Farm Households and Land Use in a Core Conservation Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala

Carr, David L.

doi:10.1007/s10745-007-9154-1

Cited by 35 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Future research and policies must be particularly responsive to social dynamics underlying land use management systems. The role of migration and other adaptive strategies of farmers (Carr 2008), which could have an effect on decisions related to practices that enhance biodiversity have to be understood and taken into account. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home Gardens Sustain Crop Diversity and Improve Farm Resilience in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico

2008

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Home gardens are land use units embedded in a larger land use system, in this case in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, we investigated how home gardens are integrated into local farming practices and how these influence biodiversity. Our findings suggest that home gardens harbour high levels of biodiversity, which are maintained and enriched by farmers' practices, particularly plant and seed exchange. Plant diversity is higher in younger home gardens and in home gardens where owners actively exchange plant material with other people. Through plant exchange, seed storage, and the dispersion of seeds and plants in different land uses, farmers encourage plant diversity and consequently increase the resilience of their farming system in changing climatic, demographic and economic conditions. Both men and women participate in the establishment, care and management of home gardens, but they are responsible for different plants and home garden functions. For economic reasons, the inhabitants of Candelaria Loxicha are increasingly engaging in international migration. Migrants, upon their return bring new ideas and plants that might transform the rural landscape.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home Gardens Sustain Crop Diversity and Improve Farm Resilience in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico

2008

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“…Beyond its impact on the selection of diversification and saving adaptation strategies, the scholarship on land-use change has found that distance is a critical factor for deforestation (Nagendra et al 2006, Bray et al 2008, Carr 2008. Proximity to commercial and administrative centers creates more opportunities for people to commercialize their agricultural products, send their children to school and network with farmers from different communities and governmental and nongovernmental organizations, which expand farmers' horizons beyond landintensive activities.…”

Section: Distance Cash Benefits and Deforestation-driving Adaptatiomentioning

confidence: 99%

Unintended outcomes of farmers’ adaptation to climate variability: deforestation and conservation in Calakmul and Maya biosphere reserves

Rodriguez-Solorzano¹

2014

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Minimizing the impact of climate change on farmer livelihoods is crucial, but adaptation efforts may have unintended consequences for ecosystems, with potential impacts on farmers' welfare. Unintended outcomes of climate adaptation strategies have been widely discussed, however, empirical exploration has been neglected. Grounded in scholarship on climate adaptation, environmental governance, social-ecological systems, and land-use change, this paper studies whether farmers' climate adaptation contributes to deforestation or forest conservation. The paper draws on interviews with 353 farmers from 46 communities in Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Mexico and Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala. Farmers in the area of study have implemented adaptation strategies that people around the world have used for centuries, including migration, diversification, savings, and pooling. The findings show that climate adaptation can increase deforestation or support forest conservation depending on the type of adaptation strategy farmers implement. Saving, based on cattle ranching, is a deforestation-driving strategy. The choice of this strategy is influenced by distance to the commercial and administrative center and cash benefits from the forest. Deforestation can have a negative impact on farmers' welfare, as well as harm biodiversity and contribute to increased climate change. Thus, deforestation-driving adaptation strategies may be ineffective. However, diversification, based on off-farm jobs and operating provision shops, is a conservation-driving strategy influenced by distance as well as by family size. Farmers who choose diversification to adapt may contribute to a virtuous circle in which livelihood improvement in the short term leads to enhanced social-ecological resilience in the longer term. The need for farmers to implement adaptation strategies thus represents great risk but also opportunities.

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“…However, there are still knowledge gaps, especially in the relationships between and among the biophysical, economic development, sociocultural aspects, and effective policy responses (Carr 2008;Chomitz et al 2007;Damnyag et al 2013;Mattsson et al 2012;Pasgaard 2013;Pouliot et al 2012). Moreover, most studies of deforestation drivers have been based on macrolevel regional or national data, thus presenting difficulties in addressing the complexity of local situations (Bottazzi and Dao 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

Expansion of traditional land-use and deforestation: a case study of an adat forest in the Kandilo Subwatershed, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

et al. 2017

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Deforestation issues are more problematic when indigenous (adat) communities, living within a forest, have lived there for many generations. These adat communities, who employ traditional land-use, are frequently accused of encroaching on the forest. To understand existing and future trends in the spatial patterns of the expansion of traditional land-use and deforestation, we conducted a case study in the Kandilo Subwatershed using mixed methods with image interpretation, spatial modelling and sociocultural surveys to examine the interrelationships between physical conditions, community characteristics and traditional land-use expansion. We investigated community characteristics through household interviews, communication with key informants, and discussions with focus groups. By using an area production model, we were able to analyze the effect of improved farming systems, policy intervention and law enforcement on traditional land-use expansion and deforestation. Based on our examination of a 20-year period of traditional land-use activities in adat forests, the evidence indicated that the steeper the slope of the land and the farther the distance from the village, the lower the rate of deforestation. Our study found that customary law, regulating traditional land-use, played an important role in controlling deforestation and land degradation. We conclude that the integration of land allocation, improved farming practices and enforcement of customary law are effective measures to improve traditional land productivity while avoiding deforestation and land degradation.

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Farm Households and Land Use in a Core Conservation Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala

Cited by 35 publications

References 59 publications

Home Gardens Sustain Crop Diversity and Improve Farm Resilience in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico

Home Gardens Sustain Crop Diversity and Improve Farm Resilience in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico

Unintended outcomes of farmers’ adaptation to climate variability: deforestation and conservation in Calakmul and Maya biosphere reserves

Expansion of traditional land-use and deforestation: a case study of an adat forest in the Kandilo Subwatershed, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

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Farm Households and Land Use in a Core Conservation Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala

Cited by 35 publications

References 59 publications

Home Gardens Sustain Crop Diversity and Improve Farm Resilience in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico

Home Gardens Sustain Crop Diversity and Improve Farm Resilience in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico

Unintended outcomes of farmers&#8217; adaptation to climate variability: deforestation and conservation in Calakmul and Maya biosphere reserves

Expansion of traditional land-use and deforestation: a case study of an adat forest in the Kandilo Subwatershed, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

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Unintended outcomes of farmers’ adaptation to climate variability: deforestation and conservation in Calakmul and Maya biosphere reserves