For Mexico’s Indigenous Peoples, self-driven development protects people and planet

Ancestral lands are integral to Indigenous Peoples’ culture, identity and traditional knowledge systems. But despite their UN-recognized right to these lands, they face increasing challenges to their sovereignty.

Indigenous lands are home to some of the world’s largest reserves of fossil fuels and minerals, attracting widespread deforestation and exploitation. This is in sharp contrast with traditional Indigenous ways of life, which respect the natural world.

But with the right support and investment, this trend can be stopped – and even reversed. In the Michoacán region of Mexico, an IFAD-supported Indigenous community is restoring their homeland, strengthening their community and protecting the planet.

Like other Indigenous Peoples around the world, the Mazahua live in harmony with their natural environment. Each generation passes down traditional knowledge about how to protect their forest, ensuring long-term sustainability.

When the threat of deforestation materialized and part of their forest was cut down to grow avocados, the Mazahua community came together to replant and protect it. Today, the forest is in pristine condition.

“Our community takes care of our forests because that’s where we get oxygen and water,” says José, a local artisan.

They have also boosted biodiversity. José and his community live in the buffer zone of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. Every autumn, millions of monarch butterflies migrate here from North America, a critical part of their life cycle – but the species is threatened by deforestation.

For the Mazahua, however, the butterflies hold deep spiritual significance: Monarchs are believed to hold the souls of departed loved ones, returning each year to visit in time for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It’s no wonder that they take protecting the butterflies’ habitat very seriously.

The Mazahua people have long used drying as a means of preserving foods and ensuring a balanced diet while respecting the changing growing seasons. However, shifting weather patterns have meant their traditional methods aren’t as fruitful as they used to be.

“My grandparents and my mother taught me to dry things, but in the sun,” says Adelina, who leads community meetings.

Luckily, Adelina had the means to make drying more efficient. She received support through Alternative Energy Promotion with Mazahua Women, a project funded by IFAD’s Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF) along with FUDETEC, a local NGO. Together with her community, she decided to invest in a modern drying machine.

Thanks to their new machine, the Mazahua can preserve vegetables more efficiently and keep them fresh for longer. Now mushrooms, pears and peaches are available to the community year-round.

The project in Michoacán is one of 53 projects around the world currently supported by IPAF. The facility is distinctive in that the projects it funds are designed by Indigenous Peoples’ communities themselves, ensuring they are rooted in traditional knowledge and culture. At the regional level, this is coordinated by Indigenous-led organizations: FIMI for Latin America and the Caribbean, Tebtebba for Asia and the Pacific and Samburu Women Trust for Africa.

“Supporting Indigenous Peoples is very important because they have proven they have many solutions to care for the environment,” says Karla Pita Vidal, a member of IFAD’s Indigenous Peoples team.

IPAF ensures that Indigenous Peoples have the opportunity to decide how development funding is used. And as Adelina and José’s thriving forest demonstrates, they know how to use it well.