With over 138 million hectares of forest land, a history of forest loss, and millions of inhabitants in forest-dependent communities, Mexico represents a key country in the endeavor to find equilibrium between forest industry, human development, best practice implementation, and forest protection. For decades, Mexico has worked with international partners to build internal forest management capacity at national, regional, and local levels with loans and grants from sources including the Forest Investment Program (FIP) and others.
The case study Sustainable Forests, Sustainable Communities: A Case Study of the Forest Investment Program in Mexico explores the outcomes of the FIP in Mexico, finding that the program has been successful in achieving a mix of objectives including rural development, poverty reduction, improved market access, and increased resilience for forest-dwelling communities and their forests.
Mexico has successfully leveraged support from the FIP as decades of capacity building and strategic thinking has set the stage for paradigm shifts in the economic valuation, sustainable management, and climate change mitigation and adaptation potential of the country’s critical forest resources. Going forward, there are continued opportunities to share lessons learned and expand these investments to reach additional communities.
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