The indigenous communities that inhabit Mexico's forests should participate in all forest-use policies, according to a civil society campaign launched on Nov. 23. “We want recognition of the value of the communities in forest conservation and in fighting climate change,” activist Gustavo Sánchez, president of the Mexican Network of Rural Forest Organizations, told Tierramérica.

The Network, along with the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, Oxfam Mexico and the National Union of Autonomous Rural Organizations are promoting the “Communities Count” campaign to draw attention during the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in the Mexican resort city of Cancún.

Some 2,000 communities are working with more than seven million hectares of forest, while the government is drafting a national strategy to reduce greenhouse-effect emissions associated with deforestation.