Generating income by protecting the environment The Group for Environmental Studies, GEA AC (Grupo de Estudios Ambientales AC) in Chilapa, Guerrero, are working successfully with local producers to grow a wild variety of agave to make Mezcal, an alcoholic beverage similar to Tequila. There were two alternatives for the Sanzekan Tinemi and the communities they represent. The first was to produce and sell as much mezcal as possible, as cheaply as possible, but face the danger of quickly depleting basic regional resources and the supply of firewood. The second was to regulate quantities and qualities of extraction and production, to plant enough maguey to guarantee sustained production, to introduce firewood plantations and to seek markets that will pay for quality mezcal. (Maguey is the plant used for the production of mescal, tequila being the most popular type of mezcal) With this in mind the GEA AC have been working side by side with the regional peasant organization, the Sanzekan Tinemi since 1995, developing the sustainable management of natural resources within the local peasant economy. Background Non-timber forest products play an important role in the peasant economy of hundreds of families who live in the Montaña and Centro regions of Guerrero, Mexico. This tropical dry forest land is rich in a variety of non timber products including palm, oils, soft woods, medicinal plants, orchids and agaves, yet according to official statistics (INEGI, 2000) the people living here are among the poorest in the country. Great volumes of products are harvested, transformed and sold every year supplying regional, national and international markets at very low prices. In one community twenty tons of palm is extracted every month by just 400 families, who work every day to braid the dry leaves, yet their income is still only around six dollars per person per month. In four municipalities the yearly production of mezcal (an alcoholic drink made from agave) is close to 40,000 litres, this supports 3000 jobs and brings in an income of 20 thousand dollars. In order to survive, families have increased the volume of harvest, which has led to the deterioration of natural resources - in some cases in an irreversible manner. The process of transforming non-timber products like palm and maguey also requires the use of firewood, with an additional impact on the forests, (three hundred tons of firewood are used to produce 40,000 litres of mezcal.) Oppportunities and challenges Maguey is the plant used to produce beverages like pulque, aguamiel and mezcal (tequila is the most popular type of mezcal) as well as fibres, and is therefore of great cultural and economic importance in the arid and semi-arid regions of Mexico. During the years that the law forbade artisan production of mezcal many small factories were destroyed, but today, with the recent raising of the ban, there is now an extraordinary opportunity for developing new commercial channels for local producers. This opportunity is based on the worldwide popularity of tequila, high demand which has caused a crisis in the industry, and the growing national and international recognition of the quality of natural firewood cooked mescal. Tequila and a great part of the mezcal produced in the states of Jalisco an Oaxaca come from maguey plantations. Agave cupreata, the most abundant in the Montaña de Guerrero, is a wild species, as are many of the agaves that grow in poor peasant regions of the country. The conservation of this resource is not reduced to maintaining large populations. It is also important to preserve genetic diversity through natural or artificial pollination. This sole fact makes conservation of agaves a multifaceted problem, considering that in order to preserve the plant, its pollinators must also be preserved, and in order to preserve them, their habitats need to be insured. Mezcal production directly affects genetic variation of agaves, because the plants are used immediately before they flower. Large scale sustained production of mezcal depends in the last instance on the genetic vigour of the populations, which comes from pollination. Even if artificial pollination is introduced in the productive chain, in order to maintain the plant in the long term, this does not diminish the loss of pollinators and their habitats, since mezcal production has another, perhaps more dangerous effect on the environment: the use of large quantities of firewood to attain the particular artisan quality desired in the drink. Intensive use of firewood in the distilleries threatens the forest patches still left in the communities. The consequences of forest cover loss can be of enormous importance, of which severe erosion and reduction of water sources are examples. The great challenge is to develop a model for sustainably producing both the maguey and the firewood it requires as a basis for developing a peasant controlled commercial enterprise. The GEA AC and Sanzekan Tinemi are working side by side to achieve the following objectives: 1. Carrying out an ecological study of the maguey populations in order to answer basic questions: How many plants are there? How many can be harvested without threatening the population? How many need to be introduced every year? Where to plant? Who is the pollinator, what is its habitat and requirements? 2. Carrying out a basic study on firewood use, to answer: How much firewood does the dry tropical forest produce? What are the impacts of firewood extraction for mezcal production on the forests? How much firewood needs to be planted to guarantee sustainable production? What species should be planted? 3. Developing simple methodologies for estimating population densities and development that may be used by peasants in other communities. 4. Experimenting alternatives for firewood production in the nurseries and in small plantations (peasant experimentation). 5. Carrying out social analysis considering the ways communities regulate their agave, the production of mezcal and the extraction of firewood. Also, the role of each actor in the production of maguey and mezcal, including local and regional markets, and an estimation of costs. How can the production of mezcal contribute to social equity? What new agreements must be established? Where should the benefits go? 6. Finally, integrating the above into a management plan for maguey and firewood production in the region, including ecological, technical and social aspects. Actions Since 1995, the GEA AC has been working side by side with the Sanzekan Tinemi, developing specific actions oriented towards an integrated management of the natural resources in a peasant economy framework. The main activities carried out together so far in 19 Indian and Mestizo communities have been: · the establishment of seven community nurseries, which today produce over one million plants every year (maguey and native trees for firewood and other uses) · forming a reforestation committee in every community that takes part in the program, to be in charge of the nurseries, the planning and carrying out of the reforestation work. The committees meet every two months to plan and evaluate their work; · establishing seven communal protected areas, which range from 10 to 100 hectares each, designed to keep cattle out and ban all extraction, firewood included; · carrying out basic ecological and ethno ecological studies of the palm in 1997 (Brahea dulcis (HBK)Mart.) in order to develop a management plan (one of the first management plans for a non timber forest species in Mexico); · planning and carrying out the management plan for B. dulcis in Topiltepec, and expanding it to other communities, based on farmer to farmer dissemination · carrying out a detailed study of the way communities decide and put into practice local forms of regulating the use and management of their common pool natural resources. · with help from Sanzekan Tinemi, a new regional organization is being formed by mezcaleros who wish to register a collective trade mark and look for new markets. The young association has already received an offer from the local government to finance a bottling enterprise. Conclusion The great advantage of this project is its capacity to create synergy, joining efforts between GEA, a well established 23 year-old civil organization, Sanzekan Tinemi, with its regional presence and infrastructure (nurseries with an operating budget, personnel, vehicles and computers) and the communities that will benefit so much from this work. Another plus is the confidence and understanding that has developed in the process of six years of working together. Employing participatory methods has allowed the integration of local peasants in all phases of research and implementation and a new alliance is being explored with consumers in Mexico City - a kind of mezcal club - ‘the friends of Sanzekan’. Programa de Manejo Campesino de Recursos Naturales del Grupo de Estudios Ambientales AC y Area de Reforestación y Recursos Naturales de la SSS Sanzekan Tinemi. << country/story review