Carbon and communitarian forest in Xa Lyu K’yaq (A world of mountains)

Geronimo Barrera de la Torre

This roundtable will explore the implications and ways of knowing carbon offsetting programs in Indigenous Chatino and Campesino communities in Oaxaca through documentary filmmaking. We aim to discuss the epistemic challenges of knowing carbon from different perspectives while addressing the potential extraction or exclusion of local knowledge. Through our experience in producing a feature film, we aim to create epistemic spaces that enhance the understanding of carbon work in communitarian forests. This includes, for example, the performance of conservation by labor groups, gestures, silences, and interaction among actors invested in the carbon market. What does the documentary film provide for knowing carbon differently? How does the process of filmmaking open spaces for dialogues across knowledges? And how do community members experienced working across different knowledges about the forest?

The roundtable will explore the case of San Juan Lachao, Oaxaca, which is one of the first communities to engage with the voluntary international carbon market. This initiative has connected Mexican rural communities with the California market. Participants in the roundtable include two community members from Lachao who were involved in the local authority responsible for implementing these programs, as well as two filmmakers/academics who collaborated with the community on the production of a documentary. Our discussion will focus on the challenges faced by community members as carbon projects are introduced in their territories, particularly concerning their knowledge of the forest and land they inhabit. We aim to highlight the diverse perspectives that illustrate the complexities and contradictions of how carbon management affects communitarian forests using the filmmaking process as a tool in the discussion and registration of the process.

The session will explore and reflect on other ways to know carbon and argue for epistemic diversity needed to approach a complex phenomenon such as carbon and its various manifestations. Additionally, we will provide evidence of the complexity and significance of local knowledge as mitigation measures are implemented. Finally, we aim to engage the audience in discussing Lachao's experiences and their implications for conservation and climate change mitigation.