The Livelihoods fund launches a new project in Guatemala in the area of Cerro San Gil., near the Caribbean coast to the border with Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.
The project aims to stop the pressure on primary forests of Cerro San Gil which is a hotbed of biodiversity and enables small producers of Maya and Ladino communities to improve their income and living conditions in agro-forestry . Like other Livelihoods projects, project Cerro San Gil will be deployed at large scale: millions of trees will be planted on 4,000 hectares in the three years to come.
Following an international selection process, Livelihoods teams chose this project supported by the Guatemalan NGO FUNDAECO for:
– its high social value: increased income, access to education, inclusion and respect for Maya and Ladino communities, respect the spirit of place in a sustainably managed landscape.
– its high environmental value: preserving biodiversity reserve of international importance in partnership with rural communities, restoration of soil fertility and water resources management.
– its long-term vision based on agricultural entrepreneurship, technology transfer and know-how, finding a good balance between food crops and crops to sale, producer organizations to facilitate access to local markets or to export (rubber, herbs, etc.).
