Sierra de Guerrero, Mexico

Partner: Consejo Regional de la Sierra de Guerrero (CRESIG -Regional Council of the Sierra de Guerrero Mountains)

EcoLogic works with The Regional Council of the Sierra de Guerrero to implement watershed management and payment for ecosystem services programs, providing ongoing technical and financial assistance. Filo Mayor, where we have focused our efforts, is in the section of the Sierra de Guerrero which holds the watersheds that provide 98 % of the water feeding the resort city of Acapulco. Deforestation is rampant as land is sought out for purposes of agricultural expansion. The people living in these mountains remain poor, while the tourism industry downstream thrives on the water provided by the upland communities. EcoLogic and the Regional Council work to create opportunities that provide alternative sustainable livelihoods for the poor and structure equitable market links between the unquenchable demand for clean and constant water and the watershed management services supplied by the rural poor.

Recent Results

Sustainable Livelihoods

  • Promoted organic flower and vegetable production that emphasizes good soil and erosion control
  • Negotiated partnership with COMEX, a large Mexican paint company, to create a project that will produce paint thinner from sustainably harvested pine resin; this project will impact 10,000 rural inhabitants and create 1,500 new jobs
  • Initiated feasibility studies for several social enterprise projects

Forests

  • Established a network of 26 community-managed protected areas with tree nurseries to provide seedlings for restoration and reforestation; communities involved span over 600,000 acres of important upland habitat which now form a coordinated biological corridor
  • Inspired creation of network of locally-declared protected areas, managed by the Sierra de Guerrero communities, which will cover 617,500 acres
  • With local forestry experts, demarcated boundaries and conducted species surveys in upland protected zones
  • Began design for a technical management plan for the network of the protected areas
  • Facilitated relationship between the Regional Council and Root Capital, from whom the Council will receive low-interest financing for further development and commercialization of forestry
  • Worked with communities who depend on forestry for their livelihoods to organize and support fire prevention groups; through these groups, community members conduct annual forest maintenance, remove accumulated tinder, maintain access roads/ firebreaks, and respond to fires
  • Began work in conjunction with Reforestamos Mexico to reforest the Papagayo River Watershed

Payment for Ecosystem Services: Water

  • Conducted water analysis studies in Papagayo River tributaries
  • Began negotiations with ministries and private sector groups for political support, government funds, and private funds for payment for ecosystem services

Looking Forward

  • With Reforestamos Mexico, begin planting of 5 million trees over the next three years
  • Finalize negotiation with Acapulco’s tourism industry to compensate upland communities for the watershed protection and management services that provide 98% of the water used in the city; this agreement could prove to be a model for tourist destinations around the world
  • Establish reforestation projects that produce carbon credits to sell on the voluntary carbon market
  • Commercialize emerging sustainable enterprises along Papagayo river such as vegetable and fruit cultivation, and trout fisheries