Durango IFM, Mexico

Covering over 9,000 hectares, the project is situated in the highest part of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Mexico. It enhances carbon sequestration through improved forest management activities. Silviculture serves as the primary economic activity, generating most of the direct and indirect jobs in the area.

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 boosts carbon stocks and strengthens forest management through reforestation, fire prevention, pest control, and ongoing training for effective implementation. It has created economic and social benefits, such as local jobs in ecotourism and crafts, support for education, and local services such as Sistema de Desarrollo Integral para la Familia (DIF).

In addition to delivering emission reductions 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