29.11.2024
Selva Maya: When local communities become the guardians of the second largest tropical rainforest in the Americas.
The Selva Maya, the second largest tropical rainforest in the Americas, covers 14 million hectares and is home to exceptional biodiversity. At the heart of this forest lies the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR), which is the Guatemalan part of the Selva Maya. The MBR was created in 1990 and is managed by Guatemala's National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP). In order to reconcile forest conservation with the needs of local populations, a system of community forest concessions has been set up in the RBM.
These concessions, of which there are 13, cover more than 400,000 ha, or more than 70 % of the multiple-use zone of the RBM. They are managed by local communities organised around ACOFOP (Association of Forest Communities of Petén), which has played a crucial role in the implementation and success of this community management model. This community management model has made it possible to maintain virtually zero deforestation rates within the concessions, in contrast to the high rates observed at national level. This success is attributed to the involvement of local communities who, as direct beneficiaries of the sustainable exploitation of the forest, are motivated to protect it.
The RBM community forest management model, which has been in place for over 20 years, is a successful example of forest conservation in the tropics. The ConForMa project, led by CIRAD and supported by the FGEF, aims to promote this model on a regional and international scale, based on scientific data and transdisciplinary collaboration. The aim is to identify the conditions needed to replicate this model in other neotropical forest regions facing similar challenges.
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