FSC Stories from around the world
Up from the Ashes through Community Forestry
Like the legendary Phoenix, San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro, a Purepecha indigenous community located in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, has found new life amid the ashes. In 1943, an eruption of the nearby Paricutin volcano destroyed the old agricultural town leaving only the ruins of the ancient religious temple. Lava and ash laid waste to more than 40 square kilometers of the villages productive land and ruined its economic base.
Today, the reborn town of San Juan Nuevo stands proudly as one of the Mexico's most successful forest-dependent indigenous communities. San Juan Nuevo began its venture into forest management in 1970. By the early 1980's, it opened its own sawmill, generating 25 jobs. Forestry activities are now responsible for 70% of the community's income, contributing 900 direct jobs and countless indirect jobs for the town's 15,000 inhabitants. The healthy forest-based economy encompasses vertically integrated FSC-certified forest management, logging, milling and furniture manufacturing operations as well as harvest and sale of non-timber forest products.
Currently the enterprise includes forest management operations, two sawmills, a furniture factory, tree nurseries, packaging companies, resin distillation plants, eco-tourism operations, deer breeding services, and cable TV service. Community management maintains high levels of quality circles throughout the enterprise and puts strong emphases on providing specialized training to its workers.
According to Ambrocio Rodriguez Echevarria, general manager of the communal enterprise, Forest Stewardship Council certification is a testimony to the merits of the community's approach. "FSC certification give us confidence in or management of natural resources, and in the creation of positive economic and social impacts as a result of our management."
< Back
Back to top
|
