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Forest Management and Reforestation - Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Mexico
Located in the biodiverse heart of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, the project is a prime example of how indigenous-led forest management can drive transformative outcomes for climate, biodiversity and local communities. Spanning nearly 46,000 hectares, this initiative combines native reforestation, improved forest management, and a community-owned governance model to deliver carbon removal, species conservation, and social empowerment at scale.
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Project information
Community forest management in Mexico
The project is located in the Ejido Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, Mexico, within the Mayab region of the Yucatán Peninsula. Covering nearly 46,000 hectares, the project aims to maintain vegetation cover and increase carbon stocks through Improved Forest Management.
Historically, the region has been subject to deforestation pressures from tourism expansion, land-use change, and aging forestry practices. The project strengthens sustainable forest management to safeguard biodiversity, reduce emissions, and foster climate resilience. It builds on the ejido’s long forestry tradition, now certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), ensuring responsible timber harvesting and regeneration. Community governance is central, with decisions validated in general assemblies, and benefits distributed fairly. By integrating local participation with advanced forest management techniques, the project provides measurable climate benefits and long-term social development.
Ultimately, it serves as a model for balancing economic opportunity, cultural heritage, and conservation in one of Mexico’s most ecologically significant regions.
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Intervention
Improved Forest Managament (IFM)
Location
Mexico
Standard
CAR
Sustainable Goals
Project performance
The Earthly rating
The Earthly rating is the industry-first holistic project assessment. Earthly researchers analyse 106 data points, aggregating information across the three vital pillars of carbon, biodiversity and people. Projects in Earthly's marketplace all exceed a minimum score of 5/10.
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Carbon
~545k
tCO2e removed in the first two reporting periods
Biodiversity
143
native tree species recorded across the project area
Social
20%
of carbon revenues allocated to a Fondo Social
Project impact
Local impact
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The image shows forest loss within and around the project area from 2010 to 2023. The project zone, outlined in white, marks where carbon sequestration activities occur. While some deforestation is visible inside the boundary, most forest loss has occurred outside the project area, both before and after the project began.
Dataset used: Hansen Global Forest Change (2010-2023) modified
Project area: through time
Deforestation in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula is accelerating due to expanding tourism, illegal logging and agricultural conversion, placing immense pressure on one of the world’s most biodiverse forest regions. This project is an Improved Forest Management initiative, not a forest avoidance project, and it does not receive credits for avoided deforestation. Instead, it generates carbon removal credits solely from measurable forest growth through sustainable harvesting and native species regeneration.
Nonetheless, by reinforcing community-based forest governance and introducing active management practices, the project is effectively safeguarding the forest from increasing external threats, including infrastructure development such as the Tren Maya railway, which is rapidly accelerating land-use change in the region. Through fire mitigation, biodiversity monitoring, and reinvestment of carbon revenues into local services, the project strengthens ecological resilience and serves as a critical buffer against deforestation pressures, while maintaining a conservative crediting approach rooted in removals.
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Positive for people
The ejido of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, home to nearly 31,000 residents, is deeply involved in project governance and benefit-sharing. All major decisions are approved through Asambleas Generales (community assemblies), ensuring Free, Prior, and Informed Consent. Project design integrates women, youth, and vulnerable groups, addressing historic imbalances in land and decision-making.
Economic benefits are distributed transparently: 20% of carbon revenues are earmarked for a Fondo Social, financing community-selected initiatives such as education programs, healthcare support, and ecotourism development. The project also supports pensions for elderly ejidatarios, reinvests in FSC certification, and funds fire brigades and biodiversity monitoring jobs, creating decent, locally rooted employment.
Social safeguards are embedded, including training in climate and forest management, workshops on social and environmental rights, and guaranteed participation mechanisms. The project addresses local challenges exacerbated by rapid tourism expansion and the Tren Maya development by ensuring that community members have viable, sustainable alternatives to land conversion.
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Good for earth
The project directly addresses the drivers of biodiversity loss in Quintana Roo: deforestation, unsustainable timber use, and increasing tourism-related land pressures. By implementing Improved Forest Management practices, it preserves over 93% forest canopy cover and ensures that harvested volumes remain below natural regeneration rates.
Specific actions include selective logging based on minimum diameters, maintaining genetic diversity, creating forest clearings for regeneration, and preventing over-extraction of key species such as mahogany and cedar. Fire risk is mitigated by clearing firebreaks and reducing surface fuels, while soil and water integrity are maintained by avoiding deep tillage and protecting wetlands and “bajos” (seasonally flooded patches).
The project safeguards native species diversity; 143 tree species were recorded, 100% of which are native, meeting and exceeding biodiversity safeguards. It also functions as part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, linking the Sian Ka’an and Calakmul reserves, thus supporting habitat connectivity for emblematic fauna including jaguar, ocelot, spider monkey, and tapir.
How we assess for quality
The Earthly scoring process
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