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Abstract:
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"Mexico has an important forest wealth. In 1994 the National Forest Inventory reported 141.7 million hectares in forest (72% of the national territory). Mexico's forests present a huge ecological variety and biological diversity: temperate forest, cloud forest, rain and dry forest being some of the most characteristic forest ecosystems. They contain 10% of the biological diversity of the world, including a high number of endemic species. Mexico's forests are habitat for numerous migratory species of birds and insects. Deforestation rates are very high; Massera used different sources and estimated deforestation during the nineties between 320,000 and 670,000 hectares per year. Change in land use from forest to agriculture and cattle ranching have been the main causes of forest losses. Other causes frequently associated with the transformations are forest fires and illegal logging. Forest deterioration and fragmentation were estimated in 1994 as affecting 22.2 million hectares. Tenure conditions of Mexico's forest are unusual in international terms: 80% of the forests are property of rural communities (ejidos and indigenous communities); 15% are private property and 5% are national lands.
"There are 8,420 forest communities in Mexico, around 30% of them are indigenous communities. Forest communities have an estimated population of 15 million people. Subsistence agriculture is a central economic activity for most of the communities; temporary migration is another important source of income. Some of these communities also produce different market goods, timber being one of them, but only 5% of the forest communities depend on forestry as the main economic activity. The average family income in rural regions of Mexico is lower than the national minimum wage (US $3.50/day). More than 50% of the forest regions' populations live in extreme poverty.
"From colonial times, the economic potential, the social importance, and the environmental value of forest resources have been ignored or undervalued by various rural and forest policies. Since the Agrarian Reform (1930- 40), policies were oriented towards agriculture and cattle ranching, often at the expense of forest areas. Forestry was not generally considered as an alternative for rural development. Since 1884 the Mexican government concessioned vast forest tracts to private enterprises. In spite of the Agrarian Reform and community ownership of much forestland, these concession policies continued into the 1960s, when the policies shifted from concession to state-owned enterprises. In the eighties, concessions ended and communities gained control of their mostly severely exploited forest resources. For some years, policies and laws tended to favor development of communities' forest operations. The federal government maintained regulatory and monitoring functions over logging, as well as forest management, industry transportation and marketing. But in 1992 Agrarian and Forest Laws were reformed, deregulating most of the forest activities and seeking to promote associations between private capital and forest communities. In 1997 the forest law was reformed again, with the purpose of promoting and regulating the establishment of forest plantations. Some regulations on forest industry and transportation of forest goods were reintroduced, for some of the earlier changes had proven to promote illegal cutting. Given this complex and evolving situation, this paper seeks to analyze the impact that the policies of the last 50 years have had on the forest ecosystems of the country."
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