Ecosystem Services for Cash

The biological diversity found in central Mexico’s 380,000-hectare Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve is on a scale unheard of in Canada. Positioned between the Nearctic and Neotropical bio-regions, the Sierra Gorda boasts 14 vegetation types, six feline species (including the jaguar) and 334 species of birds. Dominated by tropical forest, it is home to magnificent pine, oak and cloud forests too. Its 98,000 human inhabitants, who are mostly engaged in cattle-raising, as well as seasonal agriculture and forestry, are among Mexico’s poorest.

Martha Ruiz Corzo, the woman whose life calling is to protect the Sierra Gorda, notes, “The Sierra Gorda’s biodiversity is in the hands of the most extreme poor.” This compelled her to seek payments for these destitute landowners...