Good practice

Projet carbone communautaire Scolel'te (Chiapas, Mexique)

Mexico · San Cristóbal de las Casas · See the Mexico profile

Le projet de marché carbone volontaire le plus ancien au monde (1994), piloté par des communautés agricoles autochtones et métisses à Chiapas sous le standard Plan Vivo. Couvre 9 150 ha d'agroforesterie communautaire ; plus de 860 000 USD versés directement à ~500 familles depuis 2002.

9,150 ha

Superficie en agroforesterie / reboisement

US$860,000+

Paiements directs aux familles (since 2002)

~500

Familles bénéficiaires

Projet carbone communautaire Scolel'te (Chiapas, Mexique)

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: AMBIO S.C. (Cooperativa Ambiental de Chiapas) / ECOSUR
Period: 1994-present
Keywords: Agroforestry, community, indigenous, carbon, reforestation

Context

Scolel'te, au Chiapas, au Mexique, lancé en 1994, est le plus ancien projet de marché carbone opérationnel au monde, mené par des communautés agricoles autochtones et métisses selon Plan Vivo.

Results

Il couvre 9 150 ha d'agroforesterie et de reboisement communautaire, versant plus de 860 000 USD directement à environ 500 familles depuis 2002.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-21
AMBIO S.C. (Cooperativa Ambiental de Chiapas) / ECOSUR — accessed 2026-06-21
Plan Vivo Foundation – Scolel'te Project — accessed 2026-06-21
AMBIO S.C. – Programa Scolel'te — accessed 2026-06-21
Yale ELTI Tropical Restoration Library – Scolel'te Plan Vivo Project — accessed 2026-06-21

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 67/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 8% in this catalogue (335 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Carbon — sequestration / storage, evidenced2/3

Plan Vivo certified continuously since 1994 across 9,150 ha of community agroforestry; >USD 860,000 in direct farmer payments confirm sustained credit issuance over 30 years, though a cumulative tCO2e total is not publicly disaggregated.

Biodiversity — conservation / improvement, evidenced2/3

Community-managed plots in the Chiapas biodiversity hotspot support native tree species and wildlife corridors under traditional Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Chol Maya land management; outcomes are not formally quantified.

Water & soil — retention, infiltration, erosion control2/3

Agroforestry and forest restoration on highland slopes in Chiapas reduce soil erosion and improve water infiltration in river headwaters, inferred from 9,150 ha of land-use change but not independently measured.

Fire resilience — risk reduction, evidenced1/3

Managed community forest plots in fire-prone Chiapas highlands incidentally reduce fuel loads, but fire management is not a stated objective or monitored metric.

Governance, certification & transferability3/3

Plan Vivo certified since 1994; AMBIO S.C. commercially self-sufficient since 2002; 30+ years of continuous third-party verification; credits registered in the Plan Vivo Foundation registry; indigenous cooperative governance.

Cite this

Evidoria. Projet carbone communautaire Scolel'te (Chiapas, Mexique). Persistent ID: 83fc463e-6f5a-42e1-9f8e-62c3e7d0ffbf.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

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