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Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos: An Alternative Model for Indigenous Peoples
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2008
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Harris, Susan L
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Environmental Studies
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Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
Running Head: CONSERVATION EASEMENTS ON MEXICAN EJIDOS
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos:
An Alternative Model for Indigenous Peoples
by
Susan L. Harris
A Thesis: Essay of Distinction
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Environmental Studies
The Evergreen State College
January 2008
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
©2008 by Susan L. Harris. All rights reserved.
This Thesis for the Master of Environmental Studies Degree
by
Susan L. Harris
has been approved for
The Evergreen State College
by
____________________________
Cheri Lucas Jennings
Member of the Faculty
____________________________
Date
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
ABSTRACT
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos:
An Alternative Model for Indigenous Peoples
Susan L. Harris
Despite revolutions, sitting governments have often established
policies based on efforts to either obliterate native people or to fully
assimilate them into modern world economies largely based on the
export of non-food or cash crops. Rarely have efforts been made to see
them and their cultures and traditions as a viable part of Mexican
society.
To become more economically viable, rural cultures in Mexico
have been increasing monoculture activities to meet market demands,
resulting in ever-increasing clear cutting and other ecologically unwise
practices. Without butterflies and forests, local ecosystems collapse and
communities are lost; their members eventually disperse in search of a
way to make a living. Not only are forests being lost to commercial clear
cutting, but, with approximately 100,000 trees being lost each year to
personal use (e.g., firewood and houses), it is becoming increasingly
clear that peasant populations must make some cultural changes in
order to sustain themselves on their traditional lands.
Mexico City, once thought of as a great place to visit for its
crystal clear air and magnificent views of the surrounding mountains, is
now a city with some of the worst air pollution in the world. Ozone (O3),
sulfur dioxide (SO2), precursors like nitrogen oxides (NOX), hydrocarbons
(HC), and carbon monoxide (CO) are just the worst of the pollutants that
concentrate in the Valley of Mexico where Mexico City is located.
Mexico has a wide range of ecosystems, some very delicate,
including tropical rainforests, Sonoran desert, and rich coastal marine
areas. These ecosystems serve as habitat for a plethora of species, many
considered endangered. The loss of habitat leads to the loss of
biodiversity; and, it isn’t just Mexico that is suffering. Canada and the
United States also pay a price for habitat loss in Mexico. As pollution and
ecological and cultural deprivation become greater problems for this
country, it is imperative that some suggestions for creative solutions be
implemented soon.
There is a growing number of ejidos that have leased their lands
as conservation easements, among these are Ejido San Jose del Alamito
(Mexican Prairie Dog, Mountain Plover), Ejido of Xcupil-cacab (Mexican
Jaguar), and Ejido La India (Mexican Prairie Dog and Worthen’s
Sparrow), to name just a few. Conservation easements on ejido land are
proving to be a way out that preserves local culture, local ecosystems,
and local control while spurring local economies.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
Two positive examples of these evolving links between traditional
cultures, thriving ecologies, and viable economies are Ejido El Palmito
and Ejido Luis Echeverria Alvarez. Ejido El Palmito in Sinaloa, Mexico, is
a small 64-member ejido that has found a way, without cutting down all
of its trees, to make a living from its community forest. One of Mexico’s
largest conservation groups, Pronatura Noroeste, stepped in to aid the
ejido in the development of one viable alternative. Through the
establishment of a conservation easement on ejido lands, the
exploitative and extractive development of the area was halted.
The establishment of another successful conservation easement in
March of 2005 with Ejido Luis Echeverria Alvarez was the result of a
clear-cut threat to the ecological integrity of Laguna San Ignacio.
Although Ejido Luis Echeverria Alvarez has fewer members—only 43—
than El Palmito, it is one of six ejidos that comprise the Laguna San
Ignacio Wetlands Complex in Baja California Sur. Laguna San Ignacio is
the only lagoon left in the complex that hasn’t been compromised by
industrialization of some sort and the only undeveloped lagoon in the
world that serves as a prime gray whale birthing nursery. Because of the
conservation easement, the coalition of the ejidos and the assistance of
many conservation groups worldwide, the threat to the lagoon has been
eliminated for the time being. With approximately 28,000 ejidos
comprising half of the land in Mexico, the development of conservation
easements on ejido land has the potential to provide viable and exciting
alternatives to exploitative and extractive development.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ........................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................vii
LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................. viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................ ix
DEDICATION ........................................................................ xi
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1 .......................................................................... 3
Mexican Landscape: Land of Many Lands and the Formation
of Cultures ........................................................................ 3
History of Ejidos: The Birth of Revolution and Modern
Agrarian Reform ................................................................. 6
Ejido Governance: Absence of Clear Purpose Leads to
Confusion ......................................................................... 9
CHAPTER 2 .........................................................................17
Modern Ejido Land Law: More Changes in the System....................17
Pros and Cons: What Has Worked or Not Worked Before and
After Collectivization ..........................................................19
Industrialization and the Commercialization of Agriculture:
Economy and Environment Collide...........................................21
CHAPTER 3 .........................................................................27
Conservation Easements: An Alternative Model for
Sustainability ....................................................................27
Case Study #1: EJIDO EL PALMITO ...........................................28
CHAPTER 4 .........................................................................37
Case Study #2: EJIDO LUIS ECHEVERRIA ALVAREZ .........................37
CHAPTER 5 .........................................................................45
Conclusions and Recommendations..........................................45
REFERENCES........................................................................49
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos viii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1:
Map of Mexico showing major mountain ranges and the
great plateau (Google images, 2008). ............................ 3
Figure 2:
The rugged mountains of Copper Canyon, Chihuahua
(Wikipedia, 2007). ................................................... 5
Figure 3:
Vincente Guzman Reyes stands in a portion of the
butterfly preserve that was illegally cut by loggers
(Kiehl, 2007). ........................................................23
Figure 4:
Mexico City on a day when wind has replaced polluted
air with fresh clean air (Bravo, H.A.). ...........................24
Figure 5:
Mexico City on a windless day (Bravo, H.A.)....................24
Figure 6:
The Valley of Mexico is surrounded by mountains and
lies at an average altitude of 7,349 ft (2,240 m) (Yip &
Madl, 2002)...........................................................25
Figure 7:
Atmospheric conditions form a layer over Mexico City
(Yip & Madl, 2002). .................................................25
Figure 8:
Location of Ejido El Palmito (Maps of Mexico, n.d.)...........28
Figure 9:
Tufted Jay (Sendero Mexico Newsletter, February 25,
2006). .................................................................29
Figure 10: A guest tent and cabin at the Tufted Jay Preserve
(Sendero Mexico Newsletter, February 25, 2006)..............30
Figure 11: Ecotourism project creates job and builds community
(Sendero Mexico Newsletter, February 25, 2006)..............31
Figure 12: Baja California (Bajainsider.com, 2004).........................37
Figure 13: Gray whale greeting tourists (News from the Laguna,
July 2007). ...........................................................38
Figure 14: Mating endangered Black Sea Turtles (Roberson,
September 23, 2000). ..............................................38
Figure 15: Ejido members vote for conservation easement
(Wildcoast Newsletter, Summer2005). ..........................39
Figure 16: Hydroponics greenhouse built by Rigoberto Sanchez
Mosqueda (News from the Laguna, July 2007). ................43
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This has been a longer than normal process for me for many
reasons and so, these acknowledgements are probably longer than
normal; there are many people to thank. I especially thank Cheri Lucas
Jennings, my thesis advisor, who has guided me through this effort with
her insightful feedback and unfailing patience. Cheri’s understanding,
patience, and encouragement have kept me moving forward. Thank you,
Cheri.
I also would like to thank Linda Moon Stumpf, another Evergreen
faculty member, who led me to the idea for this thesis and encouraged
me to pursue it further.
I cannot leave out The Evergreen State College, Master of
Environmental Studies program itself. The program has taught me that
being an environmentalist isn’t just about saving the trees, seas, land,
and the creatures who inhabit them. It also is about people and justice;
leaving either out of the equation dooms us to failure.
Thank you to Jim Chu with the U.S. Forest Service International
Program who introduced me to my Mexican contacts and provided
invaluable information on how to attack this topic.
Thanks to Xicoténcatl (Xico) Vega Picos, formerly Director of
Conservation with Pronatura Noroeste and currently Deputy Director of
the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. Xico was an
invaluable contact graciously providing information and access to
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
x
colleagues working directly on conservation easements in Pronatura’s
Private Lands Conservation Program.
Among those contacts was Miguel Angel Vargas, Deputy Director,
Conservation of Private Lands Program Director, Pronatura Noroeste.
Thanks to Miguel for taking time out of his schedule to provide
background and ejido specific information.
And, of course, undying thanks to my family and friends. Maggie,
Nancy, Kitty, Marguerite, and Jolene…you are the best. Your
encouragement (nagging?) and patience have supported me throughout
my school career. Thanks to Raenette and Nick, my sister and brother-inlaw, who not only encouraged me but provided the greatest napping
refuge in the world where I could just stop and refresh myself. Finally,
thanks to my furry friends, Sadie, Casper, Gizmo, Fiesta, and Toffee,
who have supported and distracted me with their antics and sacrifice of
play time when thesis work took precedence.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
xi
DEDICATION
To Maggie, who convinced me that I was, indeed, good enough.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
xii
INTRODUCTION
Indigenous people are looking for ways to preserve their cultures
and protect their lands from exploitation while developing economically
and maintaining a sustainable and more traditional lifestyle. In order to
become more economically viable, these rural cultures have been
increasing activities such as cattle ranching, cultivating marijuana and
other monocultures to meet market demands. All of this requires cleared
land and the use of fertilizers, resulting in ever-increasing clear cutting
and other ecologically unwise land use practices. The question arises as
to why indigenous groups have been unable to move ahead economically
without engaging in such unhealthy practices. Looking back may help to
answer this question (Shadow & Barrientos, 2003).
Historically, the indigenous rural populations of Mexico have been
viewed with disdain by urban dwellers as well as Mexico’s leaders, all of
whom have lent a derisive connotation to the terms peóns, peasants, and
campesinos. The countryside and those who inhabit it are seen as
ignorant and socially inferior and a problem that must be dealt with. It
has been this way since the invasion of the Spanish and the perception
has lead to multiple rebellions and even full-scale revolution. Despite
revolutions, the perception persists and sitting governments have often
established policies based on it, trying either to obliterate the native
peoples or to fully assimilate them. Rarely have efforts been made to see
them as a viable part of Mexican society. It is clear by their unwillingness
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
2
to settle for this role that the peóns want better for themselves without
giving up their cultures and traditions (Shadow & Barrientos, 2003).
Creating conservation easements on ejido lands may be one viable
alternative to exploitative and extractive development in Mexico. With
approximately 28,000 ejidos comprising half of the land in Mexico (The
Mexican ejido, 2007), establishing such easements could have a major
impact on the preservation and sustainability of a wide variety of natural
resources.
This paper explores the history of the current ejido system and
how it has evolved to allow the leasing of land for conservation
easements. It asks if this is a viable option for preserving the natural
resources of an area as well as for the sustainability of the traditional
cultures of those living on ejido lands. The paper also includes case
studies of two ejidos with conservation easements and what is and is not
working in each of them.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
3
CHAPTER 1
Mexican Landscape:
Land of Many Lands and the Formation of Cultures
The land of Mexico is a rich collection of geographical and
topological typologies that, by their very nature, are isolated from one
another and have provided many opportunities for the formation of
Mesa del Norte
Sierra Madre
Oriental
Baja
California
Sierra Madre
Occidental
Sierra Madre
del Sur
Figure 1: Map of Mexico showing major mountain ranges and the great plateau (Google images,
2008).
unique ecosystems. Most of the country is mountainous with mountain
ranges running along much of the length of each of its maritime coasts.
Between these mountain ranges is an elevated plateau, the great Mesa
del Norte, which generates ample rainfall. However, the steepness of its
edges creates torrential but short rivers that work well for hydroelectric
power but do not provide good transportation routes, further isolating
the various regions of the country. Historically, little of Mexico’s rainfall
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
4
has been captured for irrigation and getting water to where it is needed
is an historical problem for Mexico. The plateau also has numerous
smaller mountain ranges on it that create separate valleys and basins.
Two of the three main ranges of Mexico converge southeast of Mexico
City. The eastern range, the Sierra Madre Oriental, drops down into the
only really level land in the country along the Yucatán Peninsula. On the
west are two ranges, the Sierra Madre Occidental in the north and the
Sierra Madre del Sur to the south. The mountain ranges are volcanic with
peaks as high as 10,000 feet. These varied topologies bring with them
some very harsh climates that often contradict themselves. Many of the
high mountain areas are found in tropical and semi-tropical latitudes
but, because of altitude, they are very cold. As a consequence of all of
this ruggedness, the Indians of Mexico, the Mayans and Aztecs not
withstanding, are not a single culture. They are, instead, hundreds of
small cultures that had little contact with one another prior to the
Spanish invasion. The Indians were spread over a total land area of
1,967,183 square kilometers (762,000 square miles or 196.7 million
hectares) (Simpson, 1937; Venezian & Gamble, 1969).
The topography of Mexico not only determined, but continues to
determine the lifestyles of many of its local people. It also limits the
amount of tillable land that is available and much of that is subject to
extreme and unseasonable weather fluctuations including frosts,
hailstorms, and droughts. In 1966 only about 15 million hectares were
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
5
under cultivation and of that, only 4 million were irrigated leaving 11
million hectares of cultivated land subject to the vagaries of the
weather. Another 79 million hectares of Mexican land were pasturelands,
with two-thirds of that in semi-arid, low production areas. About 33.5
million hectares were various types of
forestland (14.5 million in tropical and
subtropical forests; 10.5 million in
coniferous forests). The remaining
consisted of other species. This does
not include the 10.5 million hectares
of semi-desert plants (Venezian &
Gamble, 1969. pp. 3, 40-41, 60).
Clearly, arable, tillable lands are
Figure 2: The rugged mountains of Copper
Canyon, Chihuahua (Wikipedia, 2007).
rather scarce making food production for the nation, and agriculture in
general, one of Mexico’s most critical and complicated issues. The
landscape of Mexico is, of course, one of the most complicating factors
in Mexico’s efforts to create sustainable as well as commercial
agriculture but there are many others. The next sections discuss the
evolution of the “agrarian problem” in Mexico and how the ejido system
of land tenure came to be what it is today.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
6
History of Ejidos:
The Birth of Revolution and Modern Agrarian Reform
The Mexican Revolution of 1910 was thought of as an agrarian
revolution because its leaders made the issue its loudest battle cry.
Indeed, by 1910 only 10% of the indigenous people of Mexico owned land,
leaving 90% landless and restless, and often hungry (Venezian & Gamble,
1969. p. 46). While there were other economic and cultural issues
involved, the Revolution’s leaders felt that agrarian reform was the key
issue that would most resonate with the peóns, usually Indians, who
were living and working on hacienda lands. The peóns generally lived a
very meager existence and were paid very little for their hard work. The
end of the Revolution brought about the end of the Porfirio Díaz
administration. Díaz had taken the hacienda system to extreme lengths,
increasing the chasm between the “landed gentry” of hacienda
landholders (mostly Spanish) and an extremely impoverished agrarian
labor force (mostly Indian). Díaz encouraged and supported the
industrialization of Mexico’s most populated areas thereby, perversely,
planting the seeds of his own downfall. Those who could leave the
haciendas to work in industry discovered that life could be better. Those
who stayed behind were not blind to the advantages being gained by
their former neighbors, and, not seeing their own circumstances
improve, were ready to follow the leaders of revolution. Out of this
Revolution came the current ejido system for redistribution of land
(Simpson, 1937).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
7
The ejido, as a system of land tenure, has existed as far back as
pre-Aztec times. Indeed, it became the basis of society among the
Aztecs. During the 16th century, the term ejido referred primarily to the
areas within a town or pueblo that were used in common by members of
the community, which also held title to the lands around the ejido
(McBride, 1923). Later, ejido more appropriately referred to the
outskirts of a village, the lands on the “way out” of town—the farmlands.
Ejido, pronounced ā-heé-dō, is from the Latin exire, exitum and means
to go out or the way out (Simpson, 1937). Over time, the ejido concept
did not disappear and was occasionally used by the Spaniards.
Consequently, the indigenous people of Mexico were already familiar
with the idea of communal land holding. It was a system the
Revolutionaries thought could be “most easily understood by the
agricultural Indians” (McBride, 1923).
As the Revolution’s leaders began to think about how to run their
new government, laws were written into the new constitution allowing
individuals or villages to petition for land that was to be expropriated
from the haciendas (McBride, 1923; Venezian & Gamble, 1969). The
original January 6, 1915, agrarian decree and Article 27 of the 1917
Constitution provided for land redistribution but they did not address the
relationship of the ejidos with the state and federal governments, nor
did they define the duties of the governing structures beyond the top
state levels (Simpson, 1937); thus, the various regions and ejidos
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
8
developed their own interpretations of how the land was to be
distributed and run. Indeed, each ejido has its own constitution, which
has led to inconsistencies in the governance of ejidos throughout Mexico
(Wilkie, 1971).
Article 27 also addressed the regulation of natural resource
development. The federal government holds all water rights and gives
concessions for its use. This means that while the ejidatarios were
granted the land, they may not have been granted rights to water on the
land. Without water, of course, farming is impossible. Bringing water
across a neighboring parcel might be possible, but only with the parcelholder’s agreement. As discussed earlier, the ruggedness of the land
isolated groups of people, creating many different cultures. The
hacienda system drew these various cultures together as virtual slaves to
the haciendados. When the system was dissolved at the end of the
Revolution, the peóns generally remained in the area and petitioned for
the land of their former hacienda. Despite remaining in close proximity,
their hacienda experience did not seem to engender a sense of
community and oneness among them. There were frequent disputes over
water access; and, to make matters worse, under the Constitution, the
haciendados were allowed to retain 150 hectares of land of their own
choosing. Not surprisingly, that land usually had the best water access in
the area (Simpson, 1937; Wilkie, 1971).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
9
Another interesting point about Article 27 is that its language
indicates that ejidos were designed to be temporary, ultimately leading
to a system of private ownership. Consequently, little thought was given
to long-term governance issues or incorporating ejidos into the broader
political and economic structure of Mexico (Simpson, 1937; Wilkie, 1971).
President Plutarco Elías Calles (1924-1928) agreed with this
section of Article 27. He saw ejidos as a training ground for private
property ownership. Ejidatarios, Calles believed, were destined to
become “peasant proprietors” (Simpson, 1937). Thus, on December 19,
1925, Calles enacted the Regulatory Law Concerning the Division of Ejido
Lands and the Constitution of Ejido Patrimony (Appendix B, III, 3).
Unfortunately, things have not worked out quite the way Calles
envisioned; edjidatarios have not become peasant proprietors. Issues like
those described may prove to be fundamental flaws in the ejido system.
The seemingly never-ending changes in ejido governance also have been
a hindrance to ejido progress; nevertheless, ejidos continue to exist and
are finding new ways to survive.
Ejido Governance:
Absence of Clear Purpose Leads to Confusion
Another change in ejido governance came during the
administration of Álvaro Obregón Salido (1920-1924) when he appointed
the National Agrarian Commission (NAC) as the highest level of the
federal government administering the ejido. However, this relationship
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
10
was not direct. The NAC simply wrote and distributed circulars that were
essentially policy edicts governing ejidos. The circulars were sent to the
State Agrarian Commissions, which sent them on to local municipalities.
On October 11, 1922, the NAC issued Circular 51, which was the first
attempt at structuring the political, social, and economic life of the
ejidos. Circular 51 stated that the NAC must assume responsibility for
“regulating the development of the ejidos and directing their progress”
(Simpson, 1937).
Circular 51 also declared that the NAC would begin to move ejidos
toward a more collective perspective so that they could take advantage
of more industrialized agricultural methods. It even went so far as to
suggest the “imposition” of collectivity on the ejidos. Circular 51
directed the establishment of Ejido Administrative Committees to take
control of governance of ejido lands after they were turned over by the
Ejido Executive Committee, which had been established to represent
communities petitioning for ejido grants (Simpson, 1937; Wilkie, 1971).
Circular 51 outlined the basic principles through which the ejidos
were to be governed. These principles included:
•
distribution of profits in proportion to work contributed;
•
equal rights for members with the formula, ‘one member
one vote’;
•
the right of one-fifth of the members of the society to
exercise at any time the privileges of initiative,
referendum and recall.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
11
Circular 51 failed to clarify who actually owned ejido land—was it
collectively owned by ejido members or was it to be parcelized in
severalty? This question created instability among those receiving ejido
grants—the ejidatarios. The land was distributed to villages and then
local committees redistributed it to ejidatarios in severalty but Circular
51 almost imposed collectivity. Practice did not synch up with legislation
and policy. While Circular 51 attempted to fix the problem of continuing
re-allotment by local committees, it actually made it worse; local
politicians continued to arbitrarily re-allot land just as ejidatarios and
their families were getting settled. The constant upheaval was clearly
another weakness in the ejido system (Simpson, 1937). Circular 51
essentially created a paternalistic, dependent system and was deemed a
failure and discarded by the Calles administration in 1925.
The enactment of the 1925 Law of Ejido Patrimony (Agrarian
Code) provided for the parcelization of land and attempted to address
the problem of corruption in ejido governance. The Agrarian Code
eliminated the Executive Administrative Committees and established two
new organs of governance, the Executive Commissariat and the Board of
Vigilance. The main function of the Board of Vigilance was the oversight
of the Commissariat (to keep the members of the Commissariat honest).
It also established the Agrarian Department as holding the ultimate
responsibility for the formation of the ejidos and how the land was
distributed. In any irresolvable disputes, the Agrarian Department was
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
12
the final arbiter. The Agrarian Department also determined what was to
be planted on the land based on local environments (Simpson, 1937;
Wilkie, 1971).
The other governing entity at the federal level was the National
Bank of Agricultural Credit. While the Bank did not operate in all
geographic regions of Mexico, in those areas where it did, the social and
economic organization within the ejidos were under its purview
(Simpson, 1937; Wilkie, 1971).
The Federal Agrarian Code defined the areas of the ejido that
formed the common and were to be held communally and inalienably by
the village as a legal entity itself. This central entity held a lot of power
not just over the commons but also over the ejidatarios and their
individual holdings. The Code required all ejidos to form general
assemblies, which were charged with the following responsibilities:
•
To elect and remove members of an executive committee
•
To authorize, modify, or rectify the decisions of the
executive committee whenever this is in order
•
To discuss and approve the reports rendered by the
executive committee
•
To order that an approved statement of account be posted
in a visible and central place
•
To request the intervention of the federal authorities on
matters relating to the suspension or privation of rights of
ejido members
•
To issue rulings on how the communal lands of the ejidos
should be used, subject to the approval of the Ministry of
Agriculture or the Nation Ejido Bank
(Nuevo codigo agrario 1943: Art. 42. In Wilkie, 1971)
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
13
The assembly was to have considerable power. In practice, the
Minister of Agriculture, the Ejido Bank, and the Agrarian Department
have maintained veto authority over nearly every decision of the ejidos.
This has been exercised in greater and lesser degrees, depending on the
philosophy of the administration in power (Wilkie, 1971).
Property rights of the individual ejidatarios also were inalienable
and title could be passed on only through inheritance. The only instance
under which this inheritance could be interrupted was if the beneficiary
committed certain well-defined transgressions. Women were allowed to
hold title to land only if they were widowed and became the head of
household. Wives could inherit but had to have a male surrogate to
operate the farm and participate in the governing assembly on their
behalf because women could not be members of the ejido nor could they
attend governing meetings. As time went on and men died, the ratio of
men and women in the community became weighted on the side of
women. If women were not allowed to govern, decisions could become
increasingly non-representative. If a woman remarried, title to her land
went to her new husband who now assumed his position as a member of
the ejido, displacing his new wife. However, the law did provide that the
widow and her children should always be allowed to stay on the land and
“enjoy its benefits” (McBride, 1923; Simpson, 1937; Wilkie, 1971).
Despite the new rules under the Agrarian Code, the ejidos
continued to be seen as an interim solution designed to lead to totally
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
14
individual land ownership. Consequently, responsibility for overseeing
their governance tended to be passed from one federal department to
another and then on to the National Bank, which, it was hoped by the
federal government, would eventually take on complete responsibility.
The hope has not been fulfilled and has faded with successive
administrations. Departments and agencies were formed and abandoned
and formed again in an effort to find a viable, long-term answer for
governing ejidos from the federal level (Simpson, 1937). During all of this
federal-level juggling of responsibility, no one was “tending the farms.”
The ejidos at the local level frequently became victims of the corruption
of their own local governing committees and/or the ascension of a
powerful and corrupt local leader who dominated all decisions.
Because the land was vested in the community and not in the
individuals, plots were assigned to individuals who worked and subsisted
on a particular piece of land. Actual legal title always resided with the
federal government (McBride, 1923; Venezian & Gamble, 1969). As
stated earlier, originally, the land was to be held in severalty except for
limited parcels that provided space for village needs—schools, stores,
municipal buildings, churches, and other public facilities. It wasn’t until
1936 and the Cárdenas administration that collectivization of the ejidos
began to be seen as advantageous. Cárdenas believed that
collectivization would strengthen the political and economic power of
the ejidos while helping to bring more social cohesiveness to the ejidos.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
15
The plight of the peóns, primarily Indians, was not improving under the
current system of land distribution. There were numerous reasons for
this but one that stands out was that individual landholders did not have
the means to purchase farm equipment beyond the most rudimentary
sort. They were just managing to produce at subsistence level leaving
Mexico still unable to move into commercializing its agriculture. The
“agrarian problem” persisted and Cárdenas believed that collectivization
would resolve it (Simpson, 1937).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
16
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
17
CHAPTER 2
Modern Ejido Land Law:
More Changes in the System
Generally, the episodes of land redistribution in Mexico have
sought to put the land back into the hands of the peóns from whom it
had been taken, and take it out of the hands of large landowners. While
the peóns had the skills and the desire to successfully work the land,
they didn’t have the resources to take it beyond a bare subsistence
level. Mexico still could not move toward commercializing its agriculture
whether it was to fully feed its own people or for export. This, of course,
left the peóns and their lands open to exploitation. The peóns discovered
that, at least in the short term, they could increase their income by
illegally leasing their lands to extractive industries such as logging,
mining, and oil drilling.
After the post Revolution flurry of lawmaking around property
rights, laws surrounding the distribution and governance of ejidos
continued to go through iterations—some a step forward, some
backward. One of the most significant changes occurred in 1936 and
changed the basic structure of ejido holdings.
In October of 1936, President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940) issued
a decree outlining the conditions under which a collective ejido could be
officially formed (Wilkie, 1971). The land would no longer need to be
assigned and held in severalty. It was hoped that collectivization would
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
18
help to sustain the livelihood of the peóns and move ejidos closer to the
commercialization of agriculture (Simpson, 1937).
In pre-revolution Mexico, two strata of society had evolved—the
landed Spanish and their descendents, and the Indians (Venezian &
Gamble, 1969). Simpson (1937) includes a third stratum, the Mestizo, a
blend of Spanish and Indian. The Indians were at the bottom of these
layers with the Mestizo struggling to find a place somewhere in between.
Since neither the Indians nor the Mestizo were faring well economically,
it was hoped that a different, more communal method of land tenure
that echoed traditional patterns of employing natural resources in a
more efficient manner, striving for greater self-sufficiency without
infusion of massive inputs, or some combination of modern and
traditional methods might provide a more workable path to sustainable
agriculture (Venezian & Gamble, 1969).
Since its post-Revolution inception, the ejido has received various
levels of support and attention from the Mexican government, depending
on who was president at the time. Despite the effort to establish greater
equity and more subsistence opportunities, individual farmers still did
not have enough land to produce enough food for their families. As a
result, and despite its illegality, many ejido members continued to lease
out their lands to large agribusiness or other development entities. In
1992 radical changes were made to the ejido system in an effort to
legitimize what had become common practice; the members of the ejido
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
19
would be allowed to sell or lease their parcels or to join into
partnerships with private enterprises. Additionally, the landholder no
longer needed to personally work the land to retain rights to it and the
Mexican government would no longer be allowed to seize land for
redistribution. Privatization of some lands also would be allowed. And,
aside from registering an ejido, the Mexican government would not
interfere in its management; that would be left in the hands of the ejido
members (The Mexican Revolution of 1910, 2006; Mexico, 1998).
The changes in the ejido system, especially the withdrawal of
federal involvement in management activities, effectively set the stage
for increased exploitation of the land and of the ejido members
themselves. Working their individual parcels provided a bare subsistence
living. The temptation to sell or lease the land to large businesses
engaged in exploitative and extractive practices grew stronger as the
process grew easier.
Pros and Cons:
What Has Worked or Not Worked Before and After Collectivization
It should be clear by now that the ejido system is extremely
complex. It has been simultaneously successful and unsuccessful for
many reasons. The system did put an appreciable number of hectares of
land back into the hands of the people. With the Cardénas administration
encouraging the move toward collectivization, ejidatarios could finally
pool their resources to buy large pieces of equipment to mechanize some
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
20
of their work. This allowed individual farmers to produce enough to take
at least some of their produce to market. Facilitating this was the ability
to transport the produce in a shared truck. Collectivizing also helped
some farmers with water access issues. As a collective, water access was
more readily shared across individual parcel boundaries; but, there were
problems. Water access was made more difficult for others because the
lands of a newly formed collective now blocked the access of another
collective (McBride, 1923; Simpson, 1937; Wilkie, 1971).
The absence of clear governance guidelines from the federal
government left ejidos open to disputes, chaos, and corruption. Some
regions set up their own systems for allotting land and determining what
would be planted. Some even rotated families from parcel to parcel as
land productivity diminished. This served only to break the ties families
had made with their pieces of land and their neighbors. Systems even
changed depending on who was in charge locally at a given time,
eliminating any sense of consistency and reliability in the lives of
ejidatarios and their families (McBride, 1923; Simpson, 1937; Wilkie,
1971).
To further compound the issue of who held ejido rights, the
federal government had failed to develop a system for updating grantee
records for ejidos (another consequence of the philosophy that ejidos
were to be a temporary form of land tenure) (McBride, 1923; Simpson,
1937; Wilkie, 1971).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
21
During all of this governance related turmoil, the ejidos, and
Mexico itself, continued their struggle to support growing populations
and to move toward the 20th century economic world stage.
Industrializing the nation and commercializing agriculture were two
primary goals of modern Mexico. The process for achieving these goals
came with consequences that included environmental degradation. The
following section discusses some of the environmental problems that
have arisen and how they have led to the idea of conservation easements
on ejido land as a countermeasure.
Industrialization and the Commercialization of Agriculture:
Economy and Environment Collide
As Mexico struggles to bring its citizens out of poverty, extractive
industries have brought jobs and income to many indigenous peoples. But
there is a price to pay—the loss of critical habitat for the diverse flora
and fauna of Mexico. As industrialization took hold of Mexico (having
begun in the mid 19th century), like most social change, it brought the
good and the bad. Environmental and economic problems were not the
least of the bad. Pollution from both urban and rural sources began to
plague the country. Urban areas quickly became overcrowded while the
countryside bled out able-bodied men, and the economic imbalance
between the rich and the poor grew ever wider (Simpson, 1937; Wilkie,
1971). With industrialization came the commercialization of agriculture.
Fertilizers and cattle-waste lagoons polluted the water and large tracts
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
22
of land began to be converted from natural habitat to agricultural use.
Some ejidos leased out their lands in order to sustain themselves, others
were victims of illegal activities (primarily logging) being perpetrated on
their lands. Either way, critical habitat was being lost (Wilkie, 1971;
Kiehl, 2007).
Mexico has a wide range of ecosystems, some of them very
delicate; these systems include tropical rainforests and the Sonoran
desert, as well as rich coastal marine areas. These ecosystems serve as
habitat for a plethora of species, many of which are considered
endangered in the United States, Canada, and/or Mexico. The loss of
habitat leads to the loss of biodiversity; and, it isn’t just Mexico suffering
the consequences. Canada and the United States also pay a price in
species and diversity loss when Mexico loses habitat. Mexico provides
over-wintering sites for many migratory species from the monarch
butterfly to neo-tropical birds to the California gray whale; all of them
spend the spring and summer months in northern latitudes.
One species, the monarch butterfly, is freezing to death in its
winter home because of illegal clear-cutting. In 2002, conservationist Bill
Toone found himself standing ankle-deep in the frozen-dead corpses of
monarch butterflies in the El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Bioreserve in the
forests of Michoacan, Mexico, on Ejido Donacio. Two causes contributed
to this die-off of 250 million monarchs: one was a particularly cold
winter, and the other was clear cutting. The forest provides a blanket of
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
23
warmth and protection around the
butterflies, keeping the coldest winds at
bay. When the surrounding trees were
totally removed, the cold winds moved
in to freeze the butterflies to death. Not
only does the forest provide protection
to the butterflies, it provides water to
Figure 3: Vincente Guzman Reyes stands in
a portion of the butterfly preserve that was
illegally cut by loggers. In response to the
logging, his community organized volunteer
patrols that keep watch over the forest.
local communities. Over generations, members of local communities,
including Donacio Ejido, have created and maintained small canals in the
forests to catch water as it drips off the trees. When the trees are gone,
the water will no longer flow into the communities. Sometimes, to
survive, local ejidos sell off their trees, but not Ejido Donacio. Led by
Vincente Guzman Reyes, head of Ejido Donacio, local communities
decided not to wait for the federal government to help stop illegal
logging on their lands. They began to form groups of volunteers who
patrol their own ejido lands to fend off the invasion of illegal loggers.
Says Guzman, "If we stopped patrolling for a day or two, nothing would
happen, but if we stopped for a week, 100 trees would be gone" (Kiehl,
2007).
Without butterflies and forests, local ecosystems collapse and
communities are lost; their members eventually disperse in search of a
way to make a living. Not only are forests being lost to commercial clear
cutting, approximately 100,000 trees are lost each year to personal use
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
24
(e.g., firewood and houses). Says Bill Toone of EcoLife Foundation,
“Every time a forest is cut to completion or a monarch butterfly colony
disappears, it's a job that ends and it means that fathers will leave their
families and children to make money somewhere else" (Kiehl, 2007).
Toone’s EcoLife Foundation has stepped in to help these local
communities. One of the things needed is organizational assistance.
EcoLife has set up a Spanish/English web site to facilitate communication
between residents, local governments, and law enforcement agencies.
They also supply fuel-efficient mud and concrete stoves to local
residents, reducing their requirement for fuel-wood (Kiehl, 2007).
Air pollution is another consequence of industrialization and that
is nowhere more apparent than in Mexico City. What was once thought of
as a great place to visit for its crystal clear air and magnificent views of
the surrounding mountains is now a city with some of the worst air
pollution in the world. In the 1940s, average visibility was about 100 km.
In 2000 it was down to about 1.5 km with almost every pollutant testing
two to three times higher than international standards. By anyone’s
standard, that is serious degradation and
Figure 4: Mexico
City on a day when
wind has replaced
polluted air with
fresh clean air.
Figure 5: But, too
often the air
moves very little in
the “hollow” in
which the city is
situated. (Photos
courtesy of H. A.
Bravo)
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
25
it created an extremely unhealthy environment for the 21 million people
living in Mexico City (Yip & Madl, 2002). Industrialization also brings
population increases. With situations becoming more desperate in
farming/rural regions, people, including those living on ejido land, have
poured into the city looking for industrial jobs. The influx has brought
not only more people but also more cars, more housing, more air
conditioning, and more of everything that supports urban dwellers.
Unfortunately, from land use, atmospheric, and geographic
perspectives, Mexico could not have picked a worse place to concentrate
its industry. A large portion of Mexico’s industry lies in the Valley of
Mexico where Mexico City is located. Pollutants get caught under
inversion layers and are trapped over the city. The situation is
demonstrated in Figures 6 & 7. A lot of pollutants are concentrated in
the Valley of Mexico. Some of the worst are ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2),
precursors like nitrogen oxides (NOX), hydrocarbons (HC), and carbon monoxide
(CO) (Yip & Madl, 2002).
Figure 6: The Valley of Mexico is
surrounded by mountains and lies at an
average altitude of 7,349 ft (2,240 m).
Figure 7: Atmospheric conditions form a
layer over the city that blocks the escape
of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
These chemicals have very deleterious affects on all living things—
people, plants, and animals. This means the ejidatarios have left a bare
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
26
subsistence life on their farms, headed for the city where they may or
may not secure enough income to improve the life of their families and,
they will surely be exposed to innumerable pollutants.
As loss of habitat has increased in the countryside, so have efforts
to save it and staunch the flow of able-bodied men looking for work to
more urban areas. One such effort has been the rethinking of the use of
ejidos as agricultural entities and refocusing them on preserving and
conserving habitat while still providing income streams to indigenous
communities (Huang, n. d.; Eco-Index, 2006; Murillo, 2006).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
27
CHAPTER 3
Conservation Easements:
An Alternative Model for Sustainability
Recently, several Mexican and American nonprofit conservation
organizations have been assisting ejidos to develop other means for
sustainable living without having to sell out or lease out their lands to
extractive industries. Essentially, an agreement is made between the
ejido and a Mexican nongovernmental organization (NGO) (often
Pronatura Noroeste) in which the NGO agrees to lease land from the
ejido, setting up a conservation easement on all or part of the ejido
land. Only members of the ejido (the ejidatarios) are then allowed to
make money in the area by providing appropriate services on their land.
In addition to lease payments and other financial benefits, the
ejidos receive extensive technical and educational training and support.
Training includes building, carpentry, business and legal skills, among
others, that lead to ways for ejidos to sustainably support themselves
within their ecological environment. This support varies, of course, from
ejido to ejido and easement to easement depending on need. Each lease
agreement is specifically designed for the area, habitat, and people who
will benefit from its conservation.
The easement on the land of Ejido El Palmito in the state of
Sinaloa has been set up to preserve a pine oak forest that was about to
be logged out, destroying the overwintering habitat of numerous
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
28
migratory birds and the hunting grounds of American black bears and
cougars. Threatened by the building of a salt factory and drying lagoons,
Ejido Luis Echeverria Alvarez in the state of Baja California Sur
developed an easement to provide sanctuary for the California gray
whale (a major tourist draw and source of income), and to help sustain
traditional fishing activities of the area. The following section and next
chapter provide brief case studies of these two ejidos.
Case Study #1:
EJIDO EL PALMITO
In El Palmito, Sinaloa, Mexico, a small 64-member ejido has found
a way, without cutting down all of its trees, to make a living from its
community forest. Logging, cattle ranching, and marijuana cultivation
Ejido El Palmito
Figure 8: Location of Ejido El Palmito in state of Sinaloa (Maps of Mexico, n.d.).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
29
were rapidly eliminating the forest until one of Mexico’s largest
conservation groups, Pronatura Noroeste, stepped in to offer a solution—
the development of a conservation easement. Open to alternatives to
destroying their land, the El Palmito ejidatarios agreed to work with
Pronatura. The ejido has entered into a 30-year lease with Pronatura to
preserve approximately 5,000 hectares of the Rancho La Liebre pine-oak
forest in the Sierra Madre Mountains, home to a number of endemic and
migratory species including the rare Tufted Jay, the endangered Sierra
Madre sparrow, mountain trogon, and the American black bear. This will
become the core area of what is hoped will be a much larger preserve.
Pronatura is working with this small ejido, where all decisions are made
by the community, to develop diversified sources of income that are
more closely aligned with conservation goals (tourism, growing flowers,
and woodworking). The real goal is to educate locals to the idea that
preserving natural resources can lead to better income than the
unsustainable and destructive means of the past (Vega. In Murillo, March
2006).
Birdwatchers are especially
interested in this area and, as a result,
several bird reserves have been
established including the Chara Pinta
Reserve, inaugurated in April of 2005, the
El Palmito Tufted Jay Preserve, and the
Figure 9: Tufted Jay (Sendero Mexico
Newsletter, February 25, 2006).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
30
San Ignacio Reserve. In its first year, the Chara Pinta Reserve received
about 300 birdwatchers. Many “life birds” live on these reserves for at
least part of the year. “Life birds” are those birds that birdwatchers seek
out for their life-lists. Such birds may be spotted only once in a lifetime.
The Tufted Jay, military macaw, Sinaloa martin, and the mountain
trogon are just a few of the exciting birds to be seen in the pine forests
of Ejido El Palmito.
Cabins (2 2-bedroom) and safari tents (initially 5 holding a total of
40 people), out-door bathrooms and showers, cooks, guards, and guides
all generate income for the ejido. In addition to adding new income
sources, the new arrangement has opened up the area to scientific
research and more intense bird monitoring. Pronatura has also carried
out a pilot project for the North American Bird Conservation Initiative
(Eco-Index, 2006; Beckman, 2005).
But, this isn’t all that is planned for the area. To increase the
protected area, Pronatura hopes to bring surrounding ejidos into the
project by establishing easements on their lands. This also will allow for
Figure 10: A guest tent and cabin at the Tufted Jay Preserve (Sendero Mexico
Newsletter February 25 2006 )
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
31
more diversity of activities on the land. Plans for the expansion of
services in El Palmito itself include a cafeteria, restrooms, and a meeting
hall, and the training of more local guides (Eco-Index, 2006).
Much of the success of Ejido El Palmito is based on increasing
tourism. Pronatura and the ejidatarios have established a cooperative
agreement with a tour operator, Sendero México (formerly Mazatleco
Tours), to promote the project through a web presence and trip
packages. According to Paul and Carolyn Beckman, owners of Sendero
México, the couple was instrumental in initiating interest in creating the
Tufted Jay Preserve in the El Palmito area. They had been guiding
birders through the area since 1994. Realizing the impact that heavy
logging was taking on the endangered Tufted Jay and other birds in the
area, they contacted several organizations to come in to document and
evaluate the situation. Photographers and
illustrators came in as well as scientists.
In 2001, bird illustrator Hans Peeters
created an illustration of the Tufted Jay
for a Mexican postage stamp. The
biological reports and the publicity led to
the creation of the Tufted Jay Preserve in
2004 (Eco-Index, 2006; Beckman, 2006).
Figure 11: Ecotourism project creates
job and builds community as the men
of El Palmito Ejido work on road to
Mesa de los Alisos, site of cabins and
tents to accommodate tourists
(Sendero Mexico Newsletter, February
25, 2006.)
For the El Palmito Ejido, it is the
activities and services provided by the
.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
32
ejidatarios in support of tourism that make the easement work. These
services and activities help create a feasible alternative to selling off the
land and provide income to supplement the subsistence existence of the
ejidatarios. While tourism has its own impacts on the environment, the
ejido can control the number of people coming in and out over a given
time period. The ejidatarios serve as guides into the sensitive areas and,
thus, also control where the tourists actually go. These measures help to
mitigate the impact of tourism. Once the ejido leased a piece of land to
the logging companies, it had no control over what happened on that
parcel. Additionally, loggers leave once a forest is logged out, the locals
lose their extra income, and the land has been destroyed. As long as the
El Palmito ejidatarios continue to maintain the forest intact and provide
appropriate services for the visiting tourists and scientists, the
ejidatarios will continue to have a supplemental income and the
ecological systems of the forest and surrounding areas will continue to
function.
Pronatura also plans to propose to the federal government that a
bird sanctuary be created in the areas where conservation easements are
established. This will be an important step since the El Palmito area
provides major wintering habitat for many migratory birds and animals
(Eco-Index, 2006). Pronatura has established biological criteria for
monitoring and evaluating bird populations of the El Palmito project that
include an extensive bird count, one from designated sites along
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
33
roadways, and a more intensive count, done using mist-netting or nest
searches. Both cover the entire project area (Eco-Index, 2006).
Economic Feasibility
Tourism, however, is not the only source of income to the ejido.
Income also comes through lease payments from Pronatura Noroeste’s
National Program for the Conservation of Private Lands as long as the
ejido continues to protect the natural resources of the forest. In this
case, the primary benefit of this to the ejidatarios is the income
generated by the visitors. However, the local residents also are allowed
to use the resources of the forest—vegetation, seeds, animals—for
subsistence purposes. Pronatura has established an annual budget of
$1,000,000 for this project. The state of Sinaloa makes environmental
services payments of $45,000 annually to the ejido. In addition to
Pronatura and the state, many other agencies and groups are involved in
providing technical, financial, and legal support to the ejido and its
reserves. These include the Mexican Commission for Use of Knowledge of
Biodiversity (CONABIO), the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR),
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (through the Neo-tropical Migratory Bird
Conservation Act), the Sonoran Joint Venture (Audubon), the Universidad
Autonoma de Sinaloa, and Grupo Coppel, Mexico (Eco-Index, 2006;
Murillo, 2006).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
34
What does success look like?
Pronatura and other stakeholders involved in developing these
conservation easements need to know if their time, efforts, and dollars
are well spent and that their projects are working successfully. They
have established criteria and protocols for determining whether or not
an easement is proving successful for the ejidatarios and for the species
living in and around, and moving through, the easement. These criteria
and protocols, like the technical support, vary from easement to
easement and ejido to ejido. Miguel Vargas, Director of Private Lands
and Programs with Pronatura Noroeste responded to three questions
about determining success at Ejido El Palmito (personal communication,
September 26, 2007).
QUESTION: What criteria are being used to
determine if the use of a conservation easement is
working?
ANSWER: There are protocols to determine if the
ejido and its members are in compliance with the
limitations on land use and activities on the easement. This
is accomplished through a rapid assessment of the
landscape and ecosystem status, which looks at the
opening of new trails and roads, disturbance of vegetation
and woods, and new buildings or infrastructures, among
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
other criteria. Compliance on all of these issues over the
long term means that the easement is working.
QUESTION: Has the income of the ejidatarios
increased? Is the overall community better off economically
and/or socially than they were before the easement was
established?
ANSWER: This is a hard question to respond to at this
time for Ejido El Palmito. Social and economic
improvements take time because they depend on cultural
changes in how people use natural resources. However, we
do have some achievements in regard to community
development alternatives. Several cabins have been
installed to start an ecotourism business and we have
gained the support of an ecotourism agency in Mazatlan.
Some people in Ejido El Palmito have been engaged directly
on this project and part of the income goes to the Ejido's
treasury. There is still the need for more sustainable
alternatives to engage more people and we have more
ideas for fulfilling this need (e.g., a carpenter's shop and a
small factory for bottling water).
QUESTION: Is there anything not working as well as
expected when the easements were established? If so, how
are those issues being addressed?
35
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
ANSWER: It is hard to change customs and the way
people have traditionally used their natural resources.
More education work is needed. Also, we need to promote
more economic alternatives that are attractive to ejido
members.
Monitoring, stewardship, and legal defense costs are
our main issues. We need to address these issues in Ejido El
Palmito in order to guarantee land protection over the long
term. Finding funds and foundations with the willingness to
support these endeavors is not easy.
36
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
37
CHAPTER 4
Case Study #2:
EJIDO LUIS ECHEVERRIA ALVAREZ
Unlike the relatively low-fanfare
process that evolved in the Sierra Madre
Mountains around Ejido El Palmito, the
conservation easement that was
established in March of 2005 with Ejido
Luis Echeverria Alvarez was the result of a
Proposed salt
factory site.
clear-cut threat to the ecological
integrity of Laguna San Ignacio. Although
Ejido Luis Echeverria Alvarez has fewer
members—only 43—than El Palmito, it is
Figure 12: Baja California (Bajainsider.com,
2004).
one of six ejidos that comprise the Laguna
San Ignacio Wetlands Complex in Baja California Sur, Mexico (Laguna San
Ignacio, n. d.). Laguna San Ignacio is the only lagoon left in the complex
that hasn’t been compromised by industrialization of some sort and the
only undeveloped lagoon in the world that serves as a prime gray whale
birthing lagoon and nursery (LaBudde, 1998). The locals have been
fishing the area for centuries and ecotourism has been going on since the
1960s (long before the word was coined) in the form of whale watching
(Baja Whale Watching, n. d.). The lagoon is part of the El Vizcaíno
Biosphere Reserve established in 1988 (El Vizcaíno, 2004). It also has
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
38
been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993 (Whale
Sanctuary, 2006).
Despite these designations and its importance as gray whale
habitat, Exportadora de Sal, S. A. de CM (ESSA), a corporation owned by
the Mexican government, and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation proposed
building a large industrial salt facility that would utilize parts of Laguna
San Ignacio as salt drying
ponds and processing facilities
(A Triumph, Summer 2000).
The move forward with this
proposal occurred in June of
1994, within weeks of the gray
Figure 13: Gray whale greeting tourists (News from the
Laguna, July 2007).
whale being downlisted from
endangered to threatened
under the Endangered Species Act (LaBudde, 1998; Saving the Whales,
2000).
Gray whales may be the
most charismatic species, but
they are not the only species to
inhabit the El Vizcaíno Biosphere
Reserve. It also is home to many
other sensitive species such as
Figure 14: Mating endangered Black Sea
Turtles (Roberson, September 23, 2000).
the endangered Sonoran pronghorn, several species of endangered sea
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
39
turtles, numerous raptor species such as osprey and hawks, as well as
migratory waterfowl and other birds. So far, 560 species of plants have
been identified on the Reserve (A Triumph, Summer 2000). Finally, after
a 5-year-long battle waged by local ejidos, independent local fishermen,
a multitude of international conservation groups, all of whom were
supported by public opposition to the salt factory project proposal, as
well as countless letters from individuals around the world, Mexico’s
President Ernesto Zedillo cancelled the ESSA/Mitsubishi proposal.
Realizing the possibility that a similar proposal might be
resurrected in the future and fearing the pollution and loss of their
traditional fishing grounds,
some ejido members began
looking for ways to protect
their precious natural
resources. With 99% of the
land in the Laguna San
Ignacio Wetlands Complex
Figure 15: Ejido members vote for conservation
easement (Wildcoast Newsletter, Summer2005).
being owned by the members of the six ejidos, they were definitely a
force to be reckoned with. In contrast to Ejido El Palmito, which was
approached by Pronatura, the Laguna San Ignacio ejido members went
looking for help. They approached Wildcoast, Pronatura Noroeste, the
International Community Foundation, and the Natural Resources Defense
Council for help in establishing a conservation easement of 140,847
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
40
acres. In response, Pronatura Noroeste, Wildcoast, the International
Community Foundation (ICF), the International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW), TV Azteca, Comunidad Maijanu, A.C., the Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC), the Mexican Foundation for Environmental
Education (FUNDEA), and the National Commission of Natural Protected
Areas and, of course, Ejido Luís Echeverría Alvarez formed the Alliance
for the Conservation of Laguna San Ignacio. The Alliance worked to
negotiate a viable contract to establish the first easement on Ejido Luis
Echeverria Alvarez. Not quite knowing how all of this would work out,
and despite their opposition to the salt factory, the other five ejidos in
the area adopted a “wait and see” stance before committing their lands
to an easement. In October of 2005, Ejido Luis Echeverria Alvarez
approved and signed the contract for the easement. They agreed to
restrict development and manage their communally owned land with the
conservation and protection of their natural resources as the goal. Zones
for economic uses would be set up, as would buffer areas and fully
protected sites (News from the Laguna San Ignacio, July 2007).
Again taking the lead, Pronatura Noroeste, along with Wildcoast
and the International Community Foundation, continue to work with the
other five ejidos to encourage them to bring their lands into an
easement. In fact, Ejido Emiliano Zapata is currently negotiating for
175,000 acres of its land to be placed into an easement (ICF, 2007). The
hope is that over a million acres of “pristine coastal lands” will be
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
41
protected by an easement agreement with the remaining ejidos and
private property owners by the year 2009. In addition to ejido lands, the
Commission on Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) announced that it will
make 44,000 hectares of national land located within the El Vizcaíno
Biosphere available to the Office of the Secretary of Environment and
Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) to include in the protected area (Laguna
San Ignacio, n. d.). Other groups involved in the effort in various ways
include Grupo de Los Cien, Pro Esteros, the Mexican Green Party, Grupo
Tortuguero, Earth Island Institute, and a number of private citizens.
Economic Feasibility
In the case of Ejido Luis Echeverría Alvarez, the International
Community Foundation is providing some of the financial incentives that
will help the ejido continue to manage its community properties for
conservation of resources. The ejido will receive $25,000 annually in
perpetuity from a trust fund set up by the Foundation. In late 2005, a
one-time payment of $545,000 was split among the ejido residents who
hold individual parcels that comprise about 20,000 acres. As part of an
incentive package, the Alliance created a fund to generate revenues
which will be given to the ejido annually. Technical and legal advice and
support also are part of the package. Other sources of income include
ecotourism and related services (a flourishing whale watching industry is
already established), fishing, lease payments, environmental service fees
from the state, and payments to private landholders (Dibble, 2005).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
42
What does success look like?
As with Ejido El Palmito, Miguel Vargas responded to the same
three questions about determining success at Ejido Luis Echeverría
Alvarez (personal communication, September 26, 2007).
QUESTION: What criteria are being used to determine if the use of
a conservation easement is working?
ANSWER (same answer given for both ejidos): There are protocols
to determine if the ejido and its members are in compliance with the
limitations on land use and activities on the easement. This is
accomplished through a rapid assessment of the landscape and
ecosystem status, which looks at the opening of new trails and roads,
disturbance of vegetation and woods, and new buildings or
infrastructures, among other criteria. Compliance on all of these issues
over the long term means that the easement is working.
QUESTION: Has the income of the ejidatarios increased? Is the
overall community better off economically and/or socially than they
were before the easement was established?
ANSWER: In this Ejido things are better and more easily
determined. The conservation easement agreement includes the creation
of a community endowment (the fund established by the Alliance) of
$650,000. The interest generated from this endowment allows us to
deliver $25,000 annually as an incentive to the ejido members. These
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
43
funds can be used by the ejido to develop sustainable activities, support
social and health needs, and to match government grants.
QUESTION: Is there anything not working as well as expected when
the easements were established? If so, how are those issues being
addressed?
ANSWER: As with Ejido El Palmito, is hard to change customs and
the way people use natural resources. More educational work and
capacity building are
needed here. Also, for
the Ejido Luis
Echeverria Alvarez
easement, we have
created a monitoring
endowment. We are
still working on the
creation of a legal
Figure 16: Hydroponics greenhouse built by Rigoberto
Sanchez Mosqueda (News from the Laguna, July 2007).
defense fund.
There are other success stories resulting from the creation of the
easement on Ejido Luis Echeverria Alvarez. There are some private land
holdings within the ejido and those landholders have begun to negotiate
easements on their lands. For example, on June 16, 2007, Rigoberto
Sanchez Mosqueda signed a lease contract for 641 hectares of land within
the ejido. Not only did he decide to comply with the land use restrictions
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
44
of the easement, Sanchez Mosqueda is expanding his environmental
activities to include the development of a hydroponic greenhouse for the
production of up to 10 tons of food per month for 60 head of goats. This
alternative to using the land to feed his goats will spare the landscape
and keep Sanchez Mosqueda competitive as a producer of goat meat and
other goat products. The state of Baja California Sur is enthusiastic about
this project and has agreed to give 10 goats and a registered stallion for
each new greenhouse established. The Northwestern Center of Biological
Research, an arm of the National Council for Science and Technology,
and the source of the greenhouse, agreed to provide technical training
and assistance to Sanchez Mosqueda in how to set up and operate the
greenhouse. They also have agreed to provide ongoing assistance for a
full year so that Sanchez Mosqueda can learn to train others who wish to
set up such a project. Thus, the development of the conservation
easement by Ejido Luis Echeverria Alvarez is leading to the growth of
more sustainable economic and social development all over the
biosphere (News from Laguna San Ignacio, July 2007).
As easement leases are negotiated with the other five ejidos and
individual property owners within ejido land, additional bird, mammal,
and marine mammal sanctuaries can be established, helping to eliminate
the threat of industrialization not only in and around Laguna San Ignacio
but throughout the El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, which spans the width
of the Baja Peninsula (News from Laguna San Ignacio, July 2007).
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
45
CHAPTER 5
Conclusions and Recommendations
There is a growing number of ejidos that have leased their lands
as conservation easements, among these are Ejido San Jose del Alamito
(Mexican Prairie Dog, Mountain Plover), Ejido of Xcupil-cacab (Mexican
Jaguar), and Ejido La India (Mexican Prairie Dog and Worthen’s Sparrow),
to name just a few. Historically, conservation efforts have often come at
the expense of indigenous peoples (Keller & Turek, 1998). The preceding
examples are helping ejido members begin to see options beyond selling
their land to commercial developers, the annihilation of their natural
resources, and the loss of their cultures as the only means of surviving.
Conservation easements on ejido land are proving to be a way out that
preserves local culture, local ecosystems, and local control, and spurs
local economies. Environmental groups also find the easements to be a
good way to preserve and conserve at least some of the ecological
systems and services of an area. More and more, it seems that such
groups, as well as individual environmentalists, are beginning to
appreciate the role indigenous peoples have played in creating and
maintaining their local ecosystems.
Seeing the ecological and biological need for such enterprises and
appreciating the long-term benefits for both the ecosystems and the
local cultures are one thing, getting people to behave differently over
time is another thing. As Señor Vargas pointed out in his responses to my
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
46
questions, the most difficult part is changing local customs and the way
people have come to use their resources. To survive, local cultures have
turned to extractive activities, which have become a way of life and a
livelihood for many. Survival has forced them to use their lands in ways
that are not in keeping with their traditions and beliefs. Even with the
help of the income from conservation easements, changing this way of
life will not happen overnight and Señor Vargas and his organization
realize this. It will take time to develop new ways of sustaining these
local communities and the remedies will need to be and, indeed, are
being developed specifically for and within each community. Beyond
establishing the easements themselves, one solution will not fit all
ejidos. Each must be designed around the local ecosystems and address
the unique traditions, as well as the population, of each community.
Facilitating more cross-pollination of successes and creative
solutions would encourage those ejidos who are reticent to sign onto
such agreements to move forward. Groups of ejidatarios from the
successful areas might become “roving ambassadors” and technical
advisors. Ways to fund these ambassadors/advisors might include
subsidies from Pronatura and other stakeholders, including state
governments; their home ejido might contribute proceeds from local
tourism; and/or, recipient ejidos also might contribute to the advisors’
expenses.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
47
It also is important to foster “out of the box” thinking to
creatively develop alternative livelihoods. An example of this is
Pronatura’s efforts to teach the ejidatarios at El Palmito to build custom
furniture. Carpentry training, resources for building a carpentry shop and
buying equipment, and training in sustainable forest management
techniques are all a part of this effort. Everyone wins: birds continue to
have an overwintering area, the ejidatarios develop a new income
source, the forests remain intact, and, the birdwatchers get to add to
their life lists. One of the most creative ideas is the hydroponic growing
of goat food (mentioned earlier in this paper) to alleviate the damage
done to the land by grazing goats. The farmer gets to keep raising his
goats, ecosystem balance eventually will be restored, and the
community continues to have access to the goat products.
More research should be done on what is working and what is not.
This paper just barely touches on the overall success of these programs.
A number of these conservation easements have been in existence long
enough to really assess what works, what doesn’t, and how to adapt the
process on a wider scale.
Mexico’s great biological diversity—“Mexico holds approximately
10% of all plants and animals of the world” (Rainforest Alliance, 2007)—
and its key role in the migratory systems of many species make it vital to
encourage the United States and the Mexican governments to cooperate
in efforts to preserve Mexico’s natural environments.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
48
Mexico’s ejido system needs to be supported through laws and
economic incentives. The system should be elevated from its perceived
status of temporary to a formal and permanent place in the Mexican
governmental structure. The ejido system encourages local involvement
and gives its members local control over a large area of land while
avoiding the recreation of the hacienda system by the individually
wealthy or by corporations. Thus, the ejidatarios control enough land to
have an impact on conservation and to sustain their traditional cultures.
Official status in the government structure would help eliminate some of
the local corruption and provide a more efficient means of moving
federal tax dollars out to the local level. Additionally, it would allow for
broader efforts aimed at equalizing the status of women within the ejido
system. Bringing women into full legal and participatory status within the
ejido system would help fill the increasing number of gaps left by men
migrating to urban areas looking for work.
Conservation Easements on Mexican Ejidos
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