Partner Institutions

CORENCHI - The Committee for Natural Resources of the Chinantla Alta
CORENCHI is a community-based organization in the Chinantla Alta of Oaxaca comprising the indigenous communities of Santa Cruz Tepetotutla, San Antonio de El Barrio, Santiago Tlatepusco, San Pedro Tlatepusco, San Antonio Analco and Nopalera del Rosario. CORENCHI members are the owners and managers of over 26,770 Ha of community conserved areas officially recognized by Mexico's National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (CONANP). Formed in 1994, this six-community partnership strengthens the socio-economic well being of its beneficiaries through sustainable management of natural resources. In collaboration with various governmental, civil, private and international institutions, CORENCHI has developed certified protected areas, income generation from environmental services, organic coffee production and agroforest systems. In 2006, the organization won Honorable Mention for the Ecological Award (Merito Ecological) from the Mexican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) for its efforts in forest conservation. CORENCHI was also nominated for the 2006 Equator Prize.

Geoconservación A.C. http://www.geoconservacion.org/
Based in Oaxaca City, Geoconservación is a Mexican NGO that promotes the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. The organization's interdisciplinary team uses a participatory approach to strengthen the social and natural capital of Mexico's indigenous and peasant communities. Formed in 2001, Geoconservación has been working with a special focus in CORENCHI communities to build local capacity for monitoring, assessment, and conservation of local jaguar populations and their habitats. Strategies in place include using GIS for making maps of vegetation and jaguar populations, research of their interactions with humans and livestock, and study of traditional beliefs surrounding jaguars. Geoconservación has also played an important role in the process of environmental services payment to CORENCHI communities, the creation of a local biological station and other diverse agroforestry projects.

CONAFOR – National Forest Commission http://www.conafor.gob.mx/portal/home.php
CONAFOR is a public agency under the Mexican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). Its objective is to develop, support and promote conservation and restoration of Mexico's forests, as well as to participate in developing and enacting plans, programs and policies for sustainable forestry. CONAFOR’s community forestry program (PROCYMAF) seeks to improve natural resource management and conservation in communities and to increase revenues from sustainable use of forest resources. CONAFOR operates a project on biodiversity conservation in indigenous communities (COINBIO) focused on maintaining high levels of biodiversity in southern Mexico by strengthening and promoting community initiatives, cultural values and traditional resource management practices.

The Botanical Garden of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma http://www.ibiologia.unam.mx/jardin/index.html
The Botanical Garden of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, in Mexico City, is an applied research center investigating the use, management and cultural values of Mexican flora from historical, current, and future perspectives. The garden disseminates its findings to science professionals and the general public. A principal focus of the garden’s mission is ex situ and in situ plant conservation of endemic, rare or threatened species.

Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden
The Oaxaca Ethnobotanical Garden, in Oaxaca City, is dedicated to preserving the state's native plants and traditional ecological knowledge. The garden has been working with local communities since 1998 to create a living collection, database and herbarium of the useful and ecologically significant plants of this megabiodiversity state, complemented by an extensive library. The garden’s research team has highlighted Oaxaca's remarkable ethnolinguistic diversity and demonstrated the significant correlation between biological diversity and cultural complexity in the state.

Proyecto MIE - Integrated Ecosystem Management Project http://www.undp.org.cu/eventos/aprotegidas/proyecto11.html
Proyecto MIE is a Mexican government initiative, financed by the Global Environment Fund (GEF), administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and implemented by Mexico's National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP). Its aim is to protect biodiversity and to sustain ecological functions through institutional frameworks and community capacity building in agroforestry and ecological restoration in the Chinantla as well as in two other regions of Mexico.

Ojo de Agua Comunicación http://ojodeaguacomunicacion.org