Colonization and tropical deforestation in the Sierra Santa Marta, Southern Mexico

Abstract

Understanding patterns of tropical deforestation is a crucial issue for Mexico, a country that has lost more than 95% of its original rainforest cover. This paper examines the causes of accelerated deforestation in the Sierra Santa Marta, Veracruz, Mexico, by looking at settlement history and the evolution of productive schemes in the villages of Venustiano Carranza and Magallanes. Both settlements were founded in the 1960s, after the government donated land to landless peasants. Conversion of forests into pastures, after several agricultural enterprises failed, resulted in more than 80% of the original tropical rainforests being removed in both communities between 1960 and 1998. The process of deforestation in the villages differed from models proposed for the Amazon and Central America, in which deforestation responded to capitalintensive efforts to open up the tropical frontier. In the villages, transformation of forests into pastures was, from the beginning, a smallholder phenomenon. Misguided policies and institutional malfunctions appeared to direct households toward deforestation. Nevertheless, environmental deterioration could not only be explained by external causes. Inside the communities, demographic pressure over land, the modification of traditional land tenure systems and the cultural adoption of cattle as a way to overcome poverty were significant factors in the relationship between colonization and forest clearance. Deforestation at Venustiano Carranza and Magallanes cannot be considered an ecologically destructive practice performed by peasants. In fact, the process reflects not only a lack of environmental awareness in national development policies, but also the intricate interaction of ecological, cultural, social and economical variables.

Causes of habitat loss in a Neotropical landscape: The Panama Canal corridor

“…Our results also show that neither distance to a main highway or major city, nor road density or urban population size influenced conversion of habitats to agriculture. These contrast with results from larger land areas in other studies (e.g., Amazon basin) where road construction is known to facilitate deforestation by small-scale agriculture (Maki et al, 2001;Steininger et al, 2001;Durand and Lazos, 2004).…”

“…Poverty has been often mentioned as a major factor contributing to habitat loss in other parts of the tropics (Rudel, 1993;Pichon, 1996Pichon, , 1997Rudel and Roper, 1997). Rudel and Roper (1997) add that poor rural populations often do not have other economic opportunities than to clear land for agricultural purposes (see also Durand and Lazos, 2004). Furthermore, Pfaff (1996) and Laurance et al (2002a) indi-cate that the relation between rural population density and habitat loss to agriculture is not linear.…”

Historias para escuchar y diversidad que cuidar

“…Años de recuerdos que para algunos ya son lejanos, parte de un pasado marcado por las políticas agrarias del país, que promovieron un determinado uso de la tierra legitimando e imponiendo la tala del bosque (DURAND & LAZOS, 2004). A la vez sufrieron irregularidades administrativas y abusos de poder favorecidos por cacicazgos, que condicionaron las relaciones internas y el destino de la comunidad.…”

The Diffusion of Cattle Ranching and Deforestation: Prospects for a Hollow Frontier in Mexico's Yucatan

“…In many other parts of Latin America, however, cattle ranching is increasingly undertaken by smallholder farmers, who incorporate pasture as part of a land use portfolio that includes mixed subsistence and commercial crop cultivation. Although such agents have been identified throughout the region, including in the Caribbean (Brothers 1997), Costa Rica (Sader and Joyce 1988), Mexico (Durand and Lazos 2004;Schmook and Vance 2009), and other Central American countries (Jones 1989), the motivations underpinning their decision to plant pasture remain poorly understood.…”

“…As Durand and Lazos (2004) document, Mexico has been the site of particularly extensive cattle ranching by smallholder farmers, largely resulting from the country's success in attracting credits from the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank for cattle ranching projects. Between 1960 and1980, pasture in southern Mexico increased by 156% (Rustch 1980;Toledo et al 1993), with about 60% of net carbon emissions in the country attributable to the conversion of closed forests to pasture in 1985 (Masera, Ordóñez, and Dirzo 1997).…”