REDD countries

Even though in Mexico REDD+ doesn’t have a legal framework per se, the country has a comprehensive legal framework regarding the environment, natural resource management and rural sustainable development. Specifically, the General Law for Environmental Equilibrium and Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecologico y la Proteccio al Ambiente, LGEEPA), approved in 1988, acts as the foundation for Mexico’s environmental laws (Enriquez, S. et al. n.d). Furthermore, over the last few decades, Mexico has designed and consolidated a number of legal instruments on forestry, including the General Law for Sustainable Forest Development (Ley General de Desarrollo Forestal Sustentable, LGDFS). The objectives and goals set by the Special Program on Climate Change (Programa Especial de Cambio Climático, PECC) will be addressed through this last law (Perron-Welch, F. 2011). The Law for Sustainable Rural Development (Ley de Desarrollo Rural Sustentable, LDRS) establishes the general framework for activities that help protect and restore forest cover within rural development programs (USAID, 2010). Mexico also has an Agrarian Law (Ley Agraria) that regulates land ownership and user rights.

Mexico has ratified the following international conventions and agreements: UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, CBD, UNCCD, International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), CITES, Ramsar, World Heritage Convention, Non-Legally Binding Instrument (NLBI), UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.