Monarch Conservation Perspectives
A View from Mexico
By Jordi Honey-Rosés

December 13, 2003

Communal Lands and Community Organization in Mexico
In the United States and Europe most of the land is privately owned by individuals. In contrast, Mexico distinguishes itself with a system of communal land tenure where rural groups called Ejidos and Indigenous Communities own most of the property. In fact, these communities own eighty percent of Mexico's forestland which harbors most of the countries biodiversity. The system of communal land tenure is unique to Mexico and has strongly shaped conservationists' protection strategy. Increasingly, those working to protect biodiversity and natural areas have become interested in supporting the internal organizational capacity of the rural communities who own the highly bio-diverse lands. Some conservationists have found that investing in the organizational capacity of these landowners can be even more effective than more traditional conservation initiatives.

The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is no exception when it comes to communal land tenure. Of the 40 properties of the core zone of the Protected Area, 33 are owned by Ejidos or Indigenous Communities, while only 5 are private properties and 2 are State or Federal Properties.

In light of the communal land system in Mexico, it is frequently suggested that the rural communities' ability to protect their forest is directly related to their capacity to organize as a group, to hold General Assemblies, to elect legal representatives, to determine community priorities, to manage funds transparently, and to respect internal codes of conduct. Without this organizational capacity, many claim that conservation cannot be achieved. Some take this even further by asserting that no project will be successful, be it related to health, education, gender equality or economic development, if the rural community is not well organized.

A lack of community organization often results in poor forest protection and high deforestation rates on communal lands. A clear example of this can be found in Monarch Protected Area along the Chivati Mountain range in the Indigenous Community of San Cristobal. San Cristobal has a history of poor community organization. Up until a few months ago San Cristobal had gone over a year without holding a General Assembly. When the former community leader's term expired, the date for new elections came and went without a community election at the General Assembly. Without a legally elected community leader San Cristobal had no one to represent them. There was no legal representative to seek community development projects, sign the papers, administer funds, or vouch for the communities' interest. This lack of community organization prevented San Cristobal from benefiting from different governmental and non-governmental programs.

In contrast, the neighboring Ejido of El Paso is an example of strong community organization. They hold regular General Assemblies and have created a community forest management plan. This year they used aerial photography to study their forest in addition to the field data they frequently collect to monitor forest growth. El Paso also has local community members watch after their forest on a regular basis. The result has been that illegal loggers never dare to encroach on El Paso’s timber.

The organizational capacities of El Paso and San Cristobal can been seen reflected on the conservation status of their forest. San Cristobal does not have a single hectare of high or medium quality forest in the Protected Area. Its entire 280 hectares in the core zone are classified as poor quality, with 176 of these hectares completely deforested looking more like a desert. This is especially sad considering that less than 20 years ago overwintering Monarch colonies were once found in San Cristobal. Much of this destruction goes back many years, but so does their history of poor community organization. In stark contrast, neighboring Ejido El Paso has 451 hectares of well protected forest.

Visitors can see the El Paso and San Cristobal boundary from the entrance of the El Rosario colony by looking southwest or by looking straight south from the top of the Chincua range. One should see El Paso’s patch of well protected forest bordering a flat, dry and dusty area that can be clearly identified as San Cristobal.

The contrast between El Paso and San Cristobal shows the results of strong or week rural communities. It also reinforces those who argue that conservationists must also work on community organization in order to protect the habitat of the Monarch Butterfly.

Movement of Colony Noted in November
The Monarch colony monitored on November 15th moved rapidly down the south- western slope of the Chincua range in the second two weeks of November. The colony position on November 29th was 363498 East and 2175976 North, meaning it moved 531 meters to the West and 283 meters to the North. This placed the colony approximately 185 meters from the Llano del Toro on November 29th. Understanding exactly why the colonies move is a research question still left unanswered.
Fly Over for Local Landowners
As part of an environmental education program, twenty local landowners were flown over their properties and given an opportunity to see their forest from the air for the first time on November 27-30 by the organization of volunteer pilots Lighthawk.


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