Abstract

VITZ, Matthew. The City and its Forests: Forest Conservation and Peasants in the Valley of Mexico, 1900-1950. Estud. hist. mod. contemp. Mex [online]. 2012, n.43, pp.135-172. ISSN 0185-2620.

The study of the conservationist movement, led by Miguel Ángel de Quevedo, changes the dominant narrative about the urban capital: that the city destroyed the surrounding areas without any plan or precautions. Although the rules promoted by conservationists limited the villages'use of the forests, the Mexican revolution created an opportunity for the affected communities to claim the use of their forests. From 1940, the villages lost the very low degree of control they had gained over the forests, as the result of the modification of a policy that favored mineral over vegetable energy, and paper companies over cooperatives.

Keywords : forests; Mexico City; Valley of Mexico; Miguel Ángel de Quevedo; conservationism; agricultural reform; water.

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