Analysis and perspectives to manage biocultural tourism: An option to conserve the forest ecosystem of temascaltepec

Abstract

The objective of this research was the transdisciplinary analysis of the viability of tourism biocultural as an alternative for the conservation of the biodiversity and local welfare. The natural wealth and the cultural and productive activities of Temascaltepec were registered. The analysis of main components was applied and a Student´s t-test for cultural-demographic variables. The relative frequency of citation, the weighting of 19 productive activities and the economic specialization index were calculated. Eleven towns stand out by their cultural diversity. In terms of the natural wealth, prior research has documented 178 species of birds, 43 species of edible fungi and 45 species of orchids. In this case, 15 festivities and 25 products cultivated and wild that are part of the local diet were registered. The preponderance of oats, avocado and peach was evidenced, as well as the breeding of cattle, sheep, horse and extraction of conifers. The model of tourism biocultural should consist of the interaction of socialized facts and the recognition of otherness in habitats preserved for recreation of the senses from the observation of natural landscapes, historical works (temples, mines, pre-Hispanic sculptures), birds, flora and mushrooms. It is concluded that the bio-cultural tourism should be planned under the trans-disciplinarity to make it an alternative development; also, the gestation should include methods and ecological techniques for the projection of trails and routes by integrating local productive activities, religious festivals, natural resources and cultural.