About Us
We are Fatwood.mx and we work with the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR) & several of their 2,362 Ejidos and communities engaged in forest management. We clean the certified forests of Sierra Madre Occidental highlands in Chihuahua in Northern Mexico.
We work with rural families and indigenous people of the . Together we harvest pine pitch from stumps and other non-living trees, freeing up space for new growth.
This work supports locals with VERY limited opportunities for employment and supports these rural economies.
Mark Hoogstra
Marketing Manager
Mark, a marketer, has traveled many of the disadvantaged corners of Asia & Central America, preferring "reality" over 5 star resorts. During a stay in Honduras he acquired his first natural fire-starter and saw the potential for Fatwood from day one.
Fatwood being an under developed market AND being available in less fortunate Central America, it made a perfect match. Within months he was producing fatwood out of Northern Mexico and fatwood.mx was created.
Mark was the 1st in the industry to expose the Methyl bromide used for fumigation. Fatwood.mx offers only heat treatment fumigation and only when neccessary.
With Mark's experiences in creating & marketing unique goods from China since 2003, he ensures customer service remains the top priority after the environment of course. Contact us and see how fast your inquiry is answered!
Our Priorities:
We Recycle Dead Trees! Sustainability is the #1 Priority
We Harvest from Non-Living, Non-Rainforest, Non Endangered Trees
Our Workforce:
The Native Tarahumara and Rural Mexicans strive to live off the land rather than flock to overcrowded cities. Being labor intensive, (harvesting, transporting, sorting, cutting, quality selection and packaging) a large share of the cost of our fatwood is kept by the ambitous rural folk.
Empowering hard working individuals to work in a green and sustainable industry is very rewarding. This means that every stick of fatwood you purchase helps someone earn a living and stay in their native environment.
Our Impact:
We are clearing old stumps left behind by the forest industry. We turn waste that can fuel hazardous forest fires into a useful natural retail product that is nature's finest fire starter.
Our Appreciation
Together we have created a lot of work for many grateful individuals and we APPRECIATE your ongoing support.
Further info on Fatwood on the Sierra Madre Occidental
The state of Chihuahua accounts for 12.6% of Mexico's landmass bordering Texas and New Mexico. While most of the state is arid and typified by the Chihuahuan Desert region, the Sierra Madre Occidental, the southward continuation of the Rocky Mountains, covers about 53,400 square kilometers, or approximately 25% of the state's total landmass.
Our fatwood comes from the highlands of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Chihuahua, sometimes called the Sierra Tarahumara. These highlands have cool, temperate pine-oak forests, including many species such as the Ponderosa, Arizonica and Chihuahuana pines.
Most of the Chihuahua’s population is located in Chihuahua City or the border city of Juárez. The Sierra Madre region itself is sparsely populated. Individuals live in the 19 municipalities making up the Sierra Tarahumara, about 20% of whom are indigenous peoples with their own unique culture.
We are located in Cuauhtémoc, about 80 minutes southwest of Chihuahua City and just east of the highlands of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Both the highlands and lowland of the Sierra Madre Occidental unique habitats and together are considered one of the most biodiverse regions of the North American continent. 4 One study found that the region has 4,000 species of flora, including hundreds of medicinal and edible plants, and 438 vertebrate species --including 268 species of birds.
The region is also important hydrologically, with the forests capturing precipitation, recycling nutrients and helping form stable waterways that benefit enormous river basins. Much of the farming that occurs in Texas USA as well as Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas states of Mexico—as well farming in the Conchos basin itself—depends heavily on the flow of the Conchos River and, consequently, upon what happens in the Sierra Madre.
This the perservation of these forests are of upmost importance for Northern Mexicans as well as Texans.