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Report 5 (of 6): Forests of the
Future - Mexico
Introduction
About 26% of the State of Quintana Roo in South
East Mexico is covered by forests and about 95% of
these timber producing forests are owned by the ejido
(common land) communities. A large part of the State
has very poor soil conditions and is unsuitable for
agriculture. Most of the people earn their living
through subsistence farming and forestry. Unless
the forests become more productive, they are likely
to be burned to create farmland. The people from
the local communities in and around the forests need
to be given a good incentive to conserve the forests
to ensure that they are not completely destroyed.
The introduction of appropriate intermediate technology
which can be managed locally is essential to this.
Forestry Techniques used by MIQROO
In 1983, after the termination of concessions by
a State owned logging and plywood company, called
MIQROO, six Civil Societies were established in the
ejido communities to take ownership and manage about
500,000 hectares of tropical forest in the State.
The Societies employ a team of forestry technicians
who carry out inventories, prepare management plans
and supervise the harvesting of timber. The finance
to pay for this is generated from their own revenues
through the sale of timber both as round wood and
sawn.
The communities inherited the techniques of MIQROO
who had concentrated purely in the extraction of
large diameter mahogany logs and creamed the forests
of these species. The communities are now left with
very low quantities of mahogany and have to rely
on lesser known species of hardwoods and softwoods.
The market price of such species is much lower than
the mahogany or Spanish cedar which have ready markets
and for farmers to earn enough money, they need to
find ways to harvest the more common species which
should help to reduce the felling of more precious
species.
During the last 15 years, markets have been developed
for the lesser known species but the selling price
of these species still remains very low. High harvesting
costs make these species uncompetitive in the market
place. The technologies developed by the forestry
management project reduce the costs of harvesting
and the extraction of lesser known species is more
attractive, therefore, reducing the pressure on mahogany.
This should create the necessary incentive for the
communities to conserve their forests and improve
their living standards.
DFID and the Development of Appropriate Technologies
Realising that their main weaknesses were the logging
techniques and lack of suitable forestry road construction,
the ejido communities requested DFID (Department
for International Development) to assist in the development
of appropriate technologies for logging and road
construction.
The project is being implemented in consultation
with the Civil Societies and the ejido communities.
The Quintana Roo Forestry Management Project
The Quintana Roo Forestry Management Project began
in March 1995 and aims to assist the communities
of the State to manage their forestry resources in
a sustainable way. By developing the capacity of
the ejidos to increase their income through the development
of cost effective and enviromentally friendly forest
harvesting and road technologies, the necessary incentives
would be provided to the ejidos communities for conserving
their forest resources.
The project has three components - the development
of suitable harvesting and road technologies; biological
studies to determine the effect of project activities
on the biodiversity of the region and biometric studies
to determine the rate at which the trees grow in
the forests. A parallel economic study will determine
the comparative advantages in the adoption of the
technologies developed by the project over the traditional
methods.
Forestry Road Construction
Access to and from the forests is important and
specially designed roads can minimise the environmental
impact. Roads should be narrow, without access and
have good drainage. Two kinds of road are being constructed
- one for permanent use and one to last for one season's
tree extraction. The temporary tracks grow over in
a year as the forest vegetation springs back up.
The following aspects are considered while constructing
the forest roads:
Alignments are carefully selected so as to avoid
wetlands and water crossings where possible.
Drainage is given special attention, for example, using an adequate number
of culverts, side drains and mitre drains to minimise erosion.
Burrow pits are restored after use and reforested with commercial species.
There is also substantial natural regeneration.
While clearing the right of way, the trees are felled into the forest so
as not to create a barrier for the wild life.
During road construction water holes which retain water during the dry season
are also constructed for the wild life.
Logging Techniques
Logging techniques traditionally practiced by the
communities caused vast amounts of damage to the
trees which should have become the future crop. The
techniques developed by the project have considerably
reduced damage to the trees and also reduced the
amount of forest being removed to extract logs by
almost 50%.
Logging techniques now being used include:
The heavy skidder has been replaced and now an
agricultural tractor is used which has been adapted
to the conditions prevailing in the forests of Quintana
Roo.
100% counting and recording of sustainably harvestable trees.
Mapping of all trees to be extracted.
Planning of skid trails - the agricultural tractor opens up only 50% of the
skid trails constructed by the skidder and they are much narrower.
Training for directional felling.
Using these methods, the cost of timber extraction
can be reduced by about 40%. Tractors speed up harvesting
and are less destructive than the old skidder machines.
Parts are available locally and all the mechanical
repair works and maintenance are carried out in the
community. Modification to the cabin of the tractor
helps to protect the driver from falling trunks.
Greater efficiency has already improved the farmers
income by one third.
There are many poor communities who depend upon
the forests for their livelihoods. They are dependent
on the extraction of timber in a sustainable manner
and on other varities of non timber forest products,
such as chicle, for making chewing gum and honey
etc. The forests provide the economic survival of
many communities. Good roads are useful for the foresters.
Buyers can now pick up chicle from the chewing gum
tappers and put it into the truck within half an
hour. Before the roads were constructed it used to
take a day to transport the chicle to the trucks.
Tree Planting
Strict regulations control how many trees can be
cut down and the environmental damage is significantly
reduced. Replanting is critical. One hundred seeds
are planted each day and they take six months to
grow into seedlings which can be planted in the forest.
For every tree that is felled, about five saplings
are planted. Last year 25,000 trees were planted
in Quintana Roo alone.
For further information, please contact:
Zafar Hasan, Hidroelectrica de Infiernillo No.155A,
Col. Electricistas, Chetumal, Mexico. Tel: +52 983
27745 Fax: +52 983 27736 E-mail: dfid@astronet.ecosur-qroo.mx
Intermediate Technology would like to thank the
Department for International Development in Great
Britain - in particular, Zafar Hasan - for providing
the original material on the Quintana Roo Forestry
Management Project.
Further reading related to this subject from
ITDG Development Bookshop
Environmentally Sound Small-scale Forestry Projects
Peter F. Folliot and John L.Thomas
A manual for community development workers in developing countries who are
not technicians in the area of forestry, but who want some general guidelines
for planning environmentally sound small-scale forestry projects.
120pp 1983 (VITA) œ11.95
Facing Kirinyaga: A social history of forest
commons in southern Mount Kenya
Alfonso Peter Castro
Examines the management and use of common-property forests, groves and trees
on southern Mount Kenya, demonstrating the long-standing relationships between
Kenyans and their forest resources - and the connections between anthropology
and forestry. This book is published in the IT Studies in Indigenous Knowledge
and Development series.
166pp ISBN 1 853392537 1995 (ITP) œ14.95
Forests of Hope: Stories of Regeneration
Christian Kuchli
Forests of Hope presents positive stories from around the world of successful
forestry conservation, showing how the lives of people and their communities
have been integrated with preservation, use and enjoyment of forests. Containing
150 colour photographs, this book explores conditions in 12 different countries,
and shows that where social and institutional conflicts have been resolved,
forests have been regenerated.
242pp ISBN 1 853835056 1997 (Earthscan) œ19.99
Miombo Ecology and Management: An introduction
Emmanuel N. Chidumayo
Miombo forest occurs in a swathe across central and southern Africa. Traditionally
shifting cultivators have farmed in miombo, and allowed it to regenerate, but
increasingly the demands for land and for fuelwood have resulted in deforestation.
This book provides comprehensive details of the climate, environment, ecology
and species characteristic of miombo, and describes methods for assessing the
timber and other resources, through inventories, in order to use the forest
sustainably. Management guidelines give practical advice on propagation and
harvesting techniques, as well as discussing how to design plans to conserve
biodiversity and to protect water catchments.
192pp ISBN 1 853394114 Paperback 1997 (ITP) œ14.95
Nature is Culture: Indigenous knowledge and socio-cultural
aspects of trees and forests in non-European cultures
Edited by Klaus Seeland
The startling message of this book is that the so-called virgin forests of
the world owe much to their symbiotic relationship with the indigenous peoples
who live in and on the margins of the forests. Human activities have for millenia
'managed' (consciously or unconsciously) the world's forests, resulting in
a greatly enriched biodiversity. The contributors to the book come from many
different scientific disciplines, national and cultural backgrounds. Examples
of forests are taken from Asia, Africa and South America, thus reflecting the
global nature of the phenomenon. The book's conclusions will have far-reaching
implications for all who are concerned with the conservation of forests and
their indigenous human population. This book is published in the IT Studies
in Indigenous Knowledge and Development Series.
152pp ISBN 1 853394106 Paperback 1997 (ITP) œ15.95
The New Forester
Berry van Gelder and Phil O'Keefe
This book will challenge foresters, and other rural development professionals,
to build new landscapes which provide a range of biomass products to local
users. The authors encourage professionals to work with, rather than against,
local people. 128pp ISBN 1 853392324 Paperback 1995 (ITP) œ9.95
Recent Approaches to Participatory Forest Resource
Assessment
Jane Carter
Using detailed case studies from around the world, this guide provides indepth
discussion on the growing trend towards local people's participation in forest
resource assessment.
322pp ISBN 0 850032326 Paperback 1996 (ODI) œ14.95 Trees, People and
Power
P. Utting
ISBN 1 85383162X Paperback (Earthscan) œ14.95
To order any of these books from ITDG Development
Bookshop, send a Sterling Cheque (adding 15% for
postage and packing to European addresses, 25% elsewhere),
or credit card details (American Express, Visa or
MasterCard) to:
ITDG Development Bookshop 103-105 Southampton Row,
London WC1B 4HH,United Kingdom. Tel + 44 171 436
9761 Fax + 44 171 436 2013 Email orders@itpubs.org.uk or visit our website at www.developmentbookshop.com.
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