J.17 RDSLMIL Fact Sheet.pdf

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OVERVIEW

USAID supports Mexico’s goal to achieve net-zero deforestation by 2030 and meet its international environmental commitments. Nearly half of Mexico is covered by forest – a total of 88 million hectares. Over 60 percent of Mexico’s forests are managed by communities with collective land tenure arrangements, such as ejidos, and the rest is on private and public lands. Mexico lost an average of more than 280 thousand hectares of forest per year during the last 3 years. The causes of this deforestation are due to agricultural expansion, cattle ranching, illegal logging, and urbanization, amongst others.

USAID works primarily in the states of Quintana Roo, Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Jalisco with GOM agencies including the Ministry of Environment and Natural

Resources and the National Forestry Commission. USAID also engages with non-governmental stakeholders, including the private sector, environmental NGOs, community forest enterprises, and local communities. Activities include promoting sustainable land use management and increasing income sources from community-based enterprises. In addition, USAID supports the development of markets for forest-carbon credits, improved forest monitoring systems, reducing the negative impacts of forest fires, and supporting regional land management entities.

OBJECTIVE: REDUCED DEFORESTATION, SUSTAINABLE LAND

MANAGEMENT, AND IMPROVED LIVELIHOODS

USAID's initiatives in Mexico enhance transparency and use market-based solutions to reduce deforestation and land degradation. This includes partnering with the private sector and building the capacity of community entities to promote sustainable value chains, and by working with the GOM to improve forest management systems to reduce illegal logging.

Mexico

REDUCED

DEFORESTATION,

SUSTAINABLE LAND

MANAGEMENT, AND

IMPROVED LIVELIHOODS

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USAID SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES ACTIVITIES

Sustainable Landscapes Ventures (Conservation International Foundation) $10m (USAID) / $2m (leveraged funds), 2020-2025. This activity will mobilize investment capital to enable smallholder farmers to implement solutions that reduce deforestation, forest degradation, and grow local economies. Interventions will help targeted regions overcome financial barriers and catalyze commercial investments in sustainable supply chains that preserve forests and improve livelihoods.

Alliance for Sustainable Landscape and Markets: (Rainforest Alliance) $4.1m (USAID) / $4.7m (leveraged funds), 2018-2022. This activity aims to increase the profitability and competitiveness of community-led sustainable farm and forestry businesses, by improving sustainable production practices in agroforestry and forestlands by providing assistance to develop partnerships with the public and private sectors for sustainable sourcing.

Sustainable Management of Community Lands II (Consejo Civil Mexicano para la Silvicultura Sostenible)

$4.2m (USAID) / $4.2m (leveraged funds), 2018-2023. This activity supports improved management of community forests, increasing the economic viability of community-based forest enterprises, and reducing deforestation and forest degradation in the states of Campeche, Estado de Mexico, and Quintana Roo.

Applying the “LandScale Assessment Framework” in Mexico (Rainforest Alliance) $1.3m (USAID) / $1.25m

(leveraged funds), 2019-2023. The purpose of the activity is to test the effectiveness of the LandScale Assessment

Framework (LAF) as a tool to catalyze multi-stakeholder planning and coordinated action in one landscape in Jalisco in order to reduce deforestation. LAF provides a standardized approach for monitoring, verifying, and communicating sustainability status and trends at the landscape level, and creating corresponding incentives for land-users and companies to adopt forest-friendly practices.

Improve Livelihoods through the Recognition of Standing Forest Value using Market Mechanisms

(Pronatura Mexico) $4.1m (USAID) / $4.1m (leveraged funds), 2019-2024. By applying the Climate Action Reserve’s

(CAR’s) forest carbon protocol, the activity will certify 202,000 hectares in different states (including Oaxaca, Aguascalientes, Veracruz, and the state of Mexico). Work is divided into three components: Generation of Carbon

Credits, Public Policy and Market Strengthening, and Organizational Capacity Strengthening.

Mexico: Sustainable Landscapes (U.S. Forest Service) $1.5m, (USAID) 2019-2020. USAID strengthens the capacity of the Mexican National Forestry Commission to implement a robust and transparent national forest inventory and monitoring system to improve decision making and forest management.

Sustainable Landscapes and Forest Transparency Activity (U.S. Forest Service) $4m, 2020-2023. USAID, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, builds the capacity of the GOM in forest management and governance by strengthening Mexico’s forest management system to improve the transparency and legality of raw materials and forest products, improve sustainable land management, and reduce illegal logging and improve sustainable natural resource management practices at the community level.

Sustainable Landscapes Development Credit Authority (FINDECA), up to $5m in loan guarantees. The activity expands access to credit to small-holders (individuals, businesses) in Mexico to develop sustainable agricultural activities, livestock-ranching, and forestry-management activities.

Small Projects Assistance (U.S. Peace Corps) $200,000 (USAID) No end date. USAID provides resources for

Peace Corps Volunteers to provide technical assistance and build the capacity of Mexican institutions and individuals to better manage forest resources and implement a range of local environmental activities.