Five years ago, during the 2010 UN climate change conference in Cancun, the world’s attention turned to Mexico’s forests, where indigenous and local communities were breaking the ground spearheading a global model for sustainable development.

The vast majority of Mexico’s forests–upwards of 80 percent–are under the legal jurisdiction of indigenous and local communities. The land is communally owned, and there is a strong local decision-making authority that successfully conserves forests, but also provides income to its forest peoples who sustainably produce and sell timber in their community enterprises.

Although the last 25 years have seen significant strides in the development of community forestry in Mexico, a new study by the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Forestry reveals that a web of burdensome rules and regulations are preventing these communities from legally and sustainably harvesting their forests. The same forest communities that once gave the world hope now find themselves strangled in red tape, bankrupt and obsolete. Where there were once thriving economic enterprises, there are now only abandoned, desolate saw mills.

The study, presented on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Latin America earlier today in Riviera Maya, sought to identify how excessive regulations drove community enterprises to the brink of extinction. It found that obtaining one permit can delay operations for up to two years, and it showed that many local communities are made vulnerable to exploitation by inspectors and other government officials.

One of the world’s most promising models for solving the challenges of climate change and the quest for sustainable development–two core issues to be addressed at this year’s climate talks in Paris—is under serious threat. Mexico’s forest communities are hoping that in the lead up to Paris, where the world’s leaders will announce their plans to curb CO2 emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, Mexico will restore the regulatory framework that once allowed this promising model to succeed.