
This Enabling Activity will help the national government formulate the strategies and actions necessary for the protection and sustainable use of Mexico's biodiversity, as well as prepare a plan for their implementation. The primary output will be a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP).>> El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve: habitat enhancement in productive landscapes:
The goal of this project is to preserve the biodiversity in the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve buffer and influence zones by promoting eco-friendly coffee production and other sustainable activities.>> Mesoamerican Biological Corridor:
The proposed project would promote conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity through the establishment of biological corridors in southeastern Mexico (states of Campeche, Chiapas, Qintana Roo, Tabasco, and Yucatan). The proposed corridors will be selected to optimize connectivity among protected areas. Institutional coordination between federal and state agencies, NGOs and local communities is a central focus of this project.>> Indigenous and community biodiversity conservation:
The overall goal of this project is to achieve more effective biodiversity conservation in the states of Oaxaca, Michoacán and Guerrero by promoting the sustainable protection and use of biodiversity by indigenous communities.>> Biodiversity conservation in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve:
This project will promote biodiversity conservation in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. The Sierra Gorda has the highest degree of biodiversity of all the protected areas in Mexico, due to great altitudinal variations and a heterogeneous rain pattern. It harbours a total of 14 vegetation types, several of global importance, with high levels of species endemism and many charismatic species. This project will protect biodiversity through the implementation of an alternative management model in the Reserve that promotes the sharing of responsibilities between the Sierra Gorda Ecological Group (an NGO) and the National Commission for Protected Areas.>> Capacity building for the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety:
This proposal presents a general panorama of the medium and long-term elements of a national plan for the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol, with discrete, strategic GEF interventions taking place in the context of a longer-term national effort. Mexico will be responsible for biosafety as an integral part of the national strategy to protect the environment without affecting public health.Selected GEF-SGP biodiversity projects:
>> Shrimp cultivation in natural enclosures in the Rio Lagartos Biosphere Reserve:
Development of aqua-agricultural techniques of low environmental impact for protected areas.>> Crocodile farm:
Raising crocodiles to reestablish their populations in order to contribute to the restoration of the trophic chain and for commercial use.>> Production of medicinal and aromatic native plant species:
Production of native fruit species, medicinal and aromatic plans in the western area of Yucatan.>> Reforestation and conservation of biodiversity through agroforestry:
Conservation of biodiversity through agriculture, forestry, and handicrafts among the Mayans of the Yucatan>> Sustainable management of forest resources:
Study for the management, planning and rational use of forest resources in semi-deciduous forests.>> Training for the conservation of endangered plant species:
Community training for the conservation of plant diversity in the Yucatan Peninsula.>> Workshops for the development of environmental education at the Ecoparque El Fenix:
Training of environmental education facilitators.>> Ecotourism plan and restoration of the Mamantel River:
Ecotouristic nature interpretation plan and ecological restoration of a segment of the Mamantel River basin.>> Back to top
UNDP Equator Prize Finalists and Winners:
>> Café de la Selva (Equator Prize 2002 Finalist)
Café de la Selva is a successful café chain developed and owned by the Union de Ejidos de la Selva – an association of indigenous communities in Chiapas. The cafés sell ecologically sound, shade-grown coffee and the majority of the profits are ploughed straight back into local communities. ‘Shade-grown’ coffee varieties are cultivated under the cover of the forest canopy. The vast majority of the world’s commercial coffee is ‘sun-grown’, since these varieties produce (at least initially) a higher yield per acre. But these greater yields come at a high price, since land for planting is typically claimed from the forest. And besides, many connoisseurs maintain that shade-grown coffee tastes better.This combination of ecological and epicurean incentives has created a substantial niche market for shade-grown coffee. Coffee presents certain limitations, however, since in order to achieve the best taste, coffee must be roasted at the last possible moment. And because most premium markets are in Europe and North America, coffee producers are obliged to export green coffee beans. This means that the growers miss out on earnings from the single most valuable coffee product: the cup of gourmet coffee bought in a café.
Café de la Selva has overcome this obstacle by creating a domestic market in Mexico. The chain has since expanded into Europe and the United States. All told, there are currently 19 outlets in operation. The producers also operate their own roasting and grinding plant in Chiapas. Innovative marketing structures and certification methods ensure that the majority of the benefits of the Union de la Selva’s commercial success accrue to the producers (some 1,250 families). Incomes have greatly increased and a proportion of the profits are paid into a community development fund – which has benefited local infrastructure (roads, water supply, etc.) as well as a number of local enterprises. Further, the coffee is often planted in association with food crops, allowing growers to remain self-sufficient in food while producing a cash crop. Café de la Selva’s coffee can thus be enjoyed in the knowledge that its purchase has contributed to the sustainable development of the poorest region in Mexico.
These socio-economic gains have all been achieved with little or no negative impact on the biodiversity of the region, since the need for shade provides an incentive for the conservation of the forest – and the biodiversity within.
Online resources:
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>> Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro (Equator Prize 2004 Finalist)
This innovative Mexican community of indigenous peoples collectively owns 11,000 hectares of forest in the richly biodiverse state of Michoacán. For over twenty years, the community has maintained a wide range of successful eco-enterprises based on sustainable forestry, the creation of eco-friendly timber products (including production of furniture and resins), ecotourism, agroforestry and wildlife management. These enterprises have provided a boost to local incomes while ensuring that the resource base upon which the community depends is sustained for future generations. Reassuringly, the community’s successes have spread well beyond their origins as these novel conservation and business practices have been eagerly adopted by other indigenous organizations in Mexico.
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