Political lobbying and advising
One of our objectives is to create alliances at all levels of the government (federal, state, and municipal). These partnerships allow us to ensure the conservation of forests and the effective monitoring of our environmental, economic and social actions. The active participation of the private sector and the forests inhabitants allows us to obtain the data needed to aid the government in modifying certain public policies as well as demonstrating the importance of these changes.
The government has allowed communities to use their forests independently through a decentralized land management system. However, communities still need the support of the government and the private sector to reach development. Community forests have also been successful in generating revenue and providing economic development for the communities that own them. 80% of the legal timber in Mexico now originates from communities.
Rather than regulating economic activity, the existing regulatory framework governing forest exploitation in Mexico has focused on inhibiting it. Unlike farming or stockbreeding, forest exploitation is the only type of land use that requires a permit. Greater integration between the forest and other sectors is a precondition for enhancing the recognition of the economic contributions of forests. Such integration will require major changes in policies and institutional arrangements. Mexico must combat illegality to achieve a better placement of its products, nationally and internationally. The development of our political strategy helped us obtain a strong and formal alliance with the government of the state of Jalisco and the creation of our program of Legal Timber.