Landscapes on the Move: Land-Use Change History in a Mexican Agroforest Frontier
An unprecedented magnitude of land-use/land-cover changes have led to a rapid conversion of tropical forested landscapes to different land-uses. This comparative study evaluates and reconstructs the recent history (1976–2019) of land-use change and the associated land-use types that have emerged ove...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Land |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/10/1066 |
| _version_ | 1797514086012944384 |
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| author | Carolina Berget Gerard Verschoor Eduardo García-Frapolli Edith Mondragón-Vázquez Frans Bongers |
| author_facet | Carolina Berget Gerard Verschoor Eduardo García-Frapolli Edith Mondragón-Vázquez Frans Bongers |
| author_sort | Carolina Berget |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An unprecedented magnitude of land-use/land-cover changes have led to a rapid conversion of tropical forested landscapes to different land-uses. This comparative study evaluates and reconstructs the recent history (1976–2019) of land-use change and the associated land-use types that have emerged over time in two neighboring rural villages in Southern Mexico. Qualitative ethnographic and oral histories research and quantitative land-use change analysis using remote sensing were used. Findings indicate that several interacting historical social-ecological drivers (e.g., colonization program, soil quality, land conflicts with indigenous people, land-tenure, availability of surrounding land where to expand, Guatemala’s civil war, several agricultural development and conservation programs, regional wildfire, Zapatista uprising, and highway construction) have influenced each village’s own unique land-use change history and landscape composition: the smaller village is characterized by a dominating pasture landscape with some scattered agricultural and forest areas, while the larger village has large conserved forest areas intermixed with pastures, agriculture, oil palm and rubber plantations. The differential histories of each village have also had livelihood diversification implications. It is suggested that landscape history research in tropical agroforest frontiers is necessary because it can inform land-use policies and forest conservation strategies that are compatible with local livelihoods and conservation goals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:26:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c309efe7dcc4b5888774051d92fb8c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:26:38Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c309efe7dcc4b5888774051d92fb8c42023-11-22T18:51:11ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2021-10-011010106610.3390/land10101066Landscapes on the Move: Land-Use Change History in a Mexican Agroforest FrontierCarolina Berget0Gerard Verschoor1Eduardo García-Frapolli2Edith Mondragón-Vázquez3Frans Bongers4Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The NetherlandsSociology of Development and Change Group, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The NetherlandsInstituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro No.8701, Morelia CP 58190, MexicoDepartamento de Estudios y Observación de la Tierra, la Atmósfera y el Océano, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas CP 29247, MexicoForest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The NetherlandsAn unprecedented magnitude of land-use/land-cover changes have led to a rapid conversion of tropical forested landscapes to different land-uses. This comparative study evaluates and reconstructs the recent history (1976–2019) of land-use change and the associated land-use types that have emerged over time in two neighboring rural villages in Southern Mexico. Qualitative ethnographic and oral histories research and quantitative land-use change analysis using remote sensing were used. Findings indicate that several interacting historical social-ecological drivers (e.g., colonization program, soil quality, land conflicts with indigenous people, land-tenure, availability of surrounding land where to expand, Guatemala’s civil war, several agricultural development and conservation programs, regional wildfire, Zapatista uprising, and highway construction) have influenced each village’s own unique land-use change history and landscape composition: the smaller village is characterized by a dominating pasture landscape with some scattered agricultural and forest areas, while the larger village has large conserved forest areas intermixed with pastures, agriculture, oil palm and rubber plantations. The differential histories of each village have also had livelihood diversification implications. It is suggested that landscape history research in tropical agroforest frontiers is necessary because it can inform land-use policies and forest conservation strategies that are compatible with local livelihoods and conservation goals.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/10/1066deforestationenvironmental historyland-use changeland-tenurelivelihoodsoral history |
| spellingShingle | Carolina Berget Gerard Verschoor Eduardo García-Frapolli Edith Mondragón-Vázquez Frans Bongers Landscapes on the Move: Land-Use Change History in a Mexican Agroforest Frontier Land deforestation environmental history land-use change land-tenure livelihoods oral history |
| title | Landscapes on the Move: Land-Use Change History in a Mexican Agroforest Frontier |
| title_full | Landscapes on the Move: Land-Use Change History in a Mexican Agroforest Frontier |
| title_fullStr | Landscapes on the Move: Land-Use Change History in a Mexican Agroforest Frontier |
| title_full_unstemmed | Landscapes on the Move: Land-Use Change History in a Mexican Agroforest Frontier |
| title_short | Landscapes on the Move: Land-Use Change History in a Mexican Agroforest Frontier |
| title_sort | landscapes on the move land use change history in a mexican agroforest frontier |
| topic | deforestation environmental history land-use change land-tenure livelihoods oral history |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/10/1066 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT carolinaberget landscapesonthemovelandusechangehistoryinamexicanagroforestfrontier AT gerardverschoor landscapesonthemovelandusechangehistoryinamexicanagroforestfrontier AT eduardogarciafrapolli landscapesonthemovelandusechangehistoryinamexicanagroforestfrontier AT edithmondragonvazquez landscapesonthemovelandusechangehistoryinamexicanagroforestfrontier AT fransbongers landscapesonthemovelandusechangehistoryinamexicanagroforestfrontier |