A little bit of our history
The Arbolitos Project emerged more than 20 years ago as a forest conservation and production project that would provide environmental services, capture CO2, and would reduce clandestine logging by legally producing timber on a sustainable fashion. Over time, it evolved and nourished itself with information, knowledge and, above all, a different sensitivity regarding forests and their relationship with people.
At the beginning, it was proposed as an initiative for timber production in staggered stages, which would serve to finance the conservation of a segment of the forest. Caveat: The project today does not look much like its origin, although the motivation has not changed.
Thanks to a lot of dialogue, especially with knowledgeable and committed organizations and people such as those of Tlaloc Foundation; to some management failures with different actors but, above all, thanks to the natural maturation of the project, today we propose a more precise climate change mitigation approach, based on a comprehensive and sustainable forest management model, where forest ecosystems and human activities can coexist with a negligible impact.
The harmony we seek is not only with respect to the ecosystems, but also with respect to the people and communities that inhabit their environment, through processes of empowerment and local development.
This model is also financially viable, so that it will allow us to care for and expand the forest areas under our direct management. Between the area that will be under direct control of the project, and that which could be added up by other actors, such as local communities (ejidos) or property owners, we have the goal of incorporating 2.5 thousand acres (one thousand hectares) of forest to the region in the following years.
By replicating this forest management model with other organizations, actors, and communities, we could incorporate thousands and thousands of more hectares throughout Mexico.
PROMOTING TEAM
We are a group of people committed to the forests of Mexico and convinced that the path to sustainability is built from the bottom up.
Pepe Iracheta
Founder and project leader
Pepe grew up surrounded by trees and with a very strong sense of the importance of transforming people's relationship with forests. He is dedicated to the practice of land and environmental public policy, and he accompanies his professional practice with activism from a project approach, and a fight for the defense of forests, water, and ecosystems.
Claudia Viloria
Co-founder
Claudia is an expert in project planning and management, as well as in promoting initiatives that advance the rights and well-being of all. She is a believer in working with key actors from every sector to be able to promote holistic projects, for the betterment of our future.
Carlos Mendieta
Co-founder and Director of Tláloc Foundation
Carlos is a social builder who is concerned with empowering people so that they can achieve their own dreams. He has a special interest in generating alliances, increasing collaboration between the different sectors of society, and dialogue processes that allow the participatory construction of agendas that contribute to global sustainability.