From Trees to Ecosystems
Twenty-eight years ago, our organization started with a focus on planting trees.
But since our founding, we’ve seen the need to attend to a whole context – forests aren’t sustained without people, and people aren’t sustained without opportunities for work, a connection to their culture, and a voice in the decisions that affect them.
As much as we hope our support has restored natural ecosystems, we also hope it’s strengthened the people-centered ecosystems that will continue for generations to come. That’s why we work with local organizations, and that’s why we focus on building their strength and resilience – we know they will continue to plant seeds long into the future.
Our partner in Mexico, Red MOCAF, is already building an ecosystem of their own. This year, they established a new women’s group, Mujeres Tejiendo el Territorio (Women Weaving the Territory), to support women-led economic initiatives, increase women’s participation in political spaces, and inform Red MOCAF’s work with a gender-specific perspective. Two of the women artisan groups we’ve directly supported in Puebla and Oaxaca are participating in Mujeres Tejiendo el Territorio, continuing to strengthen their own enterprises, forest management capacity, and connection to other initiatives and movements.
A majority of seven sub-organizations that form the network are also rooted in Indigenous territories, including ejidos, and are working to strengthen the leadership of Indigenous women in their communities. Indigenous sovereignty must include the leadership of Indigenous women, and we are proud to see Red MOCAF developing an initiative with this specific focus.
Directly, our collaboration with Red MOCAF over the past year has included reforestation of 30 hectares of community forest and support for 20 women artisans in Oaxaca. And alongside this community-based work, we also invest in the organizations leading it – through support for staff salaries, training, tools, and connections – so that their efforts can continue and expand.
The creation of Mujeres Tejiendo el Territorio shows us what can happen when our partners are supported in this way and have the resources to take their next step.
Just as we hope the seedlings we help plant will grow into thriving forests, we hope our support will grow into a thriving ecosystem of organizations, led by the local communities at the center of our work.
