Mezcal Boom Strains Oaxaca’s Forests

Mezcal production in Mexico has surged from about 1 million liters in 2010 to more than 11 million liters in 2024, and the rapid growth is putting new pressure on forests, water and soil in Oaxaca, the country’s main producing state.

What was once a small-scale rural spirit made in family distilleries has become a global business driven by exports and celebrity-backed brands. In communities across Oaxaca’s Central Valleys, mezcal still supports local jobs and household income. But researchers and producers say the expansion of agave plantations is also changing the landscape in ways that are harder to reverse.

A study led by Rufino Sandoval-García, a professor at the Technological University of the Central Valley of Oaxaca, found that more than 34,953 hectares of tropical dry and pine oak forests were lost over 27 years in two major mezcal-producing areas to make room for agave. The study said agave plantations expanded by more than 400% over three decades, increasingly replacing forests and farmland with espadín, the agave variety used in much of commercial mezcal.

The environmental effects go beyond tree loss. The study said the shift is accelerating soil erosion, reducing by 4 million tonnes a year the amount of carbon dioxide captured by forests, limiting groundwater recharge and creating heat islands in heavily planted areas. It also pointed to heavy water use and waste from production. One liter of mezcal can require at least 10 liters of water for fermentation and distillation, while bagasse and vinazas, acidic residues from production, are often dumped untreated into rivers. Large amounts of firewood are also burned to roast agave hearts and power distillation, with some of that wood coming from illegal logging, according to Sandoval-García.

The pressure comes as Oaxaca faces worsening water stress. Mexico’s National Water Commission said the state experienced its worst drought in more than a decade in 2024. That has raised concern about whether the region’s land and water systems can absorb continued growth in mezcal production.

The industry’s rise has been especially sharp among exporters. Nearly all mezcal is produced in Oaxaca, but less than 30% stays in Mexico. About 75% of exports go to the United States, according to COMERCAM, Mexico’s mezcal regulatory body. The agency says production has climbed steadily as demand has spread through bars and retail markets abroad.

For many families, though, mezcal remains an economic lifeline. In San Pedro Totolapam, a town of just over 3,000 people where much of the local economy depends on mezcal, Gladys Sánchez Garnica said her family learned to harvest agave carefully and manage forest resources long before the current boom. She now works at a women-owned distillery and said the spirit remains tied to community identity as well as income.

Other producers say the growth has brought jobs to places with few alternatives. Luis Cruz Velasco, a producer from San Luis del Rio who works with Mexican brands including Bruxo, said mezcal income now supports nearly every family in his town of about 300 residents. He said younger relatives have been able to attend university because of the business.

Still, he acknowledged that the industry has environmental costs and said public policy has not kept pace with those risks. Producers and conservation groups say one problem is that federal approval for clearing forest land can be slow and bureaucratic, which can push some communities to bypass permits altogether.

Mexico’s Environment Ministry said it had not received requests for forest clearing for agave cultivation in Oaxaca over the past three years. It also said it was investigating nine public complaints filed since 2021 over illegal land clearing for mezcal production.

Some companies say they are trying to reduce their footprint. Del Maguey, one of the world’s top-selling mezcal brands, said it has worked to plant trees and reuse waste from production. Over five years, it said it reused more than 5,000 tonnes of bagasse and 2 million liters of vinaza to build a raised platform at a distillery in San Luis del Rio to help prevent flooding and contamination.

Local producers are also experimenting with different models. In 2018, Garnica helped found Guardians of Mezcal, a collective of women promoting sustainable production methods such as using only fallen trees for firewood and planting agave alongside other crops. With support from Tierra de Agaves, a conservation project working in Oaxaca’s valleys, the group helped secure protected status for 26,000 hectares of forest around Santa Maria Zoquitlan.

For Garnica and others in Oaxaca, mezcal remains both heritage and livelihood. But as demand keeps rising abroad, the balance between economic survival and environmental damage is becoming harder to maintain.