Due to the progressive deforestation of the Sierra Tarahumara region, the drought periods triggered by this, and increasing soil erosion, the income of indigenous communities is declining.
Again and again there are famines, and emergency food must be supplied. In order to provide for long-term relief, the Alianza Sierra Madre organizes workshops on sustainable and environmentally friendly gardening and farming in the indigenous communities. Knowledge is disseminated about the planting of vegetable gardens and greenhouses, the use of compost, the careful harvesting of agricultural land, and measures to prevent forest fires - the latter more and more a problem due to the persistence of drought. This training does not provide one-sided modern agro-ecological techniques. Rather, the main focus is on revitalizing traditional knowledge about how to deal with natural resources, which has been threatened since Western civilization entered the Sierra Tarahumara region. A further project aims at the protection of native varieties of maize. We are currently exploring the possibilities of officially registering the seed of these varieties as the intellectual property of the indigenous peoples of the state of Chihuahua.