Chamaedorea Palm

One of the natural resources that has been used by local people for decades in El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve is the chamaedorea palm. However, people – unaware about palm cultivation were removing them from the forest, threatening wild populations and consequently putting at risk the moist and medium forests of El Triunfo. 

Since identifying how lucrative is this business, technical support was given to several organizations to establish the basis for the sustainable management of wild populations of the palm and also we have worked to avoid the threat of its extraction from the core zones of the Reserve. That is why we have promoted the establishment of nurseries, the reforestation of the palm in the understory and also in coffee plantations. In some places where there are still wild populations, we are working to combine the management of the palm with strategies of sustainable harvest and forest conservation through the creation of UMA’s and the regularization of management programs as well as participatory inventories of the palm.

 

Nowadays, the chamedora palm is famous by its decorative use and is one of the few non-timber forest products that has had a stable market and a known network from the collector to the intermediary to the wholesaler in the United States.

 

Within the palm strategy in El Triunfo the following partners are involved: CONANP, TNC, Pronatura Chiapas, IDESMAC and El Triunfo Conservation Fund, with funding from Banamex Social and Ecological Development Fund.