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The hanging bridge in Benito Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico on March 21, 2024. The Pueblos Mancomunados is a group of eight villages (Benito Juárez, Cuajimoloyas, La Nevería, Santa Catarina Lachatao, Latuvi, Llano Grande, San Miguel Amatlán, Yavesía) in Northern Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte region that have come together to manage their resources and preserve their cultural heritage. These communities has been dedicated to ecotourism for more than 20 years, and they only employ local community members committed to sharing their culture while protecting the environment. They have built and marked more than 100 kilometers of trails to interconnect the villages through the mountains, forests and fields. They also offer tourists quality accommodation in each village and guiding services. All staff work on a voluntary basis as part of their community service, a concept rooted in a pre-Hispanic system of governance called usos y costumbres (uses and customs). The Pueblos Mancomunados are self-governing and have their own president, their own laws and their own legal system. Photo by Bénédicte Desrus