Quintana Roo Restoration, Mexico

Mexico has lost over 4.2 million hectares of tree cover from 2000 to 2020, according to World Rainforest. Native forests are mainly located in communally owned land, managed by rural communities, which rely in part on logging for their livelihoods.

The project restores degraded forest across 14,000+ hectares of tropical forest in Quintana Roo state. Activities include planting trees, recovering species, creating firebreaks, implementing a Community Management Program, cleaning areas with solid waste, installing signage and monitoring of the activity area.

The project removes emissions, protects endangered species such as pumas, ocelots, parrots, and spider monkeys, and promotes employment. A total of 21.6% of the project budget is allocated to job creation, generating income for the local community. Additionally, 968 payments were made for workdays to community members.

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

• Decent Work and Economic Growth: Increases full-time employment opportunities

• Life on Land: Decreases degraded land area and increases sustainable forest management