Boomitra Grassland Restoration, Mexico

The Chihuahua and Sonoran Deserts span 907,500 km sq. across Northern Mexico and the Southwestern USA and are home to some of the most biodiverse grasslands in the world. Unfortunately, climate change and poor land management practices have led to severe soil degradation, desertification, and the release of soil carbon in these arid regions.

Ranchers in northern Mexico, who raise livestock on individually or community-owned grasslands, have traditionally followed unsustainable practices such as continuous grazing without proper grazing or water management plans. This has led to overgrazing, causing severe soil degradation, loss of vegetative cover, and even desertification. As a result, ranchers often struggle to sustain their livelihoods and are sometimes forced to sell their degraded land to farmers who convert grasslands into croplands. This land-use change contributes to further CO2 emissions and the loss of natural flora and fauna.

The project enables ranchers in the region to adopt Improved Grassland Management (IGM) practices, such as rotational grazing and water conservation measures. Rotational grazing involves dividing pastures into sections, or "paddocks," and rotating livestock between them while allowing other sections to rest and regenerate. This practice promotes plant recovery, carbon sequestration, and gradual land regeneration. Additionally, water conservation measures help retain water in arid regions like northern Mexico, increasing biomass growth and further aiding land restoration.

The adoption of IGM practices improves the livelihoods of ranching communities through direct carbon credit payments, which provide an additional income source, and indirectly through increased land productivity. Regenerated lands are less likely to undergo land-use changes, enabling ranchers to sustain their livelihoods while protecting crucial habitats for regional flora and fauna. This approach not only helps combat desertification but also preserves biodiversity and mitigates climate change by reducing CO2 emissions.

In addition to delivering emissions reductions to help take urgent action to combat climate change (SDG 13), the project delivers a number of other sustainable development benefits, these include:

• Zero Hunger: Increases proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture
• Clean Water and Sanitation: Increases proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality
• Decent Work and Economic Growth: Increases annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person
• Life on Land: Increases forest area as a proportion of total land area and progress towards sustainable forest management