Xate (pronounce: shatay) are the leaves from three ''

Chamaedorea ''Chamaedorea'' is a genus of 107 species of palms, native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas.Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, palms checklist''Chamaedorea''/ref>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan ...

'' species of palm tree ('' Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti'', ''

Chamaedorea elegans ''Chamaedorea elegans'', the neanthe bella palm or parlour palm, is a species of small palm tree native to the rainforests in Southern Mexico and Guatemala. The parlor palm is one of the most extensively sold houseplant palms in the world. It is ...

'', and '' Chamaedorea oblongata''). The fronds are popular in floristry for flower arrangements,

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

services and funeral decoration, as they can last up to 40 days after being cut. Estimates have calculated an amount of 400 million stems exported from

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

to North America and Europe every year. There are several plantations of ''C. oblongata'' in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and a plantation of ''C. ernesti-augusti'' in the Petén region of Guatemala. However, the majority of xate on the international market is the ''C. oblongata''. It is harvested by xateros (a name given to those who harvest xate) from palms in the forests of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. In the past this has led to a dangerous decline in the Xate population. According to the BBC (2012), ''C. ernesti-augusti'' (fishtail palm) which has a good market in Europe, had been over-collected in the forests of Guatemala and Mexico and xateros from Guatemala crossed the Belizean border to cut the leaf. In Guatemala the National Council of Protected Areas ( CONAP) took action to protect this valuable natural resource. In 2003 they established standards for the management of naturally growing Xate. After considerable review, these standards were certified by the

Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council GmbH (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. This organization uses a market-b ...

(FSC) in 2007 and were in full effect by 2009. Palms gathered by community forestry concessions in the

Maya Biosphere Reserve The Maya Biosphere Reserve () is a nature reserve in Guatemala managed by Guatemala's National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP). The Maya Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 21,602 km2, one-fifth of the country's total land area. The p ...

in Northern Guatemala are certified as sustainably managed by the FSC. Among other management tools, the standards established a regeneration period of four months during which the xate plant can fully recover and is again ready for harvest. During an intensive period of training and raising awareness, CONAP (aided by

Rainforest Alliance The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) with staff in more than 20 countries and operations in more than 70 countries. It was founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz, an American environmental activist, who serve ...

) was able to communicate these standards to rural communities in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve which occupies much of northern Guatemala. These communities have been granted forest concessions which gives them the right to practice sustainable forestry in that area. They have responded by dividing their concession area into harvest zones which allow for a 4 month fallow period. Since implementing these practices, naturally growing xate populations have rebounded and are again healthy. In 2004,

Axel Köhler Axel Köhler (born 1960 in Schwarzenberg, Saxony, East Germany) is a German countertenor and opera director. In 1994, he won the Handel Prize. Since 2009, he has been Artistic Director of the Halle Opera House. Early life Axel Köhler studied vio ...

and

Tim Trench Tim Trench is a character in the DC Comics universe, who first appeared in ''Wonder Woman'' v1 #179 (November–December 1968). He was later killed in '' 52'' Week 18 (September 2006). Fictional character biography Tim Trench is a private investi ...

produced a documentary film called ''Xateros'' about these commercial palm leaf collectors in

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

Lacandon Jungle The Lacandon Jungle ( Spanish: ''Selva Lacandona'') is an area of rainforest which stretches from Chiapas, Mexico, into Guatemala. The heart of this rainforest is located in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas near the border with Gu ...

for the Proyecto Videoastas Indigenas de la Frontera Sur.

References

External links

Film on a Prodesis project on Xate
* {{usurped,

} Chamaedorea Floristry Culture of Mexico Plant common names Non-timber forest products

See also

References

External links