While the traditional approach to conservation usually excludes the participation of local and indigenous peoples, Rainforest2Reef’s approach is effective precisely because it places these communities at the heart of our work. By building a vibrant alliance between indigenous communities, scientists, conservationists and everyday nature lovers in the US and Mexico, we have already protected more than 300,000 acres of threatened rainforest.

As our name indicates, we focus on both the protection of rainforest and marine habitats. Here’s how it works…

Land protection.

During our first seven years of working to save rainforest lands, Rainforest2Reef’s work focused on the protection of a particular area of the Mesoamerican hotspot – the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.

It was through our work within the Calakmul that we developed a uniquely effective approach to land protection, and eventually protected over 300,000 acres of rainforest habitat.

A new approach is born in the Calakmul.

Deep in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula, the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve shelters nearly 1.8 million acres of lush rainforest. Despite its distinction as a “Reserve” however, only one third of this land was originally given government protection. This protected area is known as the “Core Zone.”

Over seven years, Rainforest2Reef worked with local communities to protect the remaining two thirds of the Reserve known as the “Buffer Zone.”

Working with the ejidarios of Calakmul.

Across the 1.2 million acres of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve’s “Buffer Zone”, a majority of the unprotected land is divided up into over 800 plots called forest extensions, and these are owned by communal groups called ejidos.  Indigenous members of these ejidos are known as ejiditarios.

Due to economic pressure, many ejidos must consider environmentally destructive activities in order to make a living within the rainforest. Slash and burn agriculture is commonplace, and there is also substantial pressure on ejidarios to sell their land to timber companies as well.

An alternative to logging: Long-term conservation leases.

The reality is that ejidos must have income to survive. In order to provide a viable alternative to leasing their land for logging, Rainforest2Reef began signing binding permanent conservation lease agreements with the ejidos.

These conservation leases begin when the ejiditarios unanimously vote to enter binding agreements with Rainforest2Reef. Once signed, these agreements allow the ejiditarios to maintain ownership of their forest lands but require the ejiditarios to refrain from engaging in logging and other destructive activities. In return, the ejido recieves annual compensation equivalent to 2.5 times what they would get paid from a logging company.

Before the annual payment is distributed, yearly surveys of the protected areas are performed by the Rainforest2Reef vigilance committee to ensure that the ejiditarios are keeping their side of the conservation obligation. Only after the yearly inspection do ejiditarios receive their annual lease payment.

A uniquely effective approach expands.

In just seven years, Rainforest2Reef has signed agreements on more than 300,000 acres of previously unprotected rainforest. In this time alone, we have achieved our original goal of signing conservation contracts on all unprotected land within the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.

Due to this phenomenal success, Rainforest2Reef has recently expanded our mission to include the protection of a larger biological corridor within the Mesoamerican hotspot – the area extending from the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, to the Mesoamerican Reef. In the coming years, we plan to use our conservation lease approach to protect an ever larger amount of this rainforest.

Coral reef protection.

Off the shores of the Yucatan, the Mesoamerican Reef is facing threats just as catastrophic as those facing the neighboring rainforests. The coastal and marine ecosystems along the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula are home to a tremendous diversity of life forms including coral reefs, mangrove forests, sea turtles and whale sharks. However, due to rising water temperatures, pollution, and other anthropogenic causes, as much as 70% of these reefs may be lost by the year 2050.