Mexico could be a sustainable forester’s dream. About one third of the country, some 55 to 65 million hectares (135 million to 160 million acres), is forest. And two thirds of those woodlands are owned by communities, according to the National Forestry Commission. That makes Mexico’s community forestry sector one of the world’s most extensive. Such statistics, however, mask a less encouraging reality, says a report issued in May by the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Forestry (CCMSS). Red tape, taxes and permit charges are strangling a sector that could be a global model, the report argues. Meanwhile, the government’s policy focus has shifted in the past decade from rural-community timber production and management toward tree-planting programs and incentives to leave forests untouched... [Log in to read more]