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The transformation of the organizational processes and institutions was analyzed in a context of the bird watching tourism (American Flamingo -Phoenicopterus ruber) and the establishment of the Biosphere Reserve Ria Lagartos (RBRL). A perspective of collective action was used, and quantitative and qualitative approach to analyze the effects that tourism generates in communities living within protected areas. The results reveal a weakening of local organizations to give priority to the institutionalization imposed by external actors has caused new problems with negative consequences for conservation. In Rio Lagartos there is a social base that can enable collaboration among social actors, but it requires collective action mechanisms that improve social organization and local institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical identification of research approaches and academic formation with a political ecology perspective is becoming more frequent every time in Mexico. This upsurge of political ecology, as a discipline and theoretical framework, is quite encouraging for those who analyze environmental change from a social and political perspective. Notwithstanding, we consider that a thorough review of this discipline's development in Mexico is necessary in order to delimit its field of inquiry and to avoid its generalization and simplification. In this study we offer a synthetic account of the origin and evolution of political ecology and its main theoretical approaches. We also present a general historical review of research efforts devoted to analyze environmental change from a social perspective in Mexico; lastly, we discuss the traits that characterize Mexican political ecology, its main lines of research, and their relevance in Mexico's environmental scenario. Given the high diversity and quantity of Mexico's socio-environmental studies, this work should be considered a preliminary characterization and history of political ecology in Mexico that may be useful as a basis for a further and more complete analysis about this discipline development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]