Conclusion of our Pilot Project in Puebla, Mexico
Our Mesoamerica program has seen great change over the past 2 years, taking on a new country, a new name, and an increasingly complex set of regional challenges.
But we’re always reminded why we do what we do. Our growth has meant new relationships and new impact, and we’ve seen both through completion of a pilot project with our first partner in Mexico, Red MOCAF.
Red MOCAF works with ejidos and other Indigenous and campesino communities to strengthen community forest management, ensuring local stewards have the capacity to sustain Mexico’s forests and sustain their communities for generations to come. Amidst declining government investment, mining concessions, and low economic opportunity for women and youth, we support Red MOCAF’s efforts to integrate forest conservation with gender equity and empowerment. .
Within their recently-concluded pilot project, Red MOCAF worked with the Acolihuia ejido in the state of Puebla to restore degraded forest lands and equip a group of women artisans with enhanced tools and training. The project supported community efforts to construct water and soil conservation trenches on 29 hectares of deforested lands, a crucial foundation for this year’s reforestation work.
Another component of the pilot project expanded the capacity of a local women-led enterprise, “Artesanías Los Ángeles.” The 10 women who form the group use waste wood from the ejido’s forests to produce handicrafts and other artisan products for sale in local markets. Equipping these women leaders with new tools, such as an industrial planer and miter saw, and providing training on safe use of these tools, the project boosts production in their workshop and opens new economic avenues, such as furniture production. Ultimately, this expansion strengthens the viability of their enterprise, increases local women' s income, and builds the ejido’s capacity for sustainable community forest management.
This pilot project is just the beginning of many efforts like it, and we’re excited to be expanding our work with such an insightful and inspiring partner.
Mexico holds unique challenges, but it also cultivates unique responses.
