Community Forestryin

Mexico

Ernesto Herrera

Reforestamos Mexico

April, 2014

Content

• Brief Mexican context

• Community forestry

• Economic benefits

• Threats to community forestry

• Lessons learned

Brief Mexican context

Mexican forests

630,000 km2 forested area (1/3 of total sourfice)

Forest’s natural diversity

Biodiversity

• Mexico is one of the 17 megadiversecountries.

• Neartic and Neotropicalspecies.

• 60 pine species

• 125 oak species

• Difficult to manage biodiverse forests

Forest’s cultural diversity

People living in the forests

• 12 million people

• 50% indigenous

• 50% living in poverty conditions

Mexican ethnic diversity

Main forest economic conditions

• Forests account to 0.8 % of GDP

• Mexican forests provide 1/5th of what it consumes

• Construction and furniture sectors main consumers.

• Illegal market makes wood cheaper (30-70% of total market)

• Market doesn’t value environmental and social attributes.

Community Forestry

Community forestry: definition

The process in which communities get organized to manage their forests to produce, and commercialize forest products and services in order to improve their quality of life.

1917: ConstitutionLand rights.

Mexican Revolution

1980

1940

1920

1910

1880

1970

Land Concentration

1917: Mexican Constitution: Art. 27: land rights: public, private and “social” land. Ejidos and communities.

Social land inalienable, imprescriptible and guaranteed against seizure .

Land and management rights evolution

Less than 1% of land rightholders owned 87% of the land.

Forest concessioned to international corporations.

Forest concessions were revoked

1917: ConstitutionLand rights.

Mexican Revolution

1980

1940

1920

1910

1880

1970

Land Concentration

Land and management rights evolution

Land distribution

Community forestry

From 1940 till 1980 xxx hectares were distributed to ejidos.

Forest law 1926, Forest law 1940 concessions were granted to private and state owned companieswho payed logging rights to communities.

Forest moratoriums

Forest Law 1986 Communities got the right to manage their forests. Concessions revoked.

1987-2003 Development of all sort of environmental legislation and institutions.

2003: General Law on Sustainable Forestry Development: current advocacy: community management.

Community forestry

992 CFE

There are 28,662 ejidos y 2,393 communitiesin Mexico

Nearly 3,000 communities own 50 million hectares, 80% of Mexican forests

Difference of communities and ejidos

Communities Ejidos

Agriculture, cattle, forests

Ancient organizations, indigenous

Derived from 1910 Mexican Revolution, mestizo

Only forests

Very similar. Ruled by Land Act. Communities have a long time governance tradition.

Origin

Common land

Organiza-tion

Community forestry applies for both of them.

General assambly

Ejido and community organization

Commissariat/Board of Directors

Supervisory/SurvillianceBoard

Committees

Energy Forests Etc.

Committees organized beyond election termsForestry work, permits, governmental supportCFE.

Trusted people elected every 3 years to supervises the board of director work.

Water

Community members: Right holders

They gatter at least every 6 months. Vote.

Define internal regulations.

Approve what the Board of Directors work.

Distribute benefits.

Common land: use

President, Secretaryand Treasurer: elected every 3 years

Responsible for:Representing the community

Convening the general assambly

Accountability

President and CFE Manager.

Public institutional frameworkNormative role. Forest Management Permits.National Forestry Register.Foresters control (it used to be controled by agriculture)

Forest management:Conservation and forest management program (PROCYMAF). PES.

Inspection, audits, sanctions, revoke permits (environmental police).

Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources

Federal Ombudsman of Environmental Protection

National Forestry Commission

CF Benefits

Benefits

• 80% of legal timber originates in communityforestry.

• 2,000 community logging permits.

• More than 200 communities own sawmill: Local employment.

• 40 communities: 800 thousand FSC certifiedforests.

WB/Profor

• Competitiveness and sustainability study

• Costs, income, net present value (30 year forecast)

• 30 forest communities in Mexico

Site preparation

Reforestation

Forest vigilance

Road manteinance

Fire control

Forester support

Logging rights tocommunity

5%3%

9%

16%

10%

14%

Costs distribution (2011)

2011 costsper hectare

(USD)

Average 57.87

Minimum 2.04

Maximum 516.64

Median 24.51

43%

Income (USD per hectare in 2011)

TimberNon-timber

forestproducts

Payment forecosystem

services

2011 income per

hectare

Average 211.50 15.58 8.17 235.25

Minimum 1.36 0.00 0.00 1.36

Maximum 1,292.21 251.97 144.02 1,688.20

Median 90.62 0.08 0.00 90.70

90% 7% 3%

16 of 30 CFE: resin, latex, firewood, medicine, recreation

8 of 30 CFE: water, biodiversity, erosion control

Pine, oak… very little tropical species.

30 CFE, 30 year forecast

Production area

(hectare)

Wood harvested

(m3)

Yield (m3/hectar

e/year)Costs (USD)

Income (USD)

Net presentvalue

(USD/hectare)

Average 7,717 11,393 2.52 24 68 2,052.20

MIn 133 389 0.09 2 31 -0.85

Max 26,032 46,095 28.79 263 249 12,379.07

Median 4,182 6,265 1.03 13 56 897.14

Profor study conclusions

• Large Mexican market: sales

• CF costs are higher in Mexico than other countries.

• Important to reduce forester costs with local capacity.

• Financial education required for CFE. Book keeping.

• CFE should seek profitability, not only employment provider.

• Important to find market for other non commercial species.

• More analysis required for NTFP and PES.

• CFE are reasonable profitable, sustainable and attractive to investment.

• Government should put attention in this sector: subsidies, incentives, etc.

Threats of community forestry

Global threats

• Globalized markets: forest plantations: low wood prices (pine)

• Climate change: community and forest adaptation.

National threats• Political will focused on urban issues

• Subsidies to cattle farming and agriculture: deforestation

• Mining: 30% of the land concessionedfor mining.

• Complex legal framework for CF

• Informality and Illegality: low wood prices

• PROFEPA’s law enforcement duties: too strict with CF, not too strict in the market place.

• Drug cartels’s “taxation”, security, corruption.

• Lack of forest sector competitiveness over other land uses.

Internal threats

• Ageing community decision makers.

• Lack of opportunities for young people and women.

• Migration of men (USA, cities, tourist zones).

• Corrupt caciques, lack of transparency.

• Too much politics not good for production and market access.

• Good community presidents cannot be reelected immediately, no learning process.

• Lack of business language and entreprenurial mindset.

Lessons learned

Governmental support

• Too much control derives in informality-ilegality: Legality shouldn’t be costly.

• Certification: too much effort for communities and subsidies from CONAFOR but the market doesn’t value.

• Payment for ecosystem services: not for conservation only, sustainable management is now recognized.

• PROCYMAF: Not only teaching how to fish, it is very important to teach how to sell the fish.

• Technology and machinery alone doesn’t bring competitiveness.

• Too much support not good: paternalism. Mexico and Guatemala example.

Local capacity

• Good foresters, bad foresters: they need to be certified.

• Developing community foresters is possible and help communities to reduce costs and engage young people.

• CFE can be managed by outsourcers and separate politics from production.

• Reforestamos is seeking to transform the extension service model from technical advice to entreprenurial mentoring/coaching. We’ll keep you posted.

Alliances

• Lobbing: very important to raise public awareness for normative and institutional innovation.

• NGO’s role: different complementing roles: social, environmental, economic, political, etc.

• Private sector can complement their business model with CSR in order to support community forestry.

@ReforestamosMex

Ernesto Herrera

ContactoThank you!

ReforestamosMexico

eherrera@reforestamosmexico.org