Community forest management and the Scolel'te Program.

One way to contribute to carbon sequestration is derived from those activities for the conservation and sustainable management of existing forests, which help to reduce the pressure on these areas.

Community Forest Management is a scheme used by communities and ejidos with the aim of making sustainable use of timber and non-timber resources. The reality that these forest producers face is that they do not usually receive better incomes from the market, derived from good practices and the sustainable use of resources.

The Scolel'te Program uses a "Forest Restoration" system with activities tjat are implemented to promote the natural regeneration of the forest and/or reforestation with the aim of achieving the establishment of a new forest mass, carrying out maintenance and protection and thereby achieve the ultimate goal of carbon sequestration.

One of the working communities for the Scolel'te Program under this system is the Ejido Monte Sinaí II (El Fenix), located in Cintalapa, Chiapas. This Ejido has four decades of having settled with indigenous Tsotsil and Tseltale populations, who carry out certified forestry work (they have Forest Stewardship Council certification) and coffee cultivation.

The community had already been carrying out work for the sustainable management of the forest, an activity that started after the loss of their coffee crops derived from Hurricane Stan in 2005, so since then, they have been aware of the importance of conserving and manage the forests.

However, they have pointed out that the Scolel'te Program has expanded their work potential, as well as, this has helped them to have a better system of registration and management of their forest resources. Efrén Pérez González, current secretary of the Ejidal Commissariat, comments the following:

“The Ejido Monté Sinai II is now dedicated to that today. We have 46 hectares, let's say in total that we are working with Scolel'te right now, with carbon capturing. Today we have dedicated ourselves to that, to capture, to preserve, to plant more pine trees, so what we are interested in, it´s Climate Change”