SAF Talk: Impacts of the Forest Investment Program Investments in Mexico’s Sustainable Forest Manage
I had the opportunity to share our research and resulting Case Study at the annual Society of American Foresters meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Abstract:
Mexico has 138 million hectares of forest and a history of deforestation and degradation. This research uses interviews, surveys, and existing data to explore the impact of the World Bank’s Forest Investment Program, which aids both rural development and reduced deforestation and degradation, in rural and indigenous Mexican communities.
This research explores the impact of these investments in rural and indigenous communities with interviews, surveys, and a desk analysis of reported data. Results suggest that the FIP support contributed most strongly to: 1) improved sustainable forest management; 2) greater financial security in rural communities; and 3) better connections between local level results and national objectives in forest management. Moreover, while individual attitudes towards climate change vary by job or role in the forestry sector, they exhibited consistency in framing the role of sustainable forest management in improving livelihood outcomes in Mexico.
