In Mexico, approximately 80% of the forest is commonly owned by local communities and its management is decentralized. Evidence suggests that in many cases, decentralization is ineffective in reaching positive social and environmental outcomes due to a lack of power for local actors. This research aims to investigate how community empowerment impacts the sustainability of common forest. During the 2000 ́s, the indigenous community of Cheran lost a third of its forest to foreign loggers linked to criminal organizations. Given the lack of response by authorities, in 2011 the community conducted an armed resistance against the intruders and recovered control over their territory. Then, they completed a legal process that ended in the establishment of a traditional self-governance system. I investigated three research questions: 1) What kind of power did the community gain in relation to natural resources management? 2) How have the institutions for the sustainable management of common pool resources (CPRs) evolved after 2011? and 3) How has forest land-cover changed from 2005 to date? To answer the first two research questions, I conducted a qualitative case study. I found that the community in fact gained authority over the management of the forest and improved their institutions to better resemble Ostrom's principles for sustainable management of CPRs. To answer the third research question, I performed a semi-automated land cover change assessment between 2005 and 2020. The area covered with healthy forest reached its lowest point in Cheran in 2014 but has been recovering ever since. This study provides empirical evidence suggesting that community empowerment in decentralized forest management can facilitate the creation of robust forest institutions and reduce deforestation.
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