North America

"PUREPECHA PLATEAU" CASE STUDY
MICHOACAN, MEXICO
September, 1998

"Deforestation puts food security and the continuity of life at risk"

Executive Summary

In Mexico, forestry has characteristically been a highly destructive activity. Ironically, the communities and "ejidos" who nowadays live in the extreme poverty and marginal conditions are also the owners of the majority of the country’s forest resources. At the national level there are 48.6 million hectares of forest, but 370.000 hectares are lost each year because of:

• Incoherent development policies;
• Expansion of the agricultural frontier and agrarian distribution;
• Laws and policies favoring tree felling: the Green Revolution, Wood cutting programs, Agrarian Law Reform and policies that support cattle raisers;
• Inadequate participation of affected communities in decision-making over the use and exploitation of natural resources;
• Lack of knowledge about technological and cultural advances in the rural and indigenous communities;
• A lack of employment opportunities; and
• A lack of environmental culture and awareness

This year 531 thousand hectares have been lost because of fires.

On the Purepecha Plateau, Paracho, in the state of Michoacan, ecological deterioration has occurred not as an isolated case but as a result of a constant process of degradation of social and political conditions (policies and public programs, basic needs of the communities). The damage of the natural ecosystems is increasing.

This study analyses the remaining forest resources in this region, their degradation, the causes of this degradation, and the damaging consequences for neighboring regions. It discusses policy proposals and the participation of the region’s inhabitants, and using a specific case of deforestation to suggest specific actions.

INTRODUCTION

Historically, the extraction of natural resources in Mexico, and in particular forest exploitation, has occured with an inequitable distribution of ensuing economic benefits. Ironically, the communities and agrarian ejidos that live in marginal conditions of extreme poverty are the same people who actually possess most of the forest resources in the country.

Mexico stands out because of the large diversity and surface area of its forests, which include tropical rainforest, tropical coniferous, tropical mountain, and temperate forests, in a country with some of the greatest diversity of pine and oak species in the world. Today 48.6 million hectares of forest remain.

National rates of deforestation and forest degradation

Current patterns of forest loss in Mexico have their origins in the 1950s, a period in which Mexico experienced a population explosion, an expansion of agricultural borders, and redistribution of agricultural land which alone resulted in the deforestation of 10 million hectares. In the 1970s, Mexico underwent a green revolution, a clearance program, new agrarian laws and the conversion of forested land for cattle ranching. Some indicators show a slight decline in deforestation since 1980 due to the conclusion of clearance programs and the discouragement of land-use change. Still, forest degradation, characterized by a reduction in quality and volume of biomass, has continued to increase.

The result is a historic disturbance of 22.2 million hectares of forest and an estimated annual deforestation of 370 thousand hectares, 82% of which occurs as a result of land clearing. Annual deforestation rates are 3.7 times higher than reforestation programs (100 thousand hectares per year). In addition to the land clearing, there is further pressure on forests from the 12 million people who consume about 35 million m3 of firewood per year. Also, in 1998 an estimated 531 thousand hectares were lost as a result of fires.

The different rates of forest loss throughout the republic are seen not as a contemporary occurrence, but rather as a result of the ongoing degradation of the relationship between social processes and natural ecosystems, intensified by existing production practices. This case study will examine the case of the Purepecha Plateau, which is located in the municipality of Paracho, in the Tarasca Plateau region of the state of Michoacan. The deforestation that has been going on for years is evident and the living conditions for the inhabitants of the Purepecha Plateau have continuously deteriorated in many ways, as manifested in widespread emigration to the United States, with the women often remaining behind to look after their families.

THE PUREPECHA PLATEAU

The Tarasca Plateau region is located in the central-eastern part of the state of Michoacan, east of the state of Jalisco, between 19°17’and 19°51’ north latitudes and between 101°30’ and 102°10’ west latitudes. The municipality of Paracho has a surface area of 26,168 hectares and makes up 3.3% of the total surface area of the Tarasca Plateau region.

Biodiversity in the Plateau

The predominant tree species are pinus pseudostrobus; pinus leiophylla; pinus montezumae (ocote); pinus douglasiana; pinus michoacana; quercus alba; and quercus rubra. The fir group only has one species: abies religiosa. The group "other coniferous" includes white cedar (Cupressus lindleyi and Cupressus benthami) and juniper (Juniperos spp).

The region has historically enjoyed a great diversity of fauna including the bobcat, wild chicken, foxes, coyotes and coral snakes. Rabbits, squirrels and birds such as the carpenter can also be found, although in lesser quantities. There is a great diversity of medicinal plants, such as red lemon balm, arnico, edible mushrooms, ferns, ocote pine, and pine cones for sale in local markets.

Population

The population of the Tarasca Plateau is approximately 600,400, which represents about 16% of the state total. Whereas the average population density of the region is approximately 77 people per square kilometre, Paracho is one of the most important forestry municipalities, with 109 inhabitants per square kilometre and a total population of 28,632 inhabitants.

This region is characterized by a population largely made up of indigenous communities. All of the communities base their economies on forest resources, triggering intense exploitation and a resulting reduction of both the area and the quality of the forest. Currently, the Tarasca Plateau is the next to least forested area in the state.

Human activity

The forests play an extremely important role in supplementing incomes in the subsistence economy of the population of the forest regions. Wood is used to build homes and furniture, fruit and plants are used for food and medicinal purposes, and firewood is used for cooking. These resources allow for the reduction of family expenditures for subsistence farmers in the region, as does the collection of non-wood products for sale in the market.

The Purepecha indigenous people have traditionally constructed their living quarters from wood. Firewood is one of the principle sources of energy in the area due to the fact that the people who live in the communities do not have the financial resources to buy gas. The production of handicrafts is a primary activity carried out in the region and includes the production of furniture and embroidery, including scarves, open work tablecloths, handkerchiefs, and embroidered blouses. Another prominent activity is the collection of non-wood products such as medicinal and ornamental plants, pine cones, etc. This latter activity, however, has diminished recently due to the scarcity of the forest resources.

This ecological region has been particularly affected by human activity, including agriculture and ranching. It is also being threatened as a result of inappropriate forest management practices and fires. The latter are considered part of the natural regeneration process of forests and are used extensively in Mexico as a means of changing land use.

The Diverse Roles of the Forest

It is important to highlight the importance of the Tarasca Plateau as a water catchment. Due to the permeability of the soil, there are no permanent superficial currents. The water is rapidly absorbed, and reappears later in the numerous springs in the foothills of the sierras, as in the Cupatitzio and the Duero rivers. The water from this region is the basis for rich agriculture at the lower elevations in the Tepalcatepec Depression. The zone is thus ecologically important in that it affects the equilibrium of the other regions in the state.

The forests carry out important ecological functions such as carbon fixation/sequestration (thereby helping to mitigate the greenhouse effect), the regulation of the micro-climate, and the protection of watersheds. The latter is of particular importance given that it has repercussions for water use in cities as well as in rural areas. It is also important in the generation of hydro- electricity, given that deforestation accelerates the erosion process in the catchments, reducing their capacity. The forests also serve as genetic reserves for species such as corn.

The zone acts as a hydrological refill area for agricultural development in neighboring regions. The Uruapan region to the west, where 85% of national avocado production takes place, depends heavily on Purepecha water for agriculture. The neighboring Cupatitzio basin is one of the most important agricultural regions of Michoacan, as is the Tepalcaltepec basin, where the most valuable fruit and vegetable exports are produced. In the east, the Patzcuaro Lake basin has invaluable ecological and cultural value. The city of Patzcuaro is an important generator of employment in the wood, commerce and tourism sectors.

All of these regions have been affected by the reduction of forested area within the sierra. Incidence of rain and humidity has decreased, and as a result the refilling of aquifers has been seriously affected, manifesting even more variations in thermal patterns.

The Role of the Forest in Traditional Festivals

Trees are used in rituals in traditional festivals in Paracho, including Christmas eve and the festival of the patron saint, "el Sr. de los Milagros" on the 14^th of October. The patron saint day is celebrated in the community beginning with the men going to the forest and cutting down two or three trees to make a "castillo". The women follow with a band and refreshments, dancing the entire way. Once the tree has been cut down, its branches are cut and it is tied to an animal or to a tractor. The women than dance back to the community and continue dancing until they arrive to the chosen spot for placing the castle for the festival. On December 24 families in a number of communities, such as Aranza and Paracho, go into the mountains in search of a well shaped tree to put the star on Christmas Eve.

The Juchari Uhinapecua Reforestation Program

The alarming rates of forest degradation in the region have resulted in a decrease in area of commercial forests. Concerned with these developments, the Juchari Uhinapecua, a rural production society (SPR) which exerts influence in eight of the regions in this study, started a 15-year reforestation program in 1993 for the protection and promotion of forest resources. The integration of Purepechan women in reforestation activities played a significant role in the program where, in some communities like the Urapicho, land was converted from agricultural uses to forestry for a payment of 450 pesos per hectare converted. With the establishment of the Jucharia Uhinapecua SPR program, Paracho experienced a decrease in the number of assaults, rapes, and confrontations between communities associated with the illegal logging that neighbouring communities often undertook due to unemployment. Employment rose as did awareness of environmental issues from forest resource management to climatic conditions.

The program ended, however, due to state politics and instead the government imposed a day labour reforestation program that took no consideration of the Juchari Uhinapecua’s work. The government program instead contracts 50 day labourers per community, paying them each only 30 pesos per day.

DIRECT CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION AND FOREST DEGRADATION

The Mexican Ministry of Environment (SEMARNAP) Forestry Sector Program for 1995-2000 has identified the following causes of the degradation of Mexico’s forest resources:

Causes of forest resource degradation at the national level

Source: Secretary of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries, Forest Sector Program, 1995-2000

The Forest Industry in Michoacan

The state of Michoacan has been prominent in forestry since the construction of the railway connecting the region to lower altitudes, the Bajio in Guanajuato and the capital of the country, in 1886. Wood extraction and distribution was carried out using these channels, by companies managed by foreign capital. Extraction of forest resources contributed in good measure to the destruction of the forests in the region, which became increasingly important within the regional economy. The situation did not change with the end of the revolutionary war in 1920. Instead, foreign forestry companies, with support from the local oligarchs, sought support from the new governors to maintain their control over the plateau’s forests. Communities were threatened and repressed if they tried to retake their property, terrorized by the regional landholders’ "White Guard". (Guzman, 1989)

In 1944, following an earlier ban on logging, a second temporary partial forest ban was established. In 1950, an indefinite forest ban throughout the state was decreed, with three main consequences:

1. the resin industry grew due to the extremely high world market price and due to the growth in European demand associated with the Second World War;
2. a complex web of illegal extractions of wood products was indirectly promoted with the government unable to control it; and
3. agricultural activities were reinitiated, and some important technological changes were promoted.

Informal concessions were granted by leaders of the ejidos in 1960 to private and state enterprises despite the ban, violating federal government regulations. When the ban was lifted in 1973, horticulture increased, particularly avocado cultivation, whose production reached its peak in 1986.

The industries which process wood products are the sawmill industry, board and chipboard factories and the paper industry. The transformation of pine resin into tar and turpentine is carried out in distilling plants. Today, there are a large number of establishments of varying capacity linked to the sawmill industry. These include mills that produce board and planks, furniture, packing boxes, as well as floorboard factories (bandsaw workshops), handicraft factories and workshops. 93 % of industry is in private hands that do not own or possess forested surface; the remaining 7% is distributed between small business, communities and ejidos.

The processing capacity of the forest industry in the study area surpasses the capacity of the forests to provide the necessary materials while at the same time remaining sustainable. The wood is used for construction (beams, planks, roofing material, etc), for the handicraft industry (carved columns, chairs, furniture, guitars, toys, etc), and for the packaging of fruits and vegetables. Chips are used as a primary material in the production of cellulose.

The cutting and selling of the wood is carried out in one of the following manners:

1. Informal exploitation by members of the communities;
2. Sale of standing trees by members of the communities;
3. The cutting of trees and the production and sale of finished products on behalf of communities; and
4. The processing of primary materials in a communal or ejidal industry.

Fires

In Mexico it is estimated that 531 thousand hectares have been affected by fires. The community of Quinceo is still suffering the effects of land erosion associated with 1984 fires that took place in an area in Paracho called the Cerro del Aguila, which permanently destroyed vegetation in the area. In 1998 alone hundreds of fires consumed large tracts of forested land throughout the country. The Cerro del Aguila fires affected a large surface area of forest which has consequently suffered as a result of dwindling attention paid to it on behalf of the State Forestry Committee.

Disease

The most prominent disease affecting the forests is the "bark stripper", which has caused problems since it was discovered in 1943.

Land Tenure

Land distribution and legal regulations regarding land ownership affect the societies in the Purepecha Plateau in many ways. Maintaining access to a resource as basic as land means ensuring the survival and continuity of a rural and indigenous culture in the region.

Presently 70.2% of the area of the municipality of Paracho belongs to ten indigenous communities. Of these, eight were studied: six indigenous and two urban communities. Land owners possess less than 8 hectares each. In the study region, 34% of the land is divided into parcels, with 10% of the municipal total of 3,634 hectares held by small land holders, approximately 540 in total.

Currently, there are conflicts among neighboring indigenous communities over the restitution of 400 hectares of communal lands, which have brought about a series of confrontations between the communities.

UNDERLYING CAUSES

Poverty and Illegal Logging

The municipality of Paracho is the poorest in Michoacan, and illegal logging is prevalent. In the community of Pomacuaran, where there are sixteen sawmills, carpentry businesses and artesans workshops, people buy illegal wood or cut it down themselves for sale in neighboring Uruapan. This is sold as floorboard to companies including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Aga, Corona and Bimbo. They also sell pine cases to avocado and strawberry producers. The communities of Huecato, Sebina, Cheran and Hanura sell wood by the roll and as timber for 60 pesos per three ton load. Poverty has exacerbated the illegal logging in the area.

Technology transfer and road construction

Traditionally, due to the poor quality of the soil in the region, producers use a rotation system, harvesting the land one season and leaving it in fallow for the next. During the recuperation phase, they use the land for cattle grazing. The chainsaw was introduced in the early 1980s and lead to a significant acceleration in illegal logging. The new tool has allowed loggers to reach previously inaccessible areas inhabited by wildlife, leaving only the trees with diameters of 20 centimeters or less. The introduction of logging trucks have exacerbated the situation, as has the construction of roads. The communities of Pomacuaran and Urapicho, for example, have signed an agreement allowing the exploitation of 70% of 3,005 hectares as their contribution towards the cost of the repavement of their roads.

The inappropriate technologies which lead to increased rates of deforestation in the region have lead to the instability of indigenous communities. Women in these communities, who have traditionally gathered and sold non-wood products to help with family expenses, such as medicinal and ornamental plants, mushrooms, pine corns and corn leaf, are no longer able to collect these because of the deforestation.

Inadequate policies

The incoherent nature of development policies in the region and the lack of participation of the owners of the forest in forestry development programs lead indigenous communities carry out those activities which guarantee their subsistence, or capital accumulation, as precarious as they may be. Lack of clear alternatives and economically viable forest management bring about the deforestation of vast expanses of land to establish agricultural systems.

The Purepecha people carry out illegal logging as a result of lack of employment opportunities combined with no clear alternative forms of forest management.

Economic Policies

Development Bank and Commercial Bank credits are mostly given to livestock raising. Two thirds of rural financing is directed to these types of projects since the long time frames involved in developing forest projects are less attractive for the banks. In addition, with interest rates in Mexico among the highest in the world, reaching levels of between 60 and 120% annually (for the period 1995-96), it is practically impossible for forest producers to use credit.

Legal Changes

Despite the legal and institutional changes of the 1980s, the future of the Mexican peasant forester is uncertain. In 1992, there were revisions to Article 27 of the Constitution (1991) as well as a modification of the Forest Law. The new legislation attempted to eliminate what forest workers called excessive intervention in the forest sector. The requirements for wood transport and cutting permits were eliminated, without creating a new control system to replace them. More importance was given to management plans as a way to regulate the level of cutting, without improving the actual quality of forest management.

In the municipality of Paracho only one forest use permit has been issued, much less than in neighboring municipalities. A permit for forest recovery was granted in 1943 for the purpose of ridding the forest of the bark stripper disease which was affecting large forested areas.

A forest use study was carried out by the Forest Administration Unit, which, according to the study area’s inhabitants was inadequate. They claim that investigators never even entered the forest to carry out the study, and that they only used information about the healthiest trees, and the largest diameters. The investigators were bribed into issuing the forest use permit in Paracho.

A forest management plan has never been written. Some small foreign plants have been provided for reforestation purposes which, because of their size and inappropriateness for the Paracho climate, had limited chances for survival.

THE LINKAGES BETWEEN DIRECT AND INDIRECT CAUSES

The causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the Puerpecha Plateau stem from:

• Overgrazing;
• Rural migration;
• Unsustainable demand of wood and wood products placed on the forest industry;
• Conflicts over land ownership;
• Poverty;
• Disease; and
• Fires.

At the local level, these causes seem to result from voluntary and conscious decisions by the perpetrators. However, underlying these direct causes are:

• A lack of employment opportunities;
• Incoherent development policies;
• A lack of environmental culture and awareness;
• Inadequate participation in decision-making over the use and exploitation of natural resources;
• Lack of promotion of low impact technologies in commercial forestry;
• Lack of promotion of non-wood forestry products;
• Road construction; and
• Lack of knowledge about technological and cultural advances in the rural and indigenous communities.

FUTURE RECOMMENDED ACTION TO HALT FOREST LOSS

To break these patterns, strategies are needed not only at the regional, but at the national level. The following are some strategic actions that we would recommend based on the findings of the case study:

1. Regulate land use through forest zoning and territorial organization;
2. Orient institutional actions to overcome extreme poverty and provide social services such as health, education and training;
3. Implement programs of disease, fire and pest control;
4. Promote an environmental culture and awareness of environmental issues;
5. Monitor rates of deforestation at the local, regional and national level at least every five years, and in critical areas, every year;
6. Improvement of productivity in already established agriculture activities, ex. through the use of biotechnology for higher yields;
7. Establish sources of employment for peasants and indigenous people, as well as the integration of sustainable forest management to avoid the promotion of federal and state government intervention to capitalize on the forest;
8. Improve interagency coordination through the reconciliation of sector policies, particularly those of:

• CABIN;
• PROCAMPO - Programa de Apoyos directos al Campo (Secretaria de Agricultura y Ganaderia para el Desarollo Rural);
• PROCEDE - Programa de Certification de Derechos Ejidales y Solares Urbanos Direccion de Organizacion Agraria de la Procuraduria Agraria);
• PEMEX - Petroleos Mexicanos;
• SCT - Secretaria de Comunicacion y Transporte;
• CFE - Comision Federal de Electricidad;
• SRA - Secretaria de la Reforma Agraria; and
• State governments

9.Promote financial incentives for paid forest use in:

• PRODEFOR - Programa de Desarollo Forestal (Secretaria del Medioambiente Recursos Naturales y Pesca [SEMARNAP]);
• PRODEPLAN - Programa de Desarrollo de Plantaciones Comerciales (SEMARNAP);
• PRONARE - Programa Nacional de Reforestacion (SEMARNAP); and
• others;

10. Reduce illegal clearing through:

• Supporting the creation of locally owned and controlled forest and agricultural industries;
• Identifying markets for non-traditional wood products;
• The promotion of multiple use of forests for watersheds;
• The promotion of rural stoves and the establishment of plantations for firewood; and
• The promotion of agro-forestry crops*

*Agro-forestry crops should be promoted by state and federal governments. They should be socially just, ecologically sustainable and economically viable in each of the communities in the study.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alvarez-Icaza, Pedro, G. Cervera, C. Garibay, P Gutierrez and F. Rosete.
The Thresholds of Deteroriation, The environmental dimension of uneven development in the Purepecha region, Mexico, D.F. Friedrich Ebert Foundation. 1993.

Cca. Ecological Regions of North America, towards a common perspective. Canada. Commission for Environmental Cooperation. (CCA), 1997.

State government of Michoacan., Secretary of agriculture and forestry development. State Forest Inventory, Tarasca Plateau region. Michoacan. 1995

Merino, Leticia, Coordinator. Communal forestry management in Mexico and its perspectives for Sustainability. Mexico, D.F. Regional Multidisciplinary Research Centre, UNAM. 1997

SEMARNAP. Preliminary study of deforestation in Mexico. Mexico, DF, Secretary of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries (SEMARNAP). 1998

Varela Hernandez, Sergio Conferences ``Forest Resources in Mexico``. Mexico, D.F. Subsecretary of Natural Resources, Forestry, General Direction. 1998

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