Guide to the Environmental Impact Statement for Forestry Projects

Among the most significant risks facing humanity, both in the short and long term, is the need to confront global warming, according to the World Economic Forum. In this effort, trees play a critical role, as they release oxygen and convert carbon dioxide into biomass, ultimately reducing the greenhouse effect that these gases have produced — the main cause of the planet's overheating.

They also prevent soil erosion, prepare land for agricultural development, serve as habitat for plant and animal species, and help preserve environmental moisture, to name just a few of their functions within ecosystems.

Unfortunately, our country has recognized (as of 2021) the existence of 122 critical forest zones caused by various illegal acts, such as clandestine logging, timber laundering, the extraction of healthy timber, overexploitation of forest resources, deliberately set forest fires, organized crime, and failure to comply with management programs and land-use change requirements.

This last point refers to the lack of authorization to fully or partially remove forest vegetation for other activities, such as tourism projects or any other kind of development, since this causes native vegetation to be lost and generates irreparable environmental damage unless the necessary actions are taken to mitigate this effect.

For all these reasons, it is essential to ensure that the environment is respected and that forest vegetation is not cleared when developing projects of any kind — mining, tourism, real estate, industrial, or agricultural — so that anyone requiring this type of project must request a procedure called a "forest land-use change" before the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT).

What Is Forest Vegetation?

According to the General Law for Sustainable Forestry Development, forest vegetation is defined as "the set of plants and fungi that grow and develop naturally, forming forests, jungles, arid and semi-arid zones, and other ecosystems, giving rise to the balanced development and coexistence of other natural resources and processes."

It is important to remember that any land with well-preserved native vegetation is considered forest land — not only temperate forests. This confusion is common and unfortunately leads to logging without proper authorization in jungle ecosystems, wetlands, or arid and semi-arid zones, with the latter two being the most affected in Mexico.

To better identify these lands, the law and its regulations provide an information tool — the result of an agreement between SEMARNAT and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development — that includes georeferenced databases and a land-cover map of Mexico, which serves as the basis for identifying land with forest vegetation.

What Is a Land-Use Change on Forest Land?

The General Law for Sustainable Forestry Development, which implements Article 27 of the Constitution, regulates and promotes the integral and sustainable management of forest territories, as well as the conservation, protection, restoration, production, planning, cultivation, management, and use of the country's forest ecosystems.

Under this law, a land-use change on forest land is defined as "the total or partial removal of forest vegetation from wooded forest land or other forest land in order to allocate or direct it toward non-forestry activities."

When this permit is granted, forestry regulations require actions to prevent, mitigate, and/or offset the adverse environmental impacts that logging could cause, with specifications set out in the Official Mexican Standards and the corresponding regulations.

Among the requirements for this procedure is the submission of a Justifying Technical Study (Estudio Técnico Justificativo, ETJ), a document intended to support the feasibility of authorizing the land-use change on forest land (CUSTF). Under Article 141 of the Law's regulations, an ETJ must include at least: the intended uses of the land; the location and area of the property with georeferenced maps; a description of the physical and biological elements of the forest-hydrological watershed; site conditions (climate, soil, terrain, hydrography, vegetation, and wildlife); an estimate of the volume of raw forest materials resulting from the land-use change; the timeline and method of execution; vegetation that must be preserved; impact prevention and mitigation measures; environmental services at risk; technical, economic, and social justification; registration details of the study's responsible party; application of ecological zoning criteria; an economic estimate of forest biological resources; and an estimate of the cost of restoration activities.

SEMARNAT provides a Guide for Preparing Justifying Technical Studies, available on its official website.

The Importance of an Environmental Impact Statement in a Forest Land-Use Change

To carry out a land-use change on forest land (CUSTF), it is also mandatory to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (Manifestación de Impacto Ambiental, MIA), which must be evaluated and authorized before the CUSTF is executed — or both procedures may be requested simultaneously. A CUSTF cannot be requested without an environmental impact authorization, or without simultaneously applying for a MIA.

The Environmental Impact Statement is "the document through which, based on studies, the significant and potential environmental impact that a project or activity would generate is disclosed, along with the means to avoid or mitigate it if it is negative" (Article 3 of the LGEEPA).

Submitting this document is a legal obligation for anyone wishing to carry out a project with any environmental impact. SEMARNAT evaluates it through a technical-administrative procedure in which it decides to authorize, deny, or authorize the MIA subject to certain conditions — the latter being the most common outcome, representing additional obligations for the project. When approved, the CUSTF also typically imposes additional terms and conditions to reduce or mitigate environmental damage. If either of these documents is not authorized or has been denied, clearing the forest land will be illegal.

On the 2021 Reform to the General Law for Sustainable Forestry Development

On April 26, 2021, a decree was published reforming various provisions of the Law, with relevant changes to land-use change on forest land:

i) Article 93 expands the conditions that justifying technical studies must demonstrate, now requiring that, in addition to maintaining the biodiversity of affected ecosystems, they mitigate soil erosion, carbon storage capacity, water quality deterioration, or reduced water capture in areas affected by the removal of forest vegetation.

ii) A provision was added stating that, for land located in indigenous territories, land-use change authorization must be accompanied by prior, free, informed, culturally appropriate, and good-faith consultation measures, with the Ministry coordinating with the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples — expressly incorporating Article 6 of ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.

iii) Article 24 was amended so that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinates with SEMARNAT in order to: withhold financial support for agricultural activities in deforested areas or those that promote land-use change; establish a joint information tool to identify forest land or agricultural properties; and have SEMARNAT and the National Forestry Commission enter into agreements with other government bodies to prevent deforestation and degradation.

These provisions seek to ensure that federal agencies verify that the forest land-use change procedure is carried out when required, and, to some extent, combat unauthorized logging linked to financial support programs that require available land for planting.