Impact of the Wildlife Management Units Policy on the Conservation of Species and Ecosystems of Southeastern Mexico

Carolina Álvarez-Peredo,Armando Contreras-Hernández,Alejandro Ortega-Argueta,Rosario Landgrave,Mariana Pineda-Vázquez,Carlos Tejeda-Cruz,Sonia Gallina-Tessaro

doi:10.3390/su10124415

Carolina Álvarez-Peredo, Armando Contreras-Hernández + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124415

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Abstract

Wildlife in Latin America is subject to enormous pressures and, as in most countries, has been negatively impacted in Mexico. In 1997, the Mexican government implemented a policy of conservation and sustainable use of wildlife units (called UMAs, by their Spanish acronym) that comprises intensive and free-living management. Since then, no national or regional assessments have been conducted to estimate impacts and benefits even with 5529 registered UMAs now covering almost 20% of the national territory. The objective of this study was to characterize the SUMA (UMAs System) in a regional context in three states of southeastern Mexico. The impact of UMAs was studied in depth through a selection of representative case studies: three species of mangrove (Avicennia germinans, Laguncularia racemosa and Rhizophora mangle), ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata), red cedar (Cedrela odorata) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and a connectivity analysis, in order to evaluate the contribution of the UMAs to the conservation of species and ecosystems. The number of active UMAs at regional scale was 834, managing 273 species; 7.1% of the UMAs manage nationally-prioritized species, while 8.3% and 94.3% manage endemic and native species, respectively. Conservation of ecosystems has been successfully achieved through the UMAs that manage mangrove and white-tailed deer. We propose to promote the establishment of free-living UMAs that would contribute to increase the conservation areas. Finally, we highlight the relevance of regional-scale spatial analysis as an important tool for improving environmental policy and conservation strategies.

Highlights

Wildlife in Latin America is under enormous pressure as a result of human demographic growth, high rural marginalization and the lack of effective development and conservation policies where economic interests prevail over sustainability [1,2]
The features analyzed were: geographic location, area of territory registered as an UMA, taxonomic classification of the species under management, origin of the species under management, category of risk or national and international protection of the species under management according to the Mexican legislation (NOM 059-SEMARNAT-2010, by its Spanish acronym) [40], the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [46] and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) [47] and modalities of management: intensive vs. free-living
Seven were removed from the official registry between 2012 and 2015, and 15 more had failed to provide a report or had no communication with SEMARNAT between 2013 and 2017, and as such were considered non-operating. Another 236 UMAs (145 intensive and 91 free-living) with some form of commercial use registered within their activities, had not received any authorization from SEMARNAT over the last six years, for which reason these were considered inactive

Summary

Introduction

Wildlife in Latin America is under enormous pressure as a result of human demographic growth, high rural marginalization and the lack of effective development and conservation policies where economic interests prevail over sustainability [1,2]. The strategy of wildlife conservation through sustainable use has been directed mostly towards indirect policy mechanisms This type of initiative, known as “conservation by distraction” [3] acts to incentivize rural communities to conserve biodiversity by providing sources of income and alternative forms of production through sustainable resource use [4]. In order to analyze wildlife management in Latin America, it is necessary to understand the cultural and socioeconomic context of the countries that form this region. Most of these countries have to exploit as much as possible the resources they have available in order to sustain their fragile economies and demand for consumption due to accelerated demographic growth [7]. Often the only, source of calories and proteins in the diet of those groups [10] they are used for other traditional purposes, such as clothing, tools and pets, as well as for medicinal, ritual and religious purposes, among others [11]

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