How #Guatemala, #Mexico, and #Belize plan to protect 14 million acres of #Mayan #forest

Mexico, Guatemala and Belize have announced plans to create a huge reserve of tropical forest spanning across the three countries. Pushing out criminal gangs and protecting the land from ranchers, miners and loggers won’t be easy.

Aug. 21, 2025

Excerpt: "One proposal from Mexico is the expansion of its '#PlantingLife' program, which offers landowners money to grow certain kinds of trees either for fruit or timber. The program has a $2 billion budget, Bárcena said.

"But the program, which dates to ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has faced criticism. In 2021, the World Resources Institute reported that it had actually incentivized deforestation in Campeche state. Bárcena said the program is being adjusted to better meet environmental objectives.

"Mexican sustainability and climate action expert Juan Carlos Franco, who works in southern Mexico, said security is crucial and requires the government to act as 'guarantor.' But the work has to be carried out with civil society in the local communities, including in places where locals have found ways to coexist with the illegal activity surrounding them, he said.

" 'Communities oriented toward the #biocultural management of the territory can overcome despite the crime, that’s the most revealing message,' he said.

No #megaprojects

"Another challenge will be holding governments over the long term to commitments to forgo big projects that promise economic development but threaten #EnvironmentalDamage, such as Mexico’s tourist rail operation, the Maya Train, which Belize is interested in extending to its territory.

"Orantes, the Guatemala minister, said that Guatemalan President #BernardoArévalo would not allow megaprojects in the reserve because when access is opened in the forest it becomes difficult to control everything that follows.

"Arévalo recently declined to renew the contract of a #petroleum company that had been operating for 40 years in a Guatemalan reserve known as the #MayaBiosphere.

"Guatemala is making the largest land contribution to the reserve, encompassing 27 existing protected areas. Arévalo had already made clear that he would not run an extension of the Maya Train proposed by Mexico’s last president through protected areas.

"In Mexico, Bárcena noted that the 950-mile (1,500-kilometer) train line, which started running in late 2023 and goes in a rough loop around the Yucatan Peninsula, lies outside the new reserve’s territory.
She said her agency was working to alleviate some of the environmental impacts of the train line, in collaboration with companies operated by the Mexican Army, which built a large portion of the rail line and operates the train.

"To avoid destructive projects in the new reserve, the three governments agreed to create a council made up of environmental authorities, as well as an #Indigenous advisory council, Bárcena said. Any proposed projects in the reserve would have to pass through them."

Read more:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/americas/how-guatemala-mexico-and-belize-plan-to-protect-14-million-acres-of-mayan-forest/article_20e22c99-d965-528f-90b6-20e93296c85f.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/GyXR8

#SolarPunkSunday #ProtectTheForest #IndigenousPeople #CommunityActivism

This summer, Indigenous land defenders in “Quebec” made the logging lobby eat shit—blockades, pressure, the whole nine. But the state will try again. The Atikamekw are digging in for winter with a permanent camp to watch their forests and stop illegal cuts. Cold’s coming fast. Kick in so they’ve got what they need to hold the line.

Donate: https://gofund.me/fd5d9f6e2

#Atikamekw #LandBack #ProtectTheForest #StopLogging #Quebec #NoConsentNoContract

#EmeraldAshBorer and Other #TreeHealth Concerns
#Maine #DACF Update for Cities and Towns

September 11, 2025
#MaineForestService

"On September 11, 2025, The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the City of Belfast hosted a workshop to update city and town tree and forest managers and public works staff along with interested community members on the known status of emerald ash borer in Maine, local and state management efforts, municipal support opportunities, as well as a Q&A session."

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXFuktJRzSM

#SaveTheForests #SaveTheAshTrees #Basketry #ProtectTheSacred #ProtectTheForest #AshTrees #MaineForests #MaineDepartmentOfAgriculture #MaineDepartmentOfAgricultureConservationAndForestry

How #Guatemala, #Mexico, and #Belize plan to protect 14 million acres of #Mayan #Forest

Mexico, Guatemala and Belize have announced plans to create a huge reserve of tropical forest spanning across the three countries. Pushing out criminal gangs and protecting the land from ranchers, miners and loggers won’t be easy.

By Sonia Pérez D. And María Verza, Aug. 21, 2025

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — "Mexico, Guatemala and Belize have announced plans to create a huge reserve of tropical forest spanning across the three countries. Pushing out criminal gangs and protecting the land from ranchers, miners and loggers won’t be easy.
The nature reserve announced last week and called the #GreatMayanJungleBioculturalCorridor would stretch across jungle areas of southern Mexico and northern parts of the two Central American nations, encompassing more than 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares). It would become the second largest reserve in the Americas, behind only the Amazon.
In interviews this week, the environment ministers of Mexico and Guatemala emphasized the need for security, while also expressing the intention of administrations in both countries to avoid destructive projects in the area.

" 'The first thing is that the security forces begin to have a presence,' because the region has been abandoned and left to organized crime, Guatemala Environment Minister Patricia Orantes said. 'This is not primarily an environmental battle. We’re talking about the Guatemalan state needing to retake control of its territory.'

"#Environmental groups have long said that the jungle on both sides of the Mexico-Guatemala border is dotted with clandestine landing strips for cocaine-laden planes, smugglers moving migrants north and illegal loggers.

"Mexico Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena said that all three countries will need to boost their security presence in the reserve. 'We’re not going to protect the forest ourselves, the security secretary has to help, the army,' Bárcena said.

Communities as allies

"Just sending troops will likely be insufficient, as Mexico’s experience along another part of its southern border in Chiapas has shown. Organized crime has infiltrated economically-strapped communities with few options and it has been difficult to root them out.

"Guatemalan lawyer and environmental activist Rafael Maldonado said it will be vital 'to convert communities that are believed to participate in drug trafficking into allies of the park.'

"To do that, Orantes said the government must offer economic alternatives to those residents.

"One proposal from Mexico is the expansion of its '#PlantingLife' program, which offers landowners money to grow certain kinds of #trees either for #fruit or #timber. The program has a $2 billion budget, Bárcena said.

"But the program, which dates to ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has faced criticism. In 2021, the World Resources Institute reported that it had actually incentivized deforestation in Campeche state. Bárcena said the program is being adjusted to better meet environmental objectives.

"Mexican sustainability and climate action expert Juan Carlos Franco, who works in southern Mexico, said security is crucial and requires the government to act as 'guarantor.' But the work has to be carried out with civil society in the #LocalCommunities, including in places where locals have found ways to coexist with the illegal activity surrounding them, he said.

" 'Communities oriented toward the #biocultural management of the territory can overcome despite the crime, that’s the most revealing message,' he said.

No #megaprojects

"Another challenge will be holding governments over the long term to commitments to forgo big projects that promise economic development but threaten environmental damage, such as Mexico’s tourist rail operation, the Maya Train, which Belize is interested in extending to its territory.

"Orantes, the Guatemala minister, said that Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo would not allow megaprojects in the reserve because when access is opened in the forest it becomes difficult to control everything that follows.

"Arévalo recently declined to renew the contract of a #petroleum company that had been operating for 40 years in a Guatemalan reserve known as the #Maya Biosphere.

"Guatemala is making the largest land contribution to the reserve, encompassing 27 existing protected areas. Arévalo had already made clear that he would not run an extension of the Maya Train proposed by Mexico’s last president through protected areas.
In Mexico, Bárcena noted that the 950-mile (1,500-kilometer) train line, which started running in late 2023 and goes in a rough loop around the Yucatan Peninsula, lies outside the new reserve’s territory.

"She said her agency was working to alleviate some of the environmental impacts of the train line, in collaboration with companies operated by the Mexican Army, which built a large portion of the rail line and operates the train.

"To avoid destructive projects in the new reserve, the three governments agreed to create a council made up of environmental authorities, as well as an Indigenous advisory council, Bárcena said. Any proposed projects in the reserve would have to pass through them.

"Some Mexican activists, like Pedro Uc who lives in the Yucatan, remain skeptical of the government’s commitment to conservation considering the same political party that brought the Maya Train remains in power in Mexico. Others like Franco are willing to move ahead and keep the pressure on the three governments to maintain their commitments."

Read more:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/americas/how-guatemala-mexico-and-belize-plan-to-protect-14-million-acres-of-mayan-forest/article_20e22c99-d965-528f-90b6-20e93296c85f.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/GyXR8

#SolarPunkSunday #ForestsAreLife #ProtectTheForest #PreserveNature #CentralAmerica

Bills revive debate over #SearsIsland port plan

Maine Public | By Peter McGuire
Published March 12, 2025

"Lawmakers heard more than five hours of testimony Wednesday from both sides of a debate over preserving Sears Island in the Town of #Searsport.

"A pair of bills from state representative Reagan Paul would extend a #ConservationEasement across the island and restore #SandDuneProtections in a 330-acre parcel set aside for development.

"The Winterport Republican said it's time to end decades of controversial port proposals for the island in the town of Searsport. The latest plan is a floating offshore wind port by the Maine Department of Transportation that has so far failed to attract federal funding.

"'And yet #MDOT refuses to face reality, doubling down on failure and proving this is not about offshore wind, it is about pushing #IndustrialDevelopment at any cost,' Paul told members of the legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

"Local #conservationists support the proposal and said the highest and best use of the island is as a wild area. Any commercial development, including the wind port, can be done at nearby #MackPoint, a fuel and materials terminal."

Read more:
https://www.mainepublic.org/climate/2025-03-12/bills-revive-debate-over-sears-island-port-plan
#SaveSearsIsland #ProtectNature #Maine #WindTurbines #WindPort #PenobscotBay #ProtectSearsIsland #ProtectTheForest #ProtectTheDunes #WindTerminal #SandDunes #ProtectWahsumkik #EndangeredSpecies

YES! VICTORY! Public pushback makes a difference!

#MaineTurnpikeAuthority drops controversial #GorhamConnector project

by WGME Staff Thu, March 6th 2025 at 7:56 PM

GORHAM (WGME) – "The Maine Turnpike Authority is now dropping its controversial Gorham connector project.

"The project would have built a new highway from South Portland to Gorham, with the goal of easing heavy road congestion.

"The MTA paused the project last year after receiving backlash from local residents.

"The project would have required the demolition of nearly a dozen homes and confiscation of #farmland."

"'There was a lot of concern, and people wondered if it's the right-sized tool for the job, a lot of people have concerns that, building another highway, there's concerns that it will just fill up,' MTA Director of Communications Erin Courtney said.

The MTA says it's heading back to the drawing board to re-examine traffic conditions and review past mobility studies to find better ways to ease congestion in the area." [Like #LightRail, #RapidTransitBusLines and more #BikeLanes!]

https://wgme.com/news/local/maine-turnpike-authority-drops-controversial-gorham-connector-project-south-portland
#Maine #SaveSmilingHillFarm #SmilingHillFarm #InducedSprawl #GorhamConnector #MainersForSmarterTransportation #Maine #MaineNews #GorhamBypass #GorhamSpur #Maine #RapidTransit #SaveTheFarms #ProtectTheForest #InducedDemand #Sprawl #SaveRedBrook #ProtectTheWetlands #BrookTrout #SaveTheForest #Wildlife #HuskyLine #RapidBusTransit

"I really wish that the wider public would wake up to what we are leaving behind for those who come after us." – Pär Mikael Åhrén, Chairman of Ohredahke Sámi Community.

Here are testimonies from the reindeer herders of Ohredahke Sámi Community about how SCA, Sweden's and Europe's largest private forest owner, is systematically logging high conservation value forests in Sápmi.

#StandWithSápmi #ProtectTheForest

#Denmark will plant 1 billion #trees and convert 10% of #farmland into #forest

November 18, 2024

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — "Danish lawmakers on Monday agreed on a deal to plant 1 billion trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest and natural habitats over the next two decades in an effort to reduce fertilizer usage.

"The government called the agreement 'the biggest change to the Danish landscape in over 100 years.'

"'The Danish nature will change in a way we have not seen since the wetlands were drained in 1864,' said Jeppe Bruus, head of Denmark’s Green Tripartite Ministry, created to implement a green deal reached in June among farmers, the industry, the labor unions and environmental groups.

"Under the agreement, 43 billion kroner ($6.1 billion) have been earmarked to acquire land from farmers over the next two decades, the government said.

"Danish forests would grow on an additional 250,000 hectares (618,000 acres), and another 140,000 hectares (346,000 acres), which are currently cultivated on climate-damaging low-lying soils, must be converted to nature. Currently, 14.6% of land is covered by forests.
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"The deal was reached by the three-party Danish government — made up of the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the center Moderates — and the Socialist People’s Party, the Conservatives, Liberal Alliance and the Social Liberal Party.

"A vote in parliament on the deal is considered a formality.

"In June, the government said livestock farmers will be taxed for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming."

https://apnews.com/article/denmark-forest-trees-fertilizer-e55416347fcc385a3ea8e2415726f908

#ProtectTheForest #Rewilding #GlobalWarming #GreenhouseGases #Livestock #Forests