Manejo de recursos forestales no maderables y las políticas de simplificación: El caso de la palma xate en la Selva Lacandona, México

Abstract

The use of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) can create development opportunities for local populations, but this requires certain conditions. In Mexico, the use of NTFP considered by the government to be “at risk” is regulated by “wildlife conservation management units” (UMAs), a policy instrument that seeks to reconcile biological conservation with local development. Its effectiveness varies according to the context in which the instrument is applied. The majority of UMAs in the south of the Mexico, particularly for NTFPs, have shown less than encouraging results, partly because their design and implementation do not take into account the complexity and diversity of the conditions present in rural areas in this part of the country. Based on ethnographic observation, in-depth interviews, and socioeconomic surveys, this article analyzes the implementation of a palm (palma camedor) UMA in two rural villages in the Lacandon rain forest in Chiapas, Mexico. We argue that these palm UMAs assume a simplified conception of the complex reality of these communities, in which the implementation of the management instrument alters the local balance of power. Its bureaucratic design and overregulating character generates discretionality, simulation, and corruption, which in turn accentuates exclusions and favors local elites.