Search

For community forest enterprises (CFEs) in central Mexico, ‘scaling up’ can be an effective means of achieving the transition to economically attractive and sustainable forest management, but little is known about the potential and challenges that they face in this regard. We used a qualitative case study to evaluate a set of variables that determine the limitations and opportunities for scaling up CFEs in central Mexico and thereby expanding their commercial capacities, activities and outputs. The framework included concepts related to sustainable forest management, natural resource governance and temperate forest ecology. We interviewed leaders of four communities (n= 30) and 15 external actors (regional industry, and national non-governmental organizations). Communities that had developed long-term plans for forest management that embrace conservation values were also those with the greatest capacity to generate sustainable income streams from diverse sources. The robust legal frameworks and community institutions that set up procedures for responsibly harvesting and selling timber, thereby generating income, offer opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of CFEs. Demand continues to grow for wood products involving skilled crafts in central Mexico, but local production remains low; a lack of access to finance imposes limits on investment in the forests and value-added options for the products and services. Market opportunities and growth are also restricted by substandard physical infrastructure (e.g., roads, electricity) limited access to finance (e.g., credit, private-sector investors), and an absence of business plans. There are no formal networks to facilitate learning among these CFEs. Scaling up for these CFEs will require access to markets, innovations, and finance to create sustainable value chains for wood and non-wood forest products. The Mexican government could be instrumental in this by incorporating the notion of scaling up for CFEs when enacting policy that builds on and supports the country’s proven models of community-based forest management. On the other hand, this approach can be useful for developing more robust theoretical and methodological frameworks that capture these complex dynamics, contribute to the theory and practice of enterprise forestry development, sustainable natural resource management, and effective policy formulation.

El objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir al conocimiento del concepto de escala para la comprensión geográfica e integral de los problemas de socio-ambientales en México. Este objetivo se lleva a cabo mediante la comparación de las dimensiones escalares de las políticas territoriales de adaptación al cambio climático y del cambio de uso de suelo, dos procesos socio-ambientales que representan dos vertientes diferentes de análisis geográfico. El trabajo presenta los principales elementos que se han debatido en los últimos años en la literatura anglosajona sobre el concepto de escala, así como los diferentes elementos y dimensiones que lo componen: la extensión, la resolución, el nivel, la jerarquía, el problema de la unidad de área modificable y las falacias espaciales. Al aplicar dichos principios a la comparación entre dos problemas geográficos de naturaleza epistemológica diferente, se pone de manifiesto la importancia que tiene este concepto para el pensamiento geográfico y la necesidad de generar reflexiones sistemáticas en este sentido para la geografía que se produce en lengua española. Para la política de cambio climático, los resultados sugieren que la falta de integración conceptual y programática entre las políticas de los diferentes niveles, así como la relación concurrente entre ellas, genera un problema para producir resultados efectivos de adaptación. En relación con el cambio de uso del suelo, la visión escalar revela que las directas (próximas) e indirectas (subyacentes) operan en múltiples jerarquías; asimismo, sus consecuencias biofísicas, sociales y económicas se manifiestan en diferentes escalas de espacio y tiempo.

Identification of the ecosystem services provided by Mexican temperate forests is a prerequisite in ensuring their conservation and sustainable management. This study aimed (1) to describe ecosystem services provided by Mexican temperate forests (provisioning, regulating and cultural services); and (2) to identify possible trade-offs and synergies based on the types of ecosystem services available in Mexican temperate forests. We synthesized relevant literature from scientific articles, government statistics and grey literature covering the years 1985–2012. Timber extraction is the main beneficial ecosystem service of temperate forests recognized by public policy as shown by the high income from this activity; but it has trade-offs of greater magnitude with other provisioning services (water, bioenergy and non-timber forest resources), and with other supporting, regulating and cultural ecosystem services. For example, it causes the loss of other forest resources, extinction of commercially important species and loss of the system's structural complexity. Water capture and extraction of non-timber forest resources have lesser effects on support and regulation services, and in the case of water capture, the magnitude of the effect depends on the type and reversibility of the modification of the ecosystem. The synergies between ecosystem services have mutual benefits; for example, a decision to enhance the scenic beauty in temperate forests potentially improves water cycling and provision of non-timber forest resources, and has a positive effect on cultural and regulation services. In Mexican temperate forests the recognition of ecosystem services is limited and is based largely on grey literature. More robust scientific information is needed on the role of these forests in maintaining biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services essential to the welfare of the population. Also, monitoring of ecosystem processes of highland temperate forests in tropical regions is very limited, so it is necessary to generate research to develop a paradigm shift from forest management based strictly on logging to one based on ecosystem management.