Timber forestry in southern Mexico is a common practice since Mayan civilization, through traditional uses, forest concessions and up to communal land tenure. Currently, half of Quintana Roo ´s ejidos are focused on timber forestry use, mainly on middle evergreen subtropical forests, the greatest kind of vegetation cover. This aim of this study was to determine forestry diversity in 14 forests in the south of Yucatán Peninsula with different age, management and conservation practices: six forestry sites in Quintana Roo and eight in other places. 10 plots of 500 m² per site were analyzed, in which the tree species were taxonomically identified and the diameter at height was measured in specimens from 7.5 cm to 1.30 m above the ground. A richness of 156 tree species with relative abundance, dominance and importance was determined, contrasting between sites. A similarity analysis was carried out for the 14 sites by the Bray Curtis method, which was made up of three groups: the first by site of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve without use, the second by six sites without use, from 7 to 50 years old and the third by six forest ejidos. The richness, abundance and similarity between them are probably associated with the geographical location and the age of recovery from anthropogenic and natural disturbances. It is suggested to incorporate these ecological characteristics as indicators in the forest use plans, limited environmentally and socioeconomically.

Perceptions of climate change, the impacts of and responses to climatic variability and extreme weather are explored in three communities in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, in relation to livelihood resilience. These communities provide examples of the most common livelihood strategies across the region: small-scale fisheries (San Felipe) and semi-subsistence small-holder farming (Tzucacab and Calakmul). Although the perception that annual rainfall is reducing is not supported by instrumental records, changes in the timing of vital summer rainfall and an intensification of the mid-summer drought (canicula) are confirmed. The impact of both droughts and hurricanes on livelihoods and crop yields was reported across all communities, although the severity varied. Changes in traditional milpa cultivation were seen to be driven by less reliable rainfall but also by changes in Mexico’s agricultural and wider economic policies. Diversification was a common adaptation response across all communities and respondents, resulting in profound changes in livelihood strategies. Government attempts to reduce vulnerability were foundto lack continuity, be hard to access and too orientated toward commercial scale producers. Population growth, higher temperatures and reduced summer rainfall will increase the pressures on communities reliant on small-scale farming and fishing, and a more nuanced understanding of both impacts and adaptations is required for improved livelihood resilience. Greater recognition of such local-scale adaptation strategies should underpin the developing Mexican National Adaptation Policy and provide a template for approaches internationally as adaptation becomes an increasingly important part of the global strategy to cope with climate change.

In forest frontiers, smallholder agrarian livelihoods remain uneasily jux-taposed with conservation interests. Agricultural intensification is often considered a viable means of reconciling competing environmental and livelihood objectives given its potential to concentrate production onless land. However, intensification may have unintended consequences, including loss of resilient agricultural systems. The risks of smallholder agricultural intensification warrant a better understanding of its drivers. This study uses the case of Calakmul, Mexico, to examine the critical role of the state in intensification processes. Drawing on household surveys and key-informant interviews, it traces the linkages between state institutions and local farming practices. Statistical and qualitative analyses reveal how intensification is both incentivized and imposed by prevailing policies, the former via subsidies and the latter via regulations against field rotations. The outcome – increased external inputs and longer cultivation periods between fallows – may undermine the sustainability of smallholders’ agroecosystems, an undesirable consequence amid limited livelihood alternatives.

Despite established science on climate change vulnerability as mediated by social status, policy discussions of climate change vulnerabilities often still treat smallholder farming communities as largely undifferentiated. Residents themselves, however, experience their own vulnerability in the context of their individual lives. Our research explored how residents of Calakmul, Mexico, perceived and experienced their own vulnerability to climate change. Fifty-five semi-structured interviews in 2013 and forty-three follow-up interviews in 2016 provide data on perceived effects of climate-related stressors on their livelihood activities, health, and experiences of hunger. Analysis focused on patterns in residents’ everyday, lived experiences and on variation among individuals and families. Community status and associated resource access, variations in livelihood activities, and other situational aspects shaped interviewees’ sense of their own vulnerabilities. In addition, residents reported a variety of options for coping with the effects of climate change, most of which required cash inputs. Yet they also reported that normal opportunities for obtaining cash through agricultural wage labor were likewise curtailed by climate change.

Based on an interdisciplinary study of sociopolitical participation in the formulation of the Bacalar Local Ecological Zoning Program (Spanish acronym POEL), we analyze the motivations and difficulties of considering the “natural vocation” of this territory, in other words, its ability to sustain the activities of the various living beings that inhabit it, given that it is a karst system. To include this consideration, the research team implemented an action research (AR) strategy that involved developing a hydrogeological connectivity model and joining the efforts to configure this public policy instrument. From a socioenvironmental perspective, the research included ethnographic techniques such as interviews, participant observation, and a field diary. The results show that some of the territorial representations of the actors are incompatible with the characteristics of the karst system, suggesting the need for a participatory policy designed to build a common view of the territory through the socialization of knowledge between the stakeholders and the sectors involved. Among the limitations of AR, it was found that, despite achieving the convergence of sectors, the inertial dynamics, which have so far prevented the entry into force of POEL in an increasingly coveted, at-risk space for the ecosystem and those who inhabit it, remain in place.

Agroecological transformation must often take place in degraded landscapes. Thus, ecological restoration and related fields may extend agroecology’s reach. At the same time, agroecological practice may enhance ecological functions, contributing to ecosystem recovery in rural landscapes. The long-term impact of these initiatives will depend upon how they mesh with peasant territoriality; the relationship between land and people in its socioeconomic, political-institutional and symbolic-cultural dimensions. We analyzed agroecological and restoration/recuperation initiatives originating from government and non-governmental organizations with direct government support, and from peasant protagonism. We examined official records of initiatives in both categories, conducted in-depth interviews with public officials, and surveyed 47 small peasants associated with organic and agroecological markets. Government and government-linked NGO initiatives operate according to a neoliberal vision of sustainable-development that privileges generation of financial capital, also they have decreased their support for agroecology, and have little or no engagement with restoration/recuperation in terms of ecological or social complexity. By contrast, we identify a strong tendency in peasant agroecology that incorporates restoration/recuperation to achieve greater ecological and cultural complexity. The synergies that arise between agroecology and ecological recovery contribute to the construction of peasant territoriality, and are particularly evident in initiatives driven by indigenous organizations.

This paper analyzes discrimination against young indigenous street venders in public spaces. Discrimination experiences are analyzed based on a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods and a review of 2010 census data. Results confirm that discrimination, harassment, segregation of public spaces, and extortion due to their ethnicity lead to indigenous marginalization in the city. Implications include the State assumption of young indigenous street vendors as a problem and its formulation of policies for the use of public space to justify their removal. For this, different data analysis techniques and different actors were included in order to have a broader vision of the phenomenon. Among its conclusions, it highlights that young indigenous street vendors relate work with acquiring a sense of responsibility, just as the State does not guarantee social welfare.