Pobreza rural y medio ambiente. Experiencias en cuatro comunidades de la selva seca de Oaxaca, México.

This paper describes the poverty - environment relation as observed in the rural communities living next to the tourist development called Bahías de Huatulco, located to the south of Oaxaca, in the poorest zone in Southeastern Mexico. The information presented was gathered throughout five years of work of various institutions; the methodology applied was that of participative rural research and continuous improvement techniques, that allowed the conformation of work groups in which family and community members of San Isidro Chacalapa, Santa María Xadani, Petatengo and Playa Grande were involved. In the paper, variables that are affected by the poverty - environment relation are defined, and some indicators that serve to identify such relation in the work zone are described. In rural communities, the preservation of natural resources is strongly determined by conditioning factors and family behavior. In production activities, family organization for work and rural people's attitude towards change and innovation have a negative impact on the quality and quantity of the natural resources available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]