Our project aims to achieve high carbon removal using a nature-based approach, while at the same time restoring a critical ecosystem, producing a natural dye, increasing food production and providing economic returns for people living in a rural and marginal area.
We have planted two million native trees in 1,000 hectares in the tropical lowlands in southeast Mexico. As they grow, these trees will capture 90,000 tons CO2 per year. Our keystone species is logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum), a fast-growth hardwood pioneer tree from which we extract a dye, with high value in the textile and pharmaceutical industry. We convert the remaining biomass into biochar, using a pyrolysis process. The biochar is enriched and used in agroforestry and agricultural systems, enhancing the soil and increasing food production. Every 500 hectares of logwood plantation removes 6,000 tons of CO2, as carbon is stabilized and stored “permanently” in the soil every year.

The approach of our pilot project can be extended to +50,000 hectares of degraded land in the lowlands bordering the Laguna de Terminos. This is one of the few projects in the world with such a hollistic approach to restoration and as a nature-based approach to remove carbon from the atmosphere, while providing valuable products and increasing food production.