Threats to the traditional agricultural landscape of southern Yucatan, Mexico: a perspective from the socioecological analysis

Abstract

The milpa landscape is a territory where there is a close relationship between the Mayan populations and the forest manifested in agroecosystem management strategies such as: the milpa, the home garden and the secondary vegetation. The milpa landscape faces multiple socio-environmental pressures that require transdisciplinary analytical frameworks that allow its comprehensive understanding. The objective of this work is to analyze through variables that allow us to deepen into the socioecological relationships established by the human and biophysical components of southern Yucatán. The framework of socio-ecological systems was used, for its operationalization secondary information was reviewed and 257 surveys were applied in two municipalities. The results show that socioecological relationships are influenced by aspects of governance and land tenure. The milpa system prevails in livelihoods, but coexists with factors such as the loss of the Mayan language, the low generational change, the market economy, the high prevalence of agrochemicals and weather patterns. It is proposed that efforts based on the revaluation of the milpa, the participatory integration of knowledge and the development of adaptive governance schemes could have positive repercussions on sustainability if this biocultural landscape.