A Community-Based Approach to Forest Conservation is Taking Off in Mexico

In a region where trees once fell faster than they could grow back, a quietly transformative climate project is reversing decades of deforestation while working to restore local livelihoods. 

Over the past 20 years, Mexico lost approximately 4.89 million hectares of forest, an area nearly the size of Costa Rica, according to the forest monitoring platform Global Forest Watch. Largely driven by human activities like logging, agricultural expansion, and urbanization, that decline has released an estimated 1.78 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to the data platform Statista. 

Indigenous communities own much of the remaining forested land in Mexico, and many of them historically relied on cutting trees to sell the lumber or graze livestock as a primary source of income. The California-based nonprofit Cool Effect aims to break that cycle with its Seeing the Forest for the Trees initiative, working with over 43 “ejidos,” or communal landholdings, across Mexico to help them reclaim control of their land, culture, and future through forest stewardship. 

In Mexico, ejidos are traditionally communal landholdings governed by assemblies. That community-centered approach carries over into the nature-based carbon removal projects locals create with Cool Effect, developing forest regeneration and sustainable harvesting practices that can replace extractive ones. Through the sale of carbon credits, communities can generate income by restoring the forest around them. That might look like organizing forest surveillance tours to detect pests and diseases, controlling weeds and invasive plants, or pruning and thinning trees. 

“It’s not just about carbon. It’s about creating the conditions for environmental resilience,” said Jodi Manning, CEO of Cool Effect. “We’re helping develop jobs that keep people in their communities, manage their own land, and pass on that stewardship to the next generation.”

Cool Effect was built on the idea that, when designed correctly and managed transparently, high-quality carbon projects can be transformational for the environment and communities alike.

“When carbon is done correctly, it can help the corporate buyer offset emissions they can’t reduce, and at the same time, uplift local communities who protect the land,” Manning said. “We made Cool Effect to be the bridge between both sides.”

The nonprofit supports carbon projects around the world, but Seeing the Forest for the Trees stands out as an example of what sustainable development can look like when rooted in local governance.

“We have reduced over 9 million tons of carbon dioxide and have sent more than $75 million to projects over the last 10 years,” Manning said. “From day one, our mission hasn’t changed: price transparency, radical accountability, and connecting corporate buyers with only the highest quality carbon projects.”

Roughly 60 to 70 percent of project revenue is reinvested directly into forest preservation activities such as monitoring, reforestation and forming fire brigades. The remaining funds are allocated by the communities for social programs. In Oaxaca, for example, part of the revenue is used to support cultural initiatives like Indigenous dance training and traditional costume-making. Other communities have invested in clean water systems, new high schools and scholarships for young residents.

“Every ejido is different, with different needs,” said Elsy Alvarado, Cool Effect’s director of project relations. “Some use the funds for basic infrastructure like schools, clinics and roads. Others prioritize preserving Indigenous language and traditions.”

Alvarado has visited many of the communities, working with local leaders to organize the projects. Cool Effect encourages them to create detailed spending plans before any carbon revenue arrives. 

“The ejidos are a part of Indigenous culture, and that culture is based on communal decision making,” Alvarado said. “It is clear to the community how they are going to spend the money before they get it.” 

The environmental benefits of the initiative are also significant. By supporting improved forest management across dozens of ejidos, the project helps protect threatened species including white-tailed deer, pumas, wild boars, orchids and rare birds.

What differentiates Cool Effect from others in the often opaque voluntary carbon market is its commitment to transparency. The organization discloses the 9.87 percent fee it collects from donations and carbon credit sales to use for credit charges, research, possible registration fees, and administration costs to project developers and buyers. It also shares detailed impact reports outlining how carbon funds are used. 

“In this space, you don’t often see clear pricing or reporting,” Manning said. “We want both sides to know exactly where the money is going.”

Cool Effect also conducts rigorous due diligence, reviewing not just the environmental data but also project financials, governance structures and social impact metrics. It also offers bilingual contract templates to better support project developers in Spanish-speaking regions. 

Thanks to efforts like those, its model has earned trust, even in communities historically skeptical of outside intervention. “When you see the mentality change, when the community realizes that this is their project and their revenue, it’s really powerful,” Alvarado said.

Despite its successes, the initiative — and the carbon market at large — are not without challenges. Verification delays and complex international contracts pose hurdles.

“Project issuance timelines used to be two to three years,” Manning said. “Now, they’re closer to four or five. That can create significant financial strain on communities waiting for credit validation.”

On the corporate side, many buyers are under increasing pressure to ensure every carbon credit represents a verifiable, additional and permanent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. That scrutiny, while necessary, also makes program structuring and budgeting more complex.

“There’s more due diligence than ever before,” Manning said. “But we welcome that, because we want these projects to stand up to the highest standards.”

Still, with over 40 ejidos now participating and more expected to join, Seeing the Forest for the Trees offers a scalable, replicable model for forest conservation across the region. 

“Visiting a project like this is transformative,” Manning said. “You see how hard people work, how much pride they take in their forests. If more people could see that firsthand, they’d understand what high-quality carbon finance can really do.”