Climate Action Mexico Project #10663

Sustainable Rural Life

by Fondo Mexicano para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza, A.C.

Project Report | Jun 6, 2018
Towards 14 new communities in northern Mexico

By Francisco Ehrenberg | Innovation and Special Projects Officer

Two women in their community farm, Zapaliname

Dear friends,

We are speeding up our efforts to mobilize new resources to support 14 new communities in the states of Coahuila and Nuevo León, in northern Mexico. This year’s project is a little more ambitious in its reach, as it includes water and food security components through the creation of small-scale community farms and the construction of rainwater harvesting systems.

The project's 14 communities suffer from high rates of poverty and marginalization, and their inhabitants are dependent on government subsidies to survive. As a result, many people choose to migrate to cities or the United States, often leaving behind weakened family structures. Those that stay generally find employment as day laborers in nearby ranches, earning less than the minimum wage.

Four main issues exacerbate the systemic poverty in these communities. First, public services and infrastructure for waste management are absent, heavily polluting the immediate environment. Second, the use of traditional open fires for cooking endangers the health of women and children. The resulting indoor air pollution is strongly associated with lung cancer and several other cardiovascular afflictions that increase the likelihood of premature death. Moreover, the unregulated harvest of firewood leads to the degradation of wooded areas, a situation that is particularly worrying in these high-value conservation sites. Third, there is insufficient access to nutritious food, mainly fruits and vegetables, causing malnutrition that affects the development of school-age children. Finally, there are not enough clean and safe water sources for the people in these communities to meet basic needs for drinking water, cooking, and hygiene.

The project will alleviate poverty by addressing these four issues, specifically: the establishment of five solid waste management units will decrease environmental pollution; the introduction of clean cooking technologies, namely wood saving stoves and solar pots, will abate indoor air pollution; the installation of 20 family gardens will increase the availability of fresh produce; and the construction of 21 rainwater harvesting systems will provide reliable water sources.

More info on this coming soon, and in the meantime we will continue to work tirelessly to improve the living conditions of some of the most vulnerable segments of the population in rural Mexico, while at the same time contributing to the conservation of the country’s vast but endangered natural heritage.

We want you to continue with us on this journey by donating to our projects and staying tuned for all of our updates. Every one of your donations matters, and is fundamental in our efforts to mobilize more resources from other potential donors.

Thank you!

The communities are located in these two regions.

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Mar 9, 2018
A great start of the year for the project!

By Francisco Ehrenberg | Innovation and Special Projects Officer

A woman from San Agustin using her new cookstove

Dear friends,

We are delighted to share with you that our project in the Yucatan Peninsula came to a very successful end last month. All of the project’s activities were carried out on time partly because of the great work of our partner organization, a local cooperative called Túumben K’óoben, and because of your continued support for the Sustainable Rural Life Program.

During these past months we worked with three Mayan communities in the Puuc region of the Yucatan Peninsula, two of them in the state of Campeche (Suc Tuc and Ich Ek) and one in the state of Yucatan (San Agustín). This region is of high conservation priority because it still retains 86% of its original forest cover, serving as a sanctuary for biodiversity and a corridor connecting some of the peninsula’s protected areas. Although the collection of firewood is not the main environmental pressure that these forests face, it contributes to forest degradation as 66% of the families that live there burn this type of fuel in traditional open fires to cook and heat water. More importantly, indoor air pollution resulting from firewood combustion in inefficient stoves is a major threat to the health of the women and children of these communities.

With your help, we were able to deliver more appropriate cooking technologies to 59 Mayan families. In total, we distributed 42 solar pots, built 17 fuel-efficient stoves and carried out a series of workshops in each community, highlighting the proper use and maintenance of the technologies.

Sustainable Rural Life in 2018

We have already begun our efforts to mobilize new resources to support 14 new communities in Mexico, this time in the northern states of Nuevo León and Coahuila. This year’s project is a little more ambitious in its reach, as it includes water and food security components through the creation of small-scale community farms and the construction of rainwater harvesting systems.

More info on this is coming soon!

We will continue to work tirelessly to improve the living conditions of some of the most vulnerable segments of the population in rural Mexico, while at the same time contributing to the conservation of the country’s vast but endangered natural heritage.

We'd love for you to continue with us on this journey by donating, spreading the word, and staying tuned-in for all of our updates.

Thank you!

A woman trying out her new solar hotpot.

The location of the 3 Mayan communities.

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Dec 12, 2017
End-of-year update for Sustainable Rural Life

By Francisco Ehrenberg | Innovation and Special Projects Officer

Ich Ek Workshop

Hello there!

The end of the year is fast approaching, and we'd like to give you a brief summary of the wonderful work we've been able to do these last few months with your generous support!

Yucatán Peninsula

In our last report, we shared a new project that we were implementing in the Yucatan Peninsula with help from our partner, the local cooperative Tuumben Kooben. We are happy to announce that the project is being carried out successfully, specifically in two communities in the state of Campeche. The communities are called Ich Ek and Suc Tuc. We held a workshop with each of the communities, educating them about the importance of sustainably using their available natural resources while also reducing their use of firewood and the smoke that this produced in their homes. The workshop was focused on teaching the communities how to build their own clean cookstoves. The majority of participants in the workshops were women, which speaks of the high potential for these more sustainable practices to be passed down generations. Response was overwhelmingly positive, with very active participation from attendees; they showed a clear interest in adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. We've included some photos of the workshops for you to check out!

Next steps: We have secured the 42 solar ovens that were planned for this project and will be delivering them to the region over the course of the coming months, while also holding more workshops to make sure the eco-technologies are properly adopted.

We'd like to thank you once again for your support! You have helped these communities adopt more sustainable lifestyles, reducing deforestation and air pollution along the way and truly improving their lives.

Lastly, in this giving holiday season, please consider becoming a recurring donor to continue your support for Sustainable Rural Life!

We wish you very happy holidays, and stay tuned for our next report!

Ich Ek Workshop

Suc Tuc Workshop

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