From Farmland to Forests

Decades of deforestation have altered the climate and rainfall patterns in rural Chiapas, Mexico. The forests have been replaced by farmland, which small scale farmers have used to provide a meagre income for their families. However, as the climate patterns have changed, the effects on the farmers have been startling, with less productive harvests becoming the norm. A small selection of farmers and landowners have realized the threat this has caused to their way of life, and for the past two decades have worked with Cooperativa AMBIO, an NGO based in Chiapas, to replant and manage plots of forest that were once farmland. Special thanks to Cooperativa AMBIO for the access and interviews.