Mesophyll
Group Civil Association, Mexico (GM)
- Address:
- Pino Suárez No 205, Centro,
- 68000 Oaxaca,
México
- Phone number:
- +52/951-516-2835
- Fax:
- +52/951-516-2835
- Email:
- mesofilo@prodigy.net.mx
- Executive director:
- Mario
Bolaños Méndez
- Year founded:
- 1994
- Mission statement:
- To
sustainably manage natural resources and improve the quality
of life in the villages, communities and indigenous ejidos
(communally owned and managed lands) of the State
of Oaxaca, Mexico.
|
| Annual budget: $
800,000.00 (pesos mexicanos)
Major donors:
- Comisión
Nacional Forestal (CONAFOR), México.
- Secretaria
del Medio Ambiente Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), México.
- Secretaría
de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL), México.
- Fundación
Vamos A.C., México.
- Programa
de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD), Regional.
- World
Bank, Regional.
- Fondo
Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (FMCN).
- Fundación
Comunitaria Oaxaca A.C., México.
- Fondo
Social del Banco Nacional de México (BANAMEX).
- World
Wildlife Fund, Regional (WWF).
- Department
for International Development, England.
Objectives:
- At
regional and community levels in urban and rural zones:
- Investigate,
train and advise on matters of natural resource use,
environmental protection, flora and fauna, ecological
preservation and restoration, and promotion of sustainable
development.
- In
the villages, communities and indigenous ejidos,
research, train, and advise on:
- Planning
sustainable development initiatives.
- Gender
equity, also promoted through outreach programs.
- Attention
to health and sanitary issues, and increasing, diversifying
and improving diet.
- Activities
and programs with environmental, social, and economic
benefit in the educational, cultural, artistic, scientific
and technological realms.
- Programs
and actions for improving the local economy.
- Collaboration
and participation with public institutions and other
civil organizations to define public policies related
to development, and social and economic well-being.
Description
of the area where organization works:
Rincón de Ixtlán
Rincón de Ixtlán is located in the western
region of the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, in the northern part
of the Ixtlán District. It consists of 10 small villages
settled in the watershed of the Tepanzacoalco-Cajonos River,
one of the tributaries of the Papaloapan River.
It
forms part of the Sierra Juárez, an area with nine
different vegetation types and high biodiversity; many species,
some of them endemic; diversity of habitats; and the presence
of unique species and vegetation. All these characteristics
have caused it to be included in the “Priority Terrestrial
Areas for Conservation” defined by the National Commission
for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (Comisión Nacional
para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad - CONABIO)
(Sierras del Norte de Oaxaca-Mixe Region, Priority Terrestrial
Area No. 130).
La
Chinantla
La
Chinantla is an indigenous territory located in the northern
part of the state of Oaxaca on a spur of the Sierra Juárez.
The region is made up of 14 municipalities encompassing
a total area of almost 186,664 acres (461,000 hectares)
equivalent to approximately 5% of the state, with a population
of 110,000 inhabitants, mainly of the Chinanteca ethnic
group, although Zapotec, Mazatec, Cuicatec, Ixcatec, Mixtec,
and Mixe populations are also found.
La
Chinantla is a forested region; more than half of the surface
area is covered with forests. Six kinds of vegetation are
found, and highland and middle elevation evergreen and semi-evergreen
forests predominate. With respect to floristic richness,
La Chinantla possesses 20% of the vascular plant diversity
of Oaxaca.
Some
important areas like La Chinantla Baja are considered to
be priority areas for conservation, due to their floristic
richness, number of endemic species, and conservation of
their vegetation.
Memberships:
To
become a member of the Mesophyll Group, present a request
and a professional profile related to the Mesophyll Group's
objectives and projects. This will be evaluated by the Directive
Council.
Benefits of membership:
-
Project
management support.
- Complementary
technical and professional support.
- Use
of the organization's infrastructure.
Number
of members: 7
Projects:
-
Community
Training for Biodiversity Conservation of Forested Coffee
Farms in the Sierra Norte
Summary:
This project in Rincon de Ixtlán, México,
is attempting to determine the value of shade coffee farms
as habitats for biodiversity conservation and studies the
risks of different management practices. The project also
analyzes the added value of coffee farms as a result of
diversification and the socio-economic impact of coffee
cultivation on families. Coffee cultivation can be improved
by strengthening the capacity of regional and independent
coffee organizations to manage and sell biodiversity-friendly
coffee as a certified product under the standards of a fair
market.
-
Management
and Commercialization of Chamaedorea Palm Species
Summary:
Chamaedorea palm species are non-timber
forest resources of the tropical forest areas in Mexico
that have been exploited since the 1940s. This
project consists of studies in the La Chinantla region
in Oaxaca on the management, commercialization, and the
socio-economic conditions of the collectors and growers,
and the ways they organize themselves to use this resource.
-
International
Research Project: Commercialization of Non-Timber Forest
Products in Mexico and Bolivia: Factors Influencing Success
Summary:
This project examines why the commercialization of
non-timber forest products (NTFPs) does not consistently
contribute to poverty alleviation, gender equality, and
sustainable resource management, by undertaking a comparative
analysis of 17 different NTFP case studies, and 10 different
product value chains in Mexico and Bolivia.
Principal
accomplishments:
- Received incentives from the BANAMEX
Homeruns program for community conservation work. Social
Fund of BANAMEX. 2000 and 2001.
- Won the United Nations Development
Programme competition to carry out the "evaluation
a nd perspectives study for sustainable forestry use in
the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Querétaro” in
2002.
- Selected to participate as consultants
in the UNDP-Global Environment Facility (GEF) project for
the “Integrated management of ecosystems in three priority
eco-regions” in 2002.
- Selected to participate in the Ford
Foundation and Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Social y
el Consejo de Educación de Adultos de América
Latina A.C project “Systematization and Projection of Civil
Society Contributions to Local Development” from 2002-2003.
- Selected to organize the Second
Forestry Forum of Oaxaca by the Consejo Técnico Consultivo
Estatal Forestal de Oaxaca in 2002.
- The Mesophyll Group is a member
of:
- The Oaxaca Civil Organizations
Forum (Foro de Organismos Civiles de Oaxaca).
- The Technical Committee of the
La Chinantla Sustainable Development Program (Comité
Técnico del Programa de Desarrollo Sustentable
de La Chinantla).
- The Natural Resources Committee
of the Sierra Juárez of Oaxaca (Comité
de Recursos Naturales de la Sierra Juárez de
Oaxaca).
- The Technical Council of the
Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (Consejo
Técnico de la Reserva de la Biósfera de
Tehuacán-Cuicatlán).
- The Mexican Civil Council for
Sustainable Silviculture (Consejo Civil Mexicano para
la Silvicultura Sustentable).
- The State Forestry Council of
Oaxaca (Consejo Estatal Forestal de Oaxaca).
- Besides the aforementioned projects,
the group permanently works on:
- Institutional strengthening
of the regional natural resource committees of the State
of Oaxaca.
- The construction and management
of firewood-saving stoves to protect women's health
in Rincón de Ixtlán, Oaxaca.
- Concluded initiatives are:
- Conservation and Development
Program for the Mesophyll Forests of the Sierra Norte
of Oaxaca. With support from the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) and the European Union. 1995-1999.
- “Conservation and management
of populations of Aechmea magdalenae in the moist forests
of the La Chinantla region, Oaxaca”, in collaboration
with PAIR [Programa de Aprovechamiento
Integral de Recursos de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México] and financed by the World Wildlife
Federation and Fondo Mexicano
para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (FMCN).
- Training
program for the conservation and management of soils
in Sierra Juárez and La Chinantla. In
collaboration with the “Unión de Pueblos Indígenas
de la Sierra de Lalana”. Thanks
to support from FMCN and the Fundación VAMOS
A.C. 1998-2000.
Volunteers:
The
activities carried out by volunteers include training, research,
and systematization of different components of current projects.
The
organization only covers the costs of field work for the projects
supported by the volunteers.
Related
links:
Publications:
- Beltrán,
Emma. Presencia Institucional y organización de productores
en la Chinantla. Universidad Autónoma de México-Iztapalapa-Grupo
Mesófilo. Reporte de Investigación VII. México.
1997. In Spanish.
- Beltrán,
Emma. Presencia Institucional y Organizaciones de Productores
en los Chimalapas. Universidad Autónoma de México-Iztapalapa-Grupo
Mesófilo. México, 1998. In Spanish.
- Boletín
Naturaleza y Cultura en Tehuacán-Cuicatlán,
en colaboración con Geoconservación. CIGA,
Alternativas, RDS e INDESOL. Números 1 y 2. Oaxaca,
2003-2004. In Spanish.
- De
los Santos Espinoza, Janett & Bolaños M., Mario.
Sombra, aves y café en el Rincón
de Ixtlán . En Suplemento La
Jornada Ecológica, Agosto 30, 2004, México.
In Spanish.
- González
Ríos, Alvaro. Café orgánico de sombra
en el Rincón de Ixtlán, Oaxaca . En
Suplemento La Jornada Ecológica, Agosto 30,
2004, México. In Spanish.
- González,
Alvaro. Deforestación y desarrollo en la Chinantla.
En Suplemento Ecológica, Periódico
Noticias, julio 1999.Oaxaca. In Spanish.
- González,
Alvaro. La productividad agrícola en Oaxaca .
En Suplemento La Jornada Ecológica,
Julio, 1999. México. In Spanish.
- González,
Alvaro. Los bosques de Oaxaca: una visión de fin
de siglo. En Víctor Raúl Martínez (Coord.),
Oaxaca: escenarios del nuevo siglo, Gobierno de Oaxaca-SIBEJ-SAI-IISUABJO,
Oaxaca, 2002. In Spanish.
- González,
Álvaro. Los sistemas de aprovechamiento de recursos
naturales y la producción agrícola en los
Chimalapas. Universidad Autónoma de México-Iztapalapa-Grupo
Mesófilo. México, 1998. In Spanish.
- Grupo
Mesófilo. Boletín Bosque Nublado. No. 1 a
4. 1996-1999. In Spanish.
- López
Paniagua, J. Pita y manejo de selvas húmedas. El
Tecolote. 3ª. Época. 1:15 – 16, Oaxaca, 1999.
In Spanish.
- López
Paniagua, J. & González R, A.. Aprovechamiento
de productos forestales no maderables en la Chinantla, Oaxaca.
En Suplemento La Jornada Ecológica, Agosto
27, 2001, México. In Spanish.
- Maldonado,
Benjamín et.al. Entre la abundancia y la desnutrición.
ANADEGES del Sur-Campo A.C.; Grupo Mesófilo; Universidad
Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca. Oaxaca.
1995. In Spanish.
- Memoria
del Taller “La comercialización de productos forestales
no maderables: Factores de éxito y fracaso”
. United Nation Environmental Program –World Cconservation
MC-FRP-ODI-Grupo Mesófilo. Oaxaca, marzo, 2001. In
Spanish.
-
Memoria
del Taller “Medio Ambiente, Economía Campesina
y Desarrollo Sustentable”. Centro
de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología
Social (CIESAS)-Oaxaca, CAMPO A.C. y Grupo Mesófilo
A.C.. Oaxaca, 1998. In Spanish.
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