Here is an announcement from President Enrique Pena Nieto on a new Forestry Program. This is a great move for the environment and the people of Mexico.

Today I returned to the city of Las Palmas, the capital of the beautiful state of Colima.

Colima is a state where virtually all forestry activities are conducted in marginalized areas, using subsistence practices with low productivity and high environmental costs. However, it is a state with great potential for the development of sustainable forestry.

So I came to this land to present the new National Forest Program (PRONAFOR), designed to improve the social and economic conditions of those living in forests and protect them.

The program will be operated by the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR), which this year will have a budget of 6,937 million pesos. The goal for 2018 is to practically double the timber production achieved in 2011 from 5.5 million 10.7 cubic meters.

Our forests and jungles generate large benefits: they prevent soil erosion and loss; generate water; purify the air; capture carbon and produce timber. If we exploit them rationally and sustainably, forests can be a great source of wealth for those who live in them.