The project area is located in the Caribbean coast region of Guatemala, in the Sarstun Motagua reference region.
Belonging to the biologically diverse Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, forests in the project area are important nationally and internationally for the ecosystem services they provide.
The project is the world’s largest grouped forest based carbon project; hundreds of diverse landowners (including governmental, NGO, private and community) have joined to protect 675 parcels of forest making up a total of 59,341 hectares. Activities on the ground to develop sustainable livelihoods include working with local farmers on technical assistance, agriculture inputs and route to market for a variety of sustainably produced commodities such as spices and jungle leaves, as well as developing this beautiful coastline into a thriving eco tourism hub.
The project is critical to local water supply, as municipal water comes from the watershed protected by the project. In addition, protecting forests along coastlines also can help in coastal defence and disaster risk reduction for local communities.
This project addresses 13 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Content and photo credit: Forest Carbon
