The town of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro is located in the western part of the Mexican state of Michoacán; its name refers to the destruction of the original San Juan Parangaricutiro during the eruption of the Parícutin volcano in 1943. Since 1982, local indigenous Purépecha community members have been engaged in sustainable timber and non-timber forest extraction and processing from the town's local pine forests. In 1991, a landmark national resolution led to the legal transfer of ownership of 18,138 hectares of communal land to the 1,229 comuneros engaged in the project; in 1999, the project gained FSC certification for its forest extraction practices.

To date, training has been offered to more than 450 local people in technical aspects of sustainable forestry; the enterprise is currently active in more than twenty areas of production, the majority of which involve non-timber forest products, and generates an average of 900 permanent and 300 temporary jobs each year.

 

Key Facts 

Equator Prize Winner: 2004

Founded: 1982

Location: Michoacán State, Mexico

Beneficiaries: 7500 indigenous community members

Biodiversity: sustainable forest management

 

Case Study

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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