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Jade Leaf Exports Boost Conservation and Livelihoods in Maya Biosphere ReserveCommunities Earn More Through Sustainable Forest Management Thanks to a Contract with US Importer Continental Floral GreensOctober 5, 2005
Santa Elena de Petén, Guatemala -- The weekly export of jade palm fronds from the forest communities of Uaxactún and Carmelita, in northern Guatemala, is a big step toward sustainable natural resource management and community development in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. The collection of leaves from the jade palm (Chamaedorea oblongata), which grows in the shadows of rainforest trees in Mexico and Guatemala, is a common source of income in the Guatemalan province of Petén. The Rainforest Alliance, an international not-for-profit organization, works with several communities in the Maya Biosphere Reserve where jade palm harvesting is vital to the local economy. With support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Rainforest Alliance is helping those communities manage that resource in a sustainable manner and improve their incomes by facilitating the direct export of their jade leaf to a United States buyer. Since late July, community organizations in Uaxactún and Carmelita have sent one shipment of jade leaf per week to Continental Floral Greens of San Antonio, Texas, which supplies florists in the southeastern United States. These shipments represent an income of more than $100,000 per year for the impoverished communities. More than half of that money goes directly to the jade leaf collectors, and a significant percentage is earned by local women, who select the export-quality leaves.
According to José Román Carrera, regional forestry coordinator for the Rainforest Alliance, community organizations that manage concessions within the Biosphere Reserve have organized themselves to sell jade leaf directly to Continental Floral Greens. He explains that as recently as three months ago, the people who harvested fronds collected from the forest sold them to intermediaries for a much lower price, but most of the leaves they sold had defects, so they ended up in the exporters' dumpsters. A study by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society determined that jade leaves were being over-harvested in the Biosphere Reserve. The Rainforest Alliance consequently looked for an alternative to the status quo and used the market to build a socially, economically and environmentally viable system for sustainable management of the jade palm. According to Carerra, the Rainforest Alliance has taught xate collectors to cut only quality leaves and leave more fronds on the palm, which permits faster regeneration. They now sell their leaves for twice as much as they did previously, and community groups have trained local women to select and package the jade leaf. Since this work was formerly done by the export companies, the local residents now have a new income option. "For the communities, these innovations not only boost incomes and improve livelihoods, they also increase awareness of the importance of managing forest resources sustainably," explains Carrera.
The Rainforest Alliance has worked with the communities in the Maya Biosphere Reserve since 1998, certifying sustainable forestry operations under its SmartWood program and helping local communities and industries sell their wood and wood products to international markets. The Rainforest Alliance collaborates with USAID in the Certified Sustainable Products Alliance to promote fair business relations, rural development and sustainable use of natural resources in Central America and Mexico. The project to help rainforest communities manage their jade leaf exports has benefited from the support of the Nontraditional Product Exporters Association, Counterpart, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Forest Community Association of Petén, Guatemala's National Council of Protected Areas and the University of Minnesota Center for Integrated Natural Resource and Agricultural Management. Jim Everett, vice president of Continental Floral Greens, explains that ever since his grandfather founded the company, they have wanted to work directly with the jade collectors, but the difficulty of coordinating with isolated communities led them to depend on the intermediaries. After a recent visit to Uaxactún, Everett said he was happy with the quality of the jade leaf that the community is shipping to his company, adding that Continental is just as concerned about the steps they take to conserve the jade palm and its habitat, since the company is very supportive of environmental protection. For Uaxactún, a community of 850 set in the rainforest north of Tikal National Park, exporting to Continental Floral Greens means better living standards for local families. According to Floridalma Ax, a member of the Conservation and Management Organization, which manages the community's forest concession in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, women who until recently had no cash income now earn between $6 and $7 per day culling jade leaves. "For us, it's an achievement, it is progress. Jade collection is no longer so wasteful and the women have learned to select the leaves for export, which is a new source of income for them," says Ax.
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