Enhancing carbon sequestration and improving livelihoods in Mexico's shade-grown coffee plantations

The forests of the State of Veracruz fall within the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot and have been assessed as one of the centres of tree diversity of Mexico. One such ecosystem is the Tropical Montane Cloud Forests. These cover less than 1% of Mexico’s national territory but are home to around 10% of the plant biodiversity within the country, including a high number of endemic species. 

The livelihoods of most families, mainly in the central region of the State of Veracruz, depend on coffee production, which is vital to the local economy. The coffee plants are grown in the shade of the local trees, many of which have additional uses; direct products such as food and medicine, and more general ecosystem services such as preventing soil erosion. 50% of the cloud forest area of Mexico has already been transformed by human activities such as urbanization and deforestation for agriculture, and climate change is disrupting cultivation conditions. This has reduced the capacity of the cloud forest to support local livelihoods in the long-term, and to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. 

Therefore, it is important to find innovative ways to mitigate climate change. Enriching shade-grown coffee plantations with native trees that have a high capacity for carbon sequestration is useful for local communities, contributes to mitigating the effects of climate change and, at the same time, strengthens local livelihoods. 

This project aims to: i) strengthen the capacity of smallholder farmers to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration, and ii) improve local livelihoods by increasing tree diversity and their ecosystem services. 

To reach these outcomes, the project is progressing through the following steps:

1. Strategic species selection of native trees based on:
   a)Scientific approach for species prioritisation using an algorithm that includes carbon sequestration capacity, conservation status, distribution, uses and other traits.  
   b)Participative approach with coffee producers, who select their preferred species based on economic benefits and ecosystem services. 
2. Seed collecting, conservation, and research to evaluate the germinative resilience of the species to future climatic scenarios. 
3. Plant propagation, donation, and planting in coffee plantations, to evaluate the survival and growth of the selected species, and their carbon capture in the field. 
4. Capacity building, dissemination, and marketing, to sustain and improve local livelihoods. 

This project incorporates Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) principles to combat the inequalities experienced by individuals as a result of their social identities, including gender, location, disability, wealth, education, age, caste/ethnicity, race, sexuality. 

Leader
Dr Tiziana Ulian

Co-Lead
Michael Way

Project Coordinator
Dr Maraeva Gianella

Other Kew team members
Dr William Milliken
Dr Efisio Mattana
Elizabeth Bell
Silvia Bacci
Fiona Macdonald
Camila Gutierrez
Ben Evans
Fraser Gregg

Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Principal investigator in Mexico
Dr Patricia Dávila Aranda

Co-Investigator
Dr Isela Rodríguez Arévalo

Co-Investigator
Dr César Mateo Flores Ortiz

Other team members:
Alejandra Salguero Velazquez  
Alvaro Casa Madrid Cerón
Anabel Ruiz Flores
Armando Ponce Vargas
Dr Cesar Alejandro Ordoñez Salanueva
Claudia Pando
Dr Daniel Cabrera Santos
Ivan Plascencia Rosiles
Jessica Snell Cordero
Dr Josefina Vázquez Medrano
Juliana Álvarez Lara
Laura Campos Arias
Lilia García Rojas
Martín López Carrera
Dr Salvador Sampayo Maldonado 

Pronatura Veracruz

Implementation supervisor and Director
Elisa Peresbarbosa Rojas

Project Coordinator
Dr Gabina Sol Quintas 

Coordinadora Programa de Cafetales y Biodiversidad
Dr Jazmín Cobos Silva

Other team members
Alejandro Martínez González 
Ana Gabriela Zamora Martínez 
Flor Vasquez 
Jazmin Cobos Silva 
Lorena Rodríguez Colorado 
Lucero García Miranda 
Miryam Araceli García Álvarez 
Olivia Carolina Mota Rodríguez 
Roberto Aburto Muñoz 
Abraham Sánchez 
Víctor Virgilio Hernández Vidal 
Daniel Jarvio 
José Luis Ramírez Morales 
Diego Ávila 
Doriam Reyes 
Cercia Jazmín Cortes 

Instituto de Ecología 

Researchers 
Dr Robert Manson 
Dr María Toledo 

Other Team Members 
Dr Eva Aurora Bautista Calderón  

External Consultants 
Alejandro May Guillén – Marketing Consultant 
Alma Palacios – Socio-economic Consultant 
Alejandro Guerrero Lara – Communications Consultant 
Alejandra Chavarría – Communications Consultant 

External Advisors 

Dr Elena Lazos 
Teresa Durand Mazza 
Carlos Lozano 
Martin Johnston 

Phase 1 

• Presentation of project results and methodology in a participatory workshop with coffee producers. 
• A handbook on using native trees to enhance carbon sequestration in shade-grown coffee plantations. 
• Download the handbook (PDF) 
• Analysis report on 25 native tree species preferred by smallholder farmers.   
• A climate resilience evaluation on 7 native tree species.  
• Assessment on the carbon capture potential of 5 tree species. 
• A Methodology for the selection and agroecological management of native tree species to enhance carbon sequestration (mitigation of climate change) in the production of shade-grown coffee. 

Phase 2 

• The handbook on using native trees to enhance carbon sequestration in shade-grown coffee plantations revised and translated into English. 

• Training workshops 
• The selection and agroecological management of native tree species with high potential for carbon capture and climate resilience. 
• Monitoring the growth of the selected native species.  
• Reforestation trials – pilot study 
• Pilot with 5 coffee farms to plant and monitor the growth of the selected native tree species with high potential for carbon capture and climate resilience. 
• Marketing strategy 
• With pathways for smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods. 
• Update of the global public good video 
• Methodology validation through peer review and journal publication. 
• A forum with state and regional authorities to disseminate project results,; to identify and enhance networks in the State of Veracruz and other coffee regions of Mexico e.g. Chiapas, Puebla, Oaxaca.
• Dissemination of project results and scoping activities for the replication of the project in another Mexican coffee region e.g. Chiapas, Puebla, Oaxaca. 

Phase 1

1. Full project film
2. Climate change and coffee production
3. Actions to fight climate change
4. Species selection
5. Conservation
6. Methodology
7. Selected species

Phase 2

1. Methodology - English or Spanish

This project is led by the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, in collaboration with the Faculty of Higher Studies Iztacala of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in alliance with Pronatura Veracruz A.C. and the Institute of Ecology A.C. (INECOL) It is funded by UK PACT Mexico, and John and Catherine Emberson, and is supported by the British Embassy in Mexico.