Abstract
<span>The Mayans of the Yucatán Peninsula, together with their environment, conform social-ecological systems with adaptation and resilience to natural, political and economic disturbances. In this study, we use the framework of social-ecological systems for describing a mechanism that allows a Mayan community and its natural environment to respond to disturbances over time. We describe (1) the activities that members of the community develop as part of their strategy for managing natural resource management, and (2) the history of the social-ecological system focusing on meaningful events: changes in their institutional body, landscape and/or practices for exploiting natural resources, and interactions between these changes. Through both semi-structured and in-depth interviews, historical narratives and participant observation, we found that managers use the environmental heterogeneity to diversify the exploitation of species, manage the secondary vegetation and protect mature vegetation. Formal and informal institutions of access, regulation and administration of natural resources regulate productive activities and management practices. These institutions operate differentially at the levels of environmental units (prohibition of the exploitation of the natural resources of mature tropical forests) and species (protection of the jaguar and cougar). Diversification of productive activities, management of environmental heterogeneity and the presence of flexible institutions enable responses in the social-ecological systems that have the potential to contribute to its long-term maintenance. Comprehensive studies like this might help to understand adaptive capacity and social-ecological resilience.</span>
Highlights
Conservation of tropical forests in Latin America involves unprecedented challenges (Castillo and Toledo 2000)
We describe (1) the activities that members of the community develop as part of their strategy for managing natural resource management, and (2) the history of the socialecological system focusing on meaningful events: changes in their institutional body, landscape and/or practices for exploiting natural resources, and interactions between these changes
A total of 18 crop species are cultivated by people of Nuevo Tesoco and Santa María Pixoy
Summary
Conservation of tropical forests in Latin America involves unprecedented challenges (Castillo and Toledo 2000). Leichenko and O’Brien (2008, 9) argue that there is a double exposure when a particular region, social group or ecological area is simultaneously confronted by exposure to both global environmental change and globalization. Concerns about globalization through policies for commodifying nature point out the risk of weakening ecological and social systems if policy makers ignore local processes for governing forests (Arsel and Büscher 2012). Facing these challenges require analyzing social and ecological systems in an integrated approach, as well as building responses based on local realities, knowledge and technical experiences (Ramírez-Delgado et al 2014)
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