Description of the Common Use Forest Resources System of the San Francisco Oxtotilpan Ejido (SRFUC-SFO).

The SRFUC-SFO is conceptualized as a geographic space delimited within the ejido territory, with 2 080 ha of forest and grassland, with the exception of 27 ha of agriculture. From the social perspective, the 69 ejidatarios are considered directly or indirectly participating in the assemblies and activities agreed by them, of which 48 are men and 21 women.

As an immediate environment of this system, the Communal Goods of SFO and some small properties that together form the SFO town (metasystem) are conceptualized, with important exchanges of matter, energy and information, and even their belongings.

In the sample of surveyed people, the age range is 32 to 85 years, with an average of 67 years for women and 60.7 for men, which represents an aging process in the ejido assembly, although 22% of The ejidatarios are between 30 and 49 years old that would be constituted as their generational change.

The schooling includes a range that goes from the total lack of studies to the finished secondary school (9 years); two dominant groups, one of women without education and the other of men with completed primary education, stand out. The average academic instruction by gender is 1.9 years for women and 4.8 years for men. Based on the above, the fact is that women accumulate more age and less schooling as a result of a historical gender inequality in terms of access to land and education.

It is important to mention that families form networks that give their members a social capital that allows them access to different spaces and availability of resources, promotes greater cohesion among groups, thus forming ways of life that take advantage of the multiple use of the forest. This situation gives the characteristic of diffuse system to the SRFUC, since the comuneros (communers), neighbors and relatives of the ejidatarios can approach to forest resources by their relation with them.

In the case of timber resources (housing, accessory areas and tools), the protected natural area of Nevado de Toluca is the supply area for all members of the town (pueblo) (ejidatarios, comuneros, neighbors and their relatives), whose houses are mainly settled within the lands of the Communal Goods. The president of the Ejidal Commissariat grants the authorization of use for a volume suitable for this use, so that there is no excessive extraction of wood.

With the assistance of a Forest Technical Services Provider (PSTF), the Forest Management Plan is implemented in the area outside the Nevado de Toluca ANP; thus, the volume of wood to be extracted is established, for which the trees are selected and marked for harvesting. In this activity, along with the commercial use of non-timber resources and the payment for hydrological services, those who are entitled to receive profits or distribution, are the 69 ejidatarios formally recognized and listed. In addition, the ejido provides resources for common benefit such as patronage festivals and primary and secondary schools.

For more than 15 years, timber has been sold annually to a buyer in the metropolitan area of Toluca city, who is an entrepreneur of the timber industry, who purchases it on the ground (standing sale) and extracts it with his staff; he also hires a documenter who supervises the extraction of wood and the Supervisory Board supervises these tasks. However, members of the ejido have no knowledge of wood cubication so they are subject to what the technician and the documenter indicate. Finally, the wood in logs, which is now property of the buyer, is transferred to the sawmill for its transformation into commercial products.

The PSTF provides information to the ejido assembly where he is consulted on aspects of forest management and its commercialization, but these explanations are given in a synthesized form and not all are understood by the ejidatarios, nor the agrarian representatives, given their technical complexity and the low levels of education of most of them, who, in many cases, intuit that what they communicate, both the technician and in some cases the buyer of the wood (contractor), is not totally true (the result of interviews with several ejidatarios).

In the natural protected area, since it is not of commercial interest, the technical and scientific knowledge and the monitoring of the territory by the ejido is almost null, except for areas under supervision for having led to the sanitation of the forest, or that are committed for reforestation in government projects and those committed in the Program for Payment for Hydrological Environmental Services. In some occasions they make reconnaissance tours of the place.

In general, there is an ambiguity about the control and appropriation of these lands, for although the ejidatarios know that it is formally of the ejido, they do not consider it under their control, reason why the expression: “To take care, yes it is ours, we have the responsibility, but if we want to take use it, there we can not, it’s not ours, it’s of the government.“ is a very common expression among them.

From the above, it is clear that the technical and scientific data, mensurising and environmental, used to elaborate the Program of Forest Management with which decisions are made in the use of this part of the territory, are manipulated, mainly, by technical agents external to the ejido (PSTF, governmental authorities and buyer, among others). Therefore, a technocratic practice prevails which is more convenient for government representatives than for the community itself, where ejidatarios have limited participation in the control of their forest resources.

From the governmental point of view, it is less complicated to establish a management plan that only considers technical aspects, which could exclude any level of symbolic participation (to inform, consult and appease) and of citizen power (to associate and delegate power) (^{Arnstein, 1996}).

However, in the daily life of the population, labors are carried out in the ejido for the maintenance and conservation of the forest through jobs or cooperative work, as well as extraction roads, under the indications of those who represent the PSTF and the approval of the activities in assembly. In fact, it is not uncommon for the PSTF to be the only indications, and it is the ejidal Commissariat and the Supervisory Board who plan, convene and supervise the tasks in the field.

For example, some community practices such as the use and management of moss (Thuidium sp.), the pearl stick (Symphoricarpos microphyllus HBK.) and the white wand (Salvia hirsuta Jacq.) are highlighted. Buyers outside the SFO approach the authorities to negotiate their exploitation and commercialization. Once the agreement is reached, the agrarian representatives of the ejido request the PSTF to prepare the technical justification study and a notification to Semarnat (Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources). The management for authorization is done between the PSTF and the curator and subsequently such management is “sold” to the buyer, who usually brings his workers to the extraction. Even if such an operation should be to comply with environmental and forestry regulations, it is not supervised by the Supervisory Committee because the same members and workers do not know the regulatory constraints for the sustainable use of the resource.

Through the survey on the perception of access to and use of forest products, 17 were identified, of which 11 are recognized by more than half the respondents. The most used resources are wood, firewood, water, morillo, fungi, pearl stick and moss. Access to these is 90% of those identified as ejidatarios and neighbors (Figure 3).

Figure 3 Perception of the forest resources used by the inhabitants of San Francisco Oxtotilpan. 

In regard to water, there are 23 springs in the land, 9.2 km of permanent streams and 27.9 km of intermittent flows (Field Information of the San Francisco Oxtotilpan Community Territorial Ordinance), which serve to supply drinking water, and for agricultural irrigation as well as for the cultivation of trout.

Again, based on the results of the survey, it came that the perception on the state of the forest goods is very good and good for most of the ejidatarios in 14 of the 15 mentioned resources, except for the landscape (tourist use), to which it has poor, regular and, to a lesser extent, very poor perception. Figure 4 shows a SFO SRFUC model based on the analysis of flows and appropriation of nature (^{García, 2006}; ^{García and Toledo, 2008}).

Figure 4 RFUC system of San Francisco Oxtotilpan. 

This system of resources is organized organically with different formal and non-formal institutions that operate in the territory of the SFO town: the two agrarian nuclei, the Municipal Delegates as political authorities linked to the municipality of Temascaltepec, and the Water Committee, which is a non-formal institution validated by the “uses and customs” of theMatlatzinca people.

Uses and customs are protected by the Political Constitution of the Mexican United States (Articles 2 and 33) and linked to the Treaty 169 of the International Labor Organization, ratified by the Mexican Government in 1990 (^{Gamboa and Gutiérrez, 2008}). Thus, the use for self-consumption of several non-timber resources that do not have a specific regulation within national or state legislation falls within this protection or even, in some cases like water and species at risk, the authority does not apply the normative formal systems in the face of the risk of violating the traditions of the Matlatzinca people; therefore, in fact, their management is under the administration of the community institutions.

Formally, forest resources are directly regulated by three federal laws and four regulations, 16 federal environmental standards, two federal and state ANP decrees, three ecological, one state and two regional, and two of conservation and ANP management programs. To consider them all, and once the above-mentioned programs are authorized for both federal ANPs, a rather complex scheme of normative instruments would be obtained to operate efficiently in the SRFUC-SFO, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5 Federal environmental and forest regulatory framework of San Francisco Oxtotilpan SRFUC. 

Use of territory and income

In 2013, 1 467 ha (64%) of the forest area of 1950 ha had no authorized use and 380 ha (17%) were outside the national park. Likewise, 333.8 ha (15%) received a Federal Government subsidy as payment for environmental services (^{Conafor, 2013}) and 103 ha (5%) received payment for hydrological services from the Government of the State of Mexico (^{Gaceta de Gobierno, 2013}). This changed in 2014, as support ended and only 103 ha (5%) receive the state payment (^{Gaceta de Gobierno, 2013}).

The Forest Management Program is based on the Mexican Method of Irregular Forest Management, which is a selective cutting for the maintenance of an irregular and multispecific forest mass, which seeks to keep the structure of a natural temperate forest. In this program, 16 timber species, 12 broadleaf and 4 coniferous have been identified, which, being the most attractive from a commercial perspective, are focal to forest management. The proposed cutting cycle for timber harvesting is 10 years, which began in 2008 and is scheduled to be completed by 2018.

For 2011, prices for the sale of timber forest products in the region’s market per cubic meter were: $ 1 200.00 Mexican pesos for pine; $ 500.00 Mexican pesos for broadleaves and oak; both amounts are calculated by using 70% roundwood. In 2014, the state government granted a subsidy of a total of $ 154 500.00 Mexican pesos for to pay for hydrological services. Thus, it can be estimated that 20% of the territory under persistent forest use generated 91% of the income.

On the other hand, the subsidies for payment of environmental services for conservation in 5% of the territory contributed with 9% of the income from the forest, while 75% remained as a protected natural area without commercial use of forest resources. It should be noted that not all gross income is distributed as “distribution” to ejidatarios, since a percentage is used to finance administrative and legal actions, social works and operating expenses of the maintenance of the forest (food, materials, equipment, gasoline and vehicle repair).

Evaluation of the ejido level as a Common Use Resources System and as a Community Forestry Company

Based on ^{Álvarez’s (2006)} classification on the typology of resources commonly used in Mexico, it is identified that the ejido would be closer to Type 3, although it would have Type 4 elements. In this way the following characterization is obtained:

Type 3. Assisted common resource organizations, because they have a relative control over the access and management of their natural resources. They are usually communities that have achieved the reappropriation of their natural resources and almost all of them have been involved in a struggle for the recovery of control of their resources.

Type 4. Semi-assisted resource-based organizations, because they clearly control access to their natural resources and have community rules and regulations to achieve an equitable distribution of benefits. In general, they are associated with some external or governmental financing whose fundamental purpose is to create governance in the management of common resources.

With regard to ejido participation in the production chain, the level of vertical integration in timber forest production is identified according to the classification of the Semarnat Forest Conservation and Sustainable Management Project (Procymaf) at level II (“ low “), of the four types proposed. It is characterized as follows:

Type II. Producers selling standing timber: owners and / or owners of properties subject to forest exploitation, by third parties through a purchase contract, without the owner or holder participating in any phase of the harvest.

Likewise, based on the Index of Development of Community Forestry Activity (Merino, 2014), the ejido obtains a value of “nine” equivalent to “low level of development of forestry activity”, which is 7.8% of the forest communities of Mexico (Merino, 2014). In socioeconomic terms, this means that the wealth generated by forests is transmitted to subjects outside the ejido.

The perspective with the rearrangement of the ANPs in the western part of the State of Mexico

During the year 2013, in the two federal ANPs that have an impact on the territory of the ejido, Semarnat in collaboration with different actors, made the proposal of Conservation and Management Plans for them. These exercises are performed independently by each of the protected area directions, even though the ejido will have to assume the regulation of both.

In order to identify the proposed subzoning that will regulate the land use patterns in the ejido, a map was elaborated in which both zonifications proposed in the Conservation and Management Program of each area were combined (Figure 6).

Source: ^{Conanp, 2014}; ^{Semarnat, 2016}.

Figure 6 Zoning of federal protected natural areas in the San Francisco Oxtotilpan ejido. 

Based on the map above, the subzones and activities allowed with direct relation to the SRFUC were identified:

Preservation Sub-areas of Conserved Ecosystems (SPEC)

These subareas appear in the APFF Conservation and Management Program; they include dense Sacred fir forests (Abies religiosa (Kunth) Schltdl. et Cham.), in good state of conservation, in canyons with slopes average greater than 40%, the reason why they can be considered fragile ecosystems, because the removal of the vegetation can lead to erosion and loss of the soil. In these places, productive activities of low environmental impact would be permitted, as well as forest management for the preservation of ecosystems, restoration of them and induction of natural regeneration (^{Conanp, 2014}), resulting in two SPECs in the same APFF:

Monarch butterfly preservation subarea

This subarea includes areas of dense fir forest in good conservation status, at average altitudes of 3 220 to 3 430 m, which favors the seasonal establishment of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L.). This area would allow productive activities of low environmental impact, forest management for ecosystem preservation and restoration, maintenance of existing roads and reintroduction of native species (^{Conanp, 2014}). It is located in the central zone of the ejido, has an area of 45.8 ha and represents 2.17% of the ejidal territory.

Forest Recovery of the Nevado (SRBN) Subarea

It gathers fragmented pine forests (Pinus hartwegii Lindl.) with crown coverings of less than 50%. Here, forest management for the protection, conservation, restoration and preservation of ecosystems and forest sanitation would be developed (^{Conanp, 2014}). It is a small portion to the northwest of the ejido, with 136.4 ha, corresponding to 6.4% of the ejidal territory.

Sustainable Use of Natural Forest Resources (SASRNF) Subarea

This subarea appears in the Conservation and Management Program of the APFF. They are dense and semi-dense forests of pine and fir in slopes smaller than 40% where sustainable use will be allowed. In these areas are allowed the opening of logging gaps, removal of dead timber and felled by natural phenomena for self-consumption, forest management, maintenance of gaps and roads (provided they are not expanded or paved), payment for environmental services and Federal and state support programs for conservation, protection and restoration of natural resources, and low environmental impact tourism (^{Conanp, 2014}). It is located in the western part of the ejido running from north to south with an area of 689 ha, which corresponds to 32.7% of the ejidal territory.

Sustainable Use of Ecosystems Subarea

This subzone is a strip of 74.6 ha corresponding to 3.5% of the ejidal territory, which runs from south to north in the central and eastern part of the ejido, where there are relics of primary vegetation such as pine-fir, pine, pine-oak and gallery forest. Also, in this area there is a breach of access to the Cerro San Antonio that belongs to the western part of the Nevado de Toluca APFF. In this area, productive activities of low environmental impact, as well as restoration can be carried out. Commercial forest plantations with native species, forest management and tourism with low environmental impact are allowed (^{Conanp, 2014}).

Sustainable Use of Natural Resources Subarea

This area of 523 ha, which is 24.8% of the ejido, is equivalent to two polygons in the southeast and southwest end; here coniferous forests are displayed in which Pinus and Abies species, as well as some broadleaves predominate. Productive activities with low environmental impact and restoration are granted, as well as forest and fire management, establishment of UMA and tourism with low environmental impact (^{Conanp, 2014}).

Forest resources use scenario under the new regulatory framework

From the Sustainable Use of Natural Forest Resources (SASRNF) Subarea, potentially, 689 ha could be put under forest management, since from the change of the national park decree to Flora and Fauna Protection Area such options are opened; the main consequences of it would be:

An increment in the land under forest management with which the forest could get better when applying forestry labors of forest masses maintenance that at present have not been made as ejidatarios have not got interested in doing so as they consider it a restricted territory, as well as to have a greater control of forest plagues in the APFF.

A lower use of forest lands not included in the market and from which the inhabitants of SFO have traditionally taken timber for self-consumption.

A higher timber on foot sale, and therefore an income increase, where the main beneficiaries will be the contractors and service providers related to forest harvest, as far as the ejidatarios that do not get involved in the management and transformation of timber products.

Non-timber resources will have a greater pressure, as a result of wood cutting and extraction.