Sustainable Forest Management in Mexico

Abstract

Forest management in Mexico is immersed in diverse and complex ecological, socio-cultural, political, economic, and technological contexts. These contexts have led to the use of the forests for many purposes under diverse administration and management schemes. These schemes continue to evolve, both in the forest areas and in universities and forest research institutions throughout the country. Timber management has been part of this evolution and has given rise to several forest management approaches. Most of these approaches are adaptations of methods developed in other parts of the world for very different ecological, socio-cultural, and economic contexts. The majority of the timber management methods are based on sustainability principles and incorporate classical yield regulation and forest management concepts. However, the application of these methods in the complex and rapidly changing contexts in which the Mexican forests and forestry sector are immersed has resulted in unexpected and fortuitous results. There is a need for a new significant evolution of the forest and timber management methods in the country. New approaches must include greater emphasis on community-based forestry, consideration of markets for forest products and services, as well as the overall increase of resilience, learning capacity, and adaptation while reducing hazards, risks, and vulnerability of the forests and the communities that depend on them. These characteristics will allow better adaptation to the rapid changes, complexities, and ambiguities of the global environment and the Mexican ecological, social, political, and economic conditions.