Sustainability from Mexico · The Lacandon covers (1.9 million hectares) of tropical rain forest on the Mexican/Guatemalan border High biodiversity: 1500 species of trees, 4000 species

Sustainability fromMexico

Isabel Carrera Zamanillo

AIS475/SPR15

Indigenous Groups in Mexico

1810 Mexican Independence1910 Mexican Revolution (“The Land Belongs to Those who Work it/ La tierra es de quien la trabaja”)

1992 Mexico was recognized officially as a pluricultural nation1994 Zapatista uprising (Chiapas)2001 Mexican Government accepted torecognize in the Constitution thesovereignty of indigenous groups(recognition of existance, respect to traditionalforms, and acceptance of named authorities, but the indigenous groups are not recognizedas nations)2015 Ethnolinguistic groups (62)

Indigenous=Native, from a certain place

>15 million indigenous people(of a total of >112 million people)

> 4 million live in cities

http://fundacionoimmm.org/images/MapaMexico.png

Lacandon Jungle, ChiapasIn 1972, as a consequence of the environmental movement, the government declared the Lacandon

jungle a protected area and the Lacandons, the only owners of this land: Displacing 4000 families in favor of just 66 families.

http://mexdesc.impresionesaerea.netdna-cdn.com/images/notas_2012/julio_2012/selva-lacandona-chiapas-jul12.jpg// https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_MaAi6UwAAVQAR.jpg//http://www.chiapasparalelo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/habitantes-de-la-Selva-Lacandona-llevan-tres-generaciones-buscando-la-legalizaci%C3%B3n-de-sus-derecho-a-la-tierra-Foto-%C3%81ngeles-Mariscal.jpg

Montes Azules

In Montes Azules, 13

indigenous communities

are under threat of

imminent forced eviction

by Mexican authorities (2012).

The Lacandon covers (1.9 million hectares) of tropical rain forest on the Mexican/Guatemalan border

High biodiversity: 1500 species of trees, 4000 species of plants and 25% of all animal species native to the area

20 ethnic groups of Mayan origin: Tzeltales, tzotziles, choles, mams, “lacandons”: Hach Winik or the True People

In 1978, of the Montes Azules (331,200 hectares) was declared a Biosphere Reserve (leaving less than 2% of the reserve for “traditional use”):

A system of protected areas represented perhaps a visionary model for the country, but the government has treated these sites as if they exist in a vacuum, unperturbed by human intervention or ecological change. It presumed the absence of humans before the establishment of the parks. (Arturo Gómez-Pompa and Andrea Kaus in Manuel-Navarrete, Slocombe, Mitchell, 2006)

Photos retrieved from: http://img.telediario.mx/53054f19934e6_021918.jpg http://josedelrio.com/chiapas/content/images/large/CXhiapas_Lacandones_155.jpghttps://sutmari.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/pop1w1.jpghttp://www.turimexico.com/reservasecologicas/montesazules.jpghttp://correlavoz.mx/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/cabeza.jpghttp://www.visitmexico.com/work/models/VisitMexico30/WebPage/PAL_Lacantun_y_Montes_Azules_Ex/photoEscudo_PAL_Lacantun_y_Montes_Azules_Ex_reservadelabiosfera.jpg

Courtesy: David Soto-Karlin

Threats Poverty Migrants & Settlers Narco Militarization Deforestation (chicleros, cattle, timber traders, government, monocrops: only 10% of first-growth rainforest survives)

Dams NAFTA Land-reform Bio-prospecting Wildlife trade Ecotourism Lack of land ownership (tenure disputes between ethnic groups)

Some pseudo-zapatistas (zapatistas: Revindicación étnica--the reclaiming of indigenous rights and autonomy)

International NGOs and international agendas Payments for Environmental Services (PSA) REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Oil Maquiladoras Acculturation

http://www.unionchiapas.mx/sites/default/files/styles/galeria/public/field/image/429811_3502773932641_1370518167_3343892_1962206956_n.jpg?itok=lF-WCe0Dhttp://static.animalpolitico.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Cruzada_Hambre_Chiapas-10.jpg

http://m.oem.com.mx/c9f7dbc3-e43b-43c3-bddc-98c39d279f5c.jpghttp://sipse.com/imgs/082014/110814623ac25f1med.jpg

La Milpa: Balance of Life Cycle

Nuclear unit: CommunityLand-use system: Agroforestry• House “garden” (mehen kol) (medicinal plants, herbs)• Milpa- cornfield (kol) (cleared forest plot, cultivated for 2-5

years. >70 different plant species cultivated in 1Ha); • Acahual (pak che’ kol) (secondary milpa; fruit trees, primary

source of animal protein)• Untouched forest (k’ax)• Aquatic-terrestrial ecotones (swamps, lakes, riverbanks,

streams)• Potreros- pasturelandTraditional practices: Slash-and-burn horticultureThe subsistence of the community depends on cycles that integrate the natural and the supernatural.

http://www.alma-mexico.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ciclo-de-milpa.png

Like maize itself, the Maize God moves through the cycle of life: in one season, he is the handsome young man, alive and in motion; in another, he

is decapitated, the harvested head resting on a plate as offering. Ground into masa and formed into tamales (corn cakes) and tortillas (corn

pancakes), maize nourishes and sustains humankind, but humans return some seeds to the ground to start the cycle anew. The barren earth yields

to the forces of regeneration: the young Maize God emerges once again, ready to dance to the tune of life.

“We are not responsible for climate change—it’s the big industries that

are,” said Abelardo, a young man from the Tzeltal Mayan village of

Amador Hernández in the Lacandon jungle of Chiapas. “So why should

we be held responsible, and even punished for it?”http://www.sustainabilitycoalition.org/should-chiapas-farmers-suffer-for-californias-carbon/

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/mexico-archives-79/3332-redd-in-the-lacandon-jungle-the-political-use-of-a-program-against-climate-change

http://redlatinasinfronteras.bligoo.com/media/users/28/1428176/images/public/471811/4_zap_9demandas.jpg?v=1423405372186

References:

Diemont, S. A., Bohn, J. L., Rayome, D. D., Kelsen, S. J., & Cheng, K. (2011). Comparisons of Mayan forest management, restoration, and conservation.Forest ecology and management, 261(10), 1696-1705.

Kashanipour, R. A., & McGee, R. J. (2004). Northern Lacandon Maya Medicinal Plant Use in the Communities of Lacanja Chan Sayab and Nahá Chiapas, Mexico. Journal of Ecological Anthropology, 8(1), 47-66.

Manuel-Navarrete, D., Slocombe, D. S., & Mitchell, B. (2006). Science for place-based socioecological management: lessons from the Maya forest (Chiapas and Petén).