Since 2009, Mexico has been developing a national strategy for the implementation of REDD+. At the COP 16 in Cancún in 2010, the Mexican government presented Mexico’s Vision of REDD +. The following year, a national work group was set up for REDD+ early actions along with Technical Advisory Councils (CTCs) in each state. In 2012 a new federal climate change law was passed which committed Mexico to achieving zero carbon loss in original ecosystems by 2020. And in 2014 a nationwide consultation process began on Mexico’s REDD+ strategy, which will be finalized by the end of 2015. Our research includes a legal study that examines how powers over land use are distributed among different sectors and levels of government. We also conducted participatory workshops with key actors to build land-use scenarios with a landscape governance approach.
Multilevel governance at the landscape scale
To study multilevel governance processes in Mexico, we collected primary data through almost 150 interviews on 10 cases of increasing and decreasing carbon emissions located in the states of Chiapas and Yucatán (see Table). We developed detailed histories of land-use changes in 6 sites with REDD+ early actions and payment for ecosystem services projects trying to stop deforestation or enhance forest stocks, as well as in 4 sites where extensive cattle ranching, oil palm plantations and commercial agriculture are driving deforestation. We interviewed the constellation of actors associated with each land-use change, as well as regional and local government representatives from those jurisdictions. The research also examined the types of benefit-sharing arrangements established in the project areas and the legitimacy of their design processes. Reports on this work will include a country synthesis, policy briefs and forthcoming journal articles.
Table. Location, type and number of case studies in Mexico.
| Mexico | State | Case studies | |
| Decreasing emissions cases | Increasing emissions cases | ||
| Mexico | Chiapas | 3 | 2 |
| Yucatán | 3 | 2 | |
