Can you just cut down a tree in your garden in Guatemala? No. Under Article 54 of the Ley Forestal (Decreto 101-96), the municipality licenses the felling of trees inside its urban perimeter, for volumes under 10 cubic metres per licence, per property and per year; above that, the licence comes from INAB, the national forestry institute. Felling without the licence when the standing timber exceeds 10 cubic metres is a crime under Article 92. On prices: no private tree service we found publishes a price list, but government purchases published in 2026 show what public buyers paid: Q75 a tree to prune 36 park trees, and Q650 to Q8,400 a tree to fell trees, depending on the tree and the site.
Quick summary (checked 2 Oct 2026): Licence first: municipality under 10 m³ per property per year, INAB above (Ley Forestal, Art. 54). In Mixco the request needs your DPI, the property deed and a location sketch, an inspector measures the tree, and the licence gives 15 working days to do the work plus an environmental compensation. Price: no private price list; public buyers paid Q75 a tree to prune park trees and Q650 to Q8,400 a tree to fell trees in 2026.
The licence: municipality or INAB
The Ley Forestal splits the job by volume and place:
- Inside a town’s urban perimeter, under 10 m³ per licence, per property, per year: the municipality issues the licence (Article 54).
- Larger volumes: INAB issues it (Article 54).
- Exempt from a forestry licence (Article 53): pruning, felling and thinning in coffee, cardamom, cacao and similar crops; in plantations registered with INAB; felling and thinning of fruit-tree plantations; and pruning in agroforestry systems.
- Family use outside the municipal licence: INAB’s regulation on forestry use for family consumption (consumo familiar) covers landowners who cut for their own and their family’s use, such as firewood or fence posts, and does not apply to the municipal licences of Article 54.
The offence: Article 92 says that whoever fells trees without the corresponding licence when the total standing timber exceeds 10 cubic metres commits a crime against forest resources; from 100.1 m³ the penalty includes 1 to 5 years in prison plus a fine equal to the value of the wood as appraised by INAB.
How a municipal licence works: Mixco’s procedure
Mixco’s environment directorate (DMARN) publishes its procedures manual, dated 2023. Its licence for forestry use or tree pruning in green areas or on private property runs like this:
- You file a request with a copy of your DPI, the property deed (escritura) and a plan or sketch of the location.
- The head of the natural-resources department schedules an inspection. Staff check the area, the number of trees, their health (estado fitosanitario) and their measurements, with photos and an inspection form.
- Approval if the volume does not exceed 10 m³ and the trees are not in a protected area. If it exceeds 10 m³, the case belongs to INAB and you are told so.
- The licence is issued and you are notified. It gives you 15 working days to do the work; if that runs out, you can ask to renew it after a new inspection.
- Environmental compensation (resarcimiento ambiental): the department tells you what compensation the licence requires, you deliver it, and the trees received go to the municipal nursery.
- Follow-up: staff check that the felling or pruning was done and file a report.
The procedure does not list a fee for the licence. Other municipalities run their own procedures: Guatemala City’s municipal website refused our automated and browser requests on 2 October 2026, so we could not read its current process.
Chainsaws
The chainsaw law (Ley Reguladora del Registro, Autorización y Uso de Motosierras, Decreto 122-96, in INAB’s compendium) requires anyone buying or leasing chainsaws to register them, and users to request authorisation with their forest-management plan. It exempts household chainsaws used for ornamental purposes with a maximum of 1.5 horsepower and a bar of up to 16 inches. A crew felling a large tree with a bigger saw is outside that exemption; ask them about it.
What it costs: what public buyers paid in 2026
No private tree service we found publishes a price list: Encuentra24, the classifieds site, returned no results for tree pruning (poda de árboles) on 2 October 2026, and the one Guatemalan tree-service company that came up in our search, Talas y Podas Guatemala, appeared only as a Facebook page, which we do not use as a price source.
What is public is what government buyers paid. These are small direct purchases (compra de baja cuantía) published on Guatecompras in 2026, read on 2 October 2026 through sociedad.info, which republishes the records. Each amount is the whole purchase as described; the per-tree figure is our division where the record gives a count.
| Job (as described) | Buyer | Amount | Per tree | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pruning 36 trees around the central park, at Q75.00 each as the record states | Municipality of Flores Costa Cuca, Quetzaltenango | Q2,700 | Q75 | 27 Aug 2026 |
| Pruning a tree (count not given) | Asociación Nacional de Tiro con Arco | Q1,700 | — | 27 Jul 2026 |
| Felling 1 tree at risk at the treatment plant, Aldea Chixolis | Municipality of Santiago Sacatepéquez | Q1,500 | Q1,500 | 14 Apr 2026 |
| Felling 6 almond trees beside a football pitch, INTECAP Santo Tomás | INTECAP | Q3,900 | Q650 | 4 May 2026 |
| Felling 2 Corymbia torelliana trees in the basement car park of the IGSS head office | IGSS | Q11,200 | Q5,600 | 22 Jun 2026 |
| Felling a ceiba and removing branches, trunks and debris, town park | Municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima, Santa Rosa | Q8,400 | Q8,400 | 17 Jul 2026 |
| Felling a ceiba and removing branches, trunks and debris, Aldea La Brea | Municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima, Santa Rosa | Q5,408 | Q5,408 | 20 Aug 2026 |
| Pruning and stump removal of 3 rain-damaged casuarinas, pruning 2 crowns, removing branches, trunks and debris, with special equipment | Ministerio de Economía (zona 12 offices) | Q11,700 | — | 1 Jun 2026 |
How to read it: routine pruning of park trees came to Q75 a tree; felling ran from Q650 a tree (six almond trees in a football-pitch area) to Q8,400 (one ceiba with debris removal). These are prices paid by public bodies, not a market average, and the records do not give tree heights.
So the price is a quote. Before you accept one, ask:
- Who gets the licence, and whether its paperwork is in the price.
- Whether the price includes removing the wood and branches and grinding or pulling the stump.
- Whether the crew has insurance or accepts liability for damage to walls, roofs, cables or a neighbour’s property. The site’s gardener page notes that height pruning is risky work and that it is quoted separately from garden maintenance.
- For trees near power lines, how the crew will work around the lines.
Related pages
- Gardener prices — garden maintenance, where height pruning is quoted separately
- Heavy equipment rental — backhoe and excavator rates for clearing a plot
- Architect fees — if the tree is coming down for a building project
- Service prices hub
Sources
Read on 2 October 2026.
- INAB — Compendio de leyes y reglamentos forestales (2019 edition): Ley Forestal, Decreto 101-96, Articles 53, 54 and 92; the regulation on forestry use for family consumption; the chainsaw law, Decreto 122-96.
- Municipalidad de Mixco — Manual de Normas, Procesos y Procedimientos, DMARN 2023, procedure 6.3.3.
- Guatecompras records via sociedad.info — E590072021 (Flores Costa Cuca), E587988991 (Tiro con Arco), E581535499 (Santiago Sacatepéquez), E582735599 (INTECAP), E585949220 (IGSS), E587454008 and E589647377 (Santa Rosa de Lima), E584625545 (Ministerio de Economía).
- Encuentra24 — search for poda de árboles (no results).
- Municipalidad de Guatemala — Dirección de Medio Ambiente (refused our requests).
This page explains the rules as published; it is not legal advice. Ask your municipality’s environment office before any felling or major pruning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to cut down a tree in Guatemala?
Yes. Article 54 of the Ley Forestal (Decreto 101-96) gives municipalities the power to license the felling of trees inside their urban perimeters for volumes under 10 cubic metres per licence, per property and per year; larger volumes are licensed by INAB, the national forestry institute. Article 92 makes it a crime to fell trees without the licence when the standing timber exceeds 10 cubic metres.
How does the municipal tree licence work?
Mixco’s 2023 procedures manual is one published example. The resident files a request with a copy of their DPI, the property deed and a location sketch; municipal staff inspect the tree (number, health and measurements); the head of natural resources approves it if it does not exceed 10 cubic metres and is not in a protected area; the licence gives 15 working days to do the work, and the resident must deliver the environmental compensation the licence sets, with the trees received going to the municipal nursery.
How much does it cost to have a tree cut or pruned in Guatemala?
No private tree service we found publishes a price list (checked 2 October 2026). Government purchases published on Guatecompras in 2026 show what public buyers paid: Q75 a tree to prune 36 trees around a town park in Flores Costa Cuca, Q650 a tree to fell six almond trees for INTECAP, Q1,500 to fell one tree for Santiago Sacatepéquez, Q5,600 a tree to fell two trees in the IGSS head-office car park, and Q5,408 and Q8,400 for two single ceibas felled and cleared in Santa Rosa de Lima. Ask for a written quote after a site visit, and ask who obtains the municipal licence.
Does pruning need a licence too?
Mixco’s procedure covers both: its licence is for forestry use or pruning of trees (aprovechamiento forestal/poda de árboles) in green areas or on private property. Other municipalities may handle pruning differently; ask your municipality’s environment office before the work.
