Sacred Orchids of Chiapas: Cultural and Religious Values in Conservation

The proposed project, designed for specific communities in the state of Chiapas, would link traditional and religious values with a variety of arrangements for promoting forest and species conservation. It will use participatory research and knowledge dissemination to facilitate awareness among local and indigenous communities of species’ life cycles and encourage cooperative land use arrangements between collectors and landowners.On the economic side, the project seeks to achieve a fair valorization for commercially valuable species and create agreements for improving trade conditions between producers, distributors and consumers such as religious groups.