Gobernanza Costera En México Decentralization a N D Environmental M a N a G E M E N T Coastal Governance in Mexico

Home , Dzibilchaltun, Isla Aguada, Julia Carabias Lillo

Descentralización y m a n e j o a m b i e n t a l Gobernanza costera en México decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t Coastal Governance in Mexico

Julia Fraga, Guillermo J. Villalobos, Sabrina Doyon y Ana García (Coordinators) First edition 2013

Fraga, J., G. J. Villalobos, S. Doyon and Ana García (Coordinators), 2013. De- centralization and environmental management. Coastal Governance in Mexico. Universidad Autonoma de Campeche, Cinvestav. 340 p-

ISBN 978-607-7887-48-5 Content

Preface i

Foreword iii

Authors’ directory xi

Introduction. Decentralization and sustainable development: the link between research and public policies

The context: the c i i d programs on community-based management, rural poverty and decentralization. 1 Bryan Davy and Ivan Breton

Objectives: clientele and publication plan 15 Julia Fraga and Sabrina Doyon

Part l. Decentralization and environmental management: an analytical, institutional and geographical approach

Decentralization at world level: tendencies and debates 23 Yvan Breton and Agnès Blais

Agenda 21 and decentralization in Mexico 35 Rafael Robles de Benito, Julia Carabias Lillo and Alfredo Arellano Guillermo Decentralization, territory and environment in the Yucatan Peninsula: A geographical look from the centrality approach 57 Juan Córdoba y Ordoñez

The diversity of states and municipalities in the Yucatan Peninsula 77 Sabrina Doyon, Andréanne Guindon and Agnes Blais

Part 2. Governmental agencies and public participation in the coastal municipalities

Inter-municipal alliances in Mexico: alternatives and examples for decentralization. 89 Cuauhtémoc León, José Sosa and Sergio Graf

Natural protected areas and decentralization in the Yucatan Peninsula 117 Alfredo Arrellano Guillermo, Julia Fraga and Rafael Robles de Benito

Decentralization in the research and the fishing and aquaculture sectors: A challenge for the State 135 Patricia Guzmán Amaya, Gabriela Morales-García, Carmen Monroy-García and Verónica Ríos Lara

Part 3. Research centers: economical sectors, coastal communities and Transversality

The oil activity in Campeche: issues, challenges and opportunities 155 Guillermo J. Villalobos and Evelia Rivera Arriaga

Fishing in Yucatan: from abundance to scarcity and the fragile institutional structures. 171 Julia Fraga, Silvia Salas and Guadalupe Mexicano-Cintora

The international tourist activity and its impact in the Quintana Roo’s Population 193 Campos, Bonnie Ligia Sierra and Yuri Balam Transversality in the territorial ecological ordinance: experiences in Yucatan and Campeche. 209 Jorge I. Euán Avila, Evelia Rivera Arriaga, Ma. De los A. Liceaga Correa, Ana García de Fuentes, Gerardo Palacio Aponte and Guillermo J. Villalobos

Part 4. Coastal municipalities: challenges in the implementation of public policies in a changing reality

Decentralization, regionalization and atomization in Rio Lagartos, Las Coloradas and El Cuyo: practices and policies in Eastern Yucatan’s communities. 227 Sabrina Doyon, Andréanne Guidon and Catherine Leblanc

Municipal organizations: communal participation and decentralization of public policies in coastal areas of the State of Yucatan: The case of the coastal micro basin of Chabihau 245 Eduardo Batlori, Teresa Munguía, Teresa Castillo and Federico Dickinson

Analysis of consultation mechanisms and social participation: the case of Costa Maya region (Majahual, Quintana Roo, Mexico) 265 Bonnie Campos and Ana Pricila Sosa Ferreira

Social organization, modernization and utopias among the fishermen of the Atasta Peninsula and Isla Aguada in Campeche 283 Javier Villegas Sierra and Ramón Martínez Beberaje

Local planning strategies: Municipal Planning Institute of Carmen facing the Decentralization challenges in Campeche. 301 Guillermo J. Villalobos and Cristina Jaber Monges

Final Conclusion

From panaceas to reflexive efforts on decentralization and the coastal governance processes. 317 Julia Fraga, Guillermo J. Villalobos, Sabrina Doyon and Ana García i Preface to the english version

This book has been possible due to the several people that stimulated us with their words in translating it into English: Dr. Yvan Breton, Dr. Michael Redclift, Dr. Man- uel Navarrete and Dr. Heather Hawn. They also encouraged us to search for mechanisms to publish it. A special thank you to Rocio Saide, my research assistant who helped in the process of translation and publication. The book in its English version would not have been possible without the support of Msc Guillermo Villalobos and Jorge Gutierrez, both members of EPOMEX Center, at the Autonomous University of Campeche UAC; and Dr. Romeo de Coss Gómez, Director of the Unit of CINVESTAV Mérida. This translated version of the book was possible because of their great generosity in financing our work. Needless to say, our greatest motivation for providing this academic material to pro- spective students and professors, people in government and civil society, is to establish discussions on issues such as decentralization, environmental management and coastal governance in the Yucatan Peninsula, essential areas for the current and future sustainable ecodevelopment practices and policies in México.

Dra. Julia Fraga Msc. Guillermo Villalobos Human Ecology Department EPOMEX-University of Campeche CINVESTAV-Mérida

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Foreword The growing complexity of the national environmental agendas, which are increasingly tied with the economical and social development themes, have slowly and continuously made difficult the negotiations and the conventional administration forms have been exceeded. The government’s deficiency in attending the population’s demands, the lack of credibility due to the distance between those governing and the governed, the inefficiency and incapacity, the lack of human and economical resources, the lack of transparency including corruption, as well as excessive political interventionism, among other factors, have weakened the central governments and obliged them to travel towards more inclusive new schemes. On the other hand, the growing pressure of a plural society, much more organized that demands more participative ways of governing, as well as spaces and mechanisms to influence in the planning, evaluation and following of the public policies and decision making. The environmental governance recognizes that the government is not the only agent that should be responsible for the management of the environmental problems; the solution is in a joint effort with the society. This recognition has generated the appearing of several private and social participation mechanisms involved in the participation of the public environmental agenda. Governing consists today in creating inter-dependence between the public and private, political and civilian actors of a society. These more inclusive focuses that bring those governing closer to the governed in the decision making, require by force the transference of part of the decision making process to local level, but always ruled under the precepts of the national norms and policies that guarantee that the interests of the nation should come before the local interests. This process implies the strengthening of the local capacities to define their own development modals, reflecting the biological, social, political, and economical diversity of each region. It is much more than the delegation of power or the transfer- ii iii Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ence of functions. It is about consolidating the local authorities’ efforts in order that they may count with the necessary faculties and attributions to direct the sustainable regional development in accordance with the national policies of sustainable development. Decentralization implies a better distribution of competence and therefore a transference of responsibilities to the local instances, which were assigned previously to the Federation, without the national authority loosing its character of rector of the national policy. This simple definition generates complex and tense equilibrium and has limits that reflect the risks of function distribution and capacity of decision making. Mexican legislation has greatly advanced on this theme in the last ten years. In fact it was one of the central axels of the reform to the General Ecological Equi- librium and Environmental Protection Law of 1996. However, decentralization in environmental matters is still in process and has been a slow and difficult transit due to many factors, among them, the need to increase the local, institutional, normative, financial and human capacities to perform the new functions, to which we add the reticence of the central authorities to loose power. This theme becomes more complex when dealing with the management of geographical spaces where clear policies are lacking. Such is the case of the coastal zones, spaces of great fragility and productivity, each day more populated and with opposed interests between conservation and development. The strong development pressures, tourist, fishing and oil industry are confronted with the need to conserve these indispensable spaces due to their biological and ecological importance, since they generate environmental services that go beyond the local population’s interest, to the national and world interests. These spaces, in spite of their strategically national importance, have lacked a clear integral policy of sustainable development and have been norm in a sector manner, in some cases over regulated and in others with a total lack of norms. Without any doubt, the governance of coastal zones requires the mentioned processes involving the local actors, responsible participation of organized society and decentralization to the local authorities. And it is in these spaces where the processes confront numerous conflicts. On one hand the definition of the federal and local attributions in strategic areas, including national security, tied to great pressures, and on the other hand, the lack of accompaniment of real local participation processes. It is very common that decentralization from the federation to the state authorities is not followed by decentralization from the state authorities to the municipal. And it is also common that the municipal requirements confront the federation norms as happens between the ecological and territorial ordinances.

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Recently, s e m a r n a t published the National Environmental Policy for Sustainable Development of Mexico’s Oceans and Coasts where they indicate the strategies for conservation and sustainable use of oceans and coasts. This policy, which aroused from and articulate effort of creating consensus among the different sectors, pretends to order the anthropogenic activities from the perspective of the ecosystems’ security, civil protection of the inhabitants and the conservation of the economical wealth of the coastal zones. Decentralization of the coastal zones is one of the most complex environmental themes in the public agenda, but in finds in the actual tendencies favorable conditions for advancement. In this context, the work presented here, “Decentralization and Environmental Management, Coastal Governance in Mexico”, has an important value in systematization, analysis, and orientations to improve to public policies, such as characterized the works coordinated by the International Investigation Center for Development. This book has an inter-disciplinary focus, in which the social and natural sciences concur with visions, conceptual frames and methodologies, not as a sum of disciplines but as a way to improve the understanding of these complex systems. In its sixteen chapters, organized in four parts, the authors go from the general contexts of decentralization, its concepts, risks, global situation and requirements, to the multiple forms obtained in the processes of decentralization in the sectors and the conflicts that arise in the fishing, tourism and oil activity management. It analyses as well, different decentralization experiences toward the municipal levels, social participation and the roll of the investigation centers and talk about the great contradictions present in the development and conservation, still not solved, like in the case of Costa Maya in Quintana Roo. It also refers to the critical situation of lacking the adequate mechanisms in order that the knowledge generated by the investigation institutions will influence the decision making of the public policies. It is a book that reflects the plurality of thought on this theme and therefore it is very enriching. The editors, Julia Fraga, Guillermo Villalobos, Sabrina Doyon and Ana Garcia close the book with a splendid chapter that achieves an excellent synthesis that the authors modestly refer to as conclusions, when in reality they are commendations or at least, orientations. The chapter, whose title is per se suggestive, “From Remedies to reflective efforts on decentralization and the processes in coastal governance” systemizes the nodule points of the decentralization theme in these fragile, complex and abandoned zones by public management, such as the coastal zones. This theme, must continue to mature, it is not a closed chapter. All the limits of decentralization have not yet been clearly defined in order to guarantee the integrity iv v Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o of the nation, national policies and the natural forces that do not recognize geo- political boundaries. This book shares very enriching lessons that should be taken into account in the planning, design, management and evaluation of the local coastal zones public policies. However, their reach is not limited to the Yucatan Peninsula; its value is that these lessons are valuable in the analysis of coastal zones’ policies of the country, taking into account the particulars of each region and, for the decentralization policies in general.

Julia Carabias

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Acronyms

BANPESCA Bank for Fishing Development CANAINPESCA National Chamber of Fishing and Water Industries CCDS Consulting Councils for Sustainable Development CEDRUS State Council for Rural Sustainable Development CFDO Community Fisheries Development Office (Cambodia) CICY Center of Scientific Investigation of Yucatan CIESAS Center of Investigations and Superior Studies in Social Anthropology CIDA The Canadian International Development Agency CIID-Canada International Investigation Center for Development CINVESTAV-IPN Investigation and Advanced Studies Center of the National Polytechnic Institute – Unit Merida CMDRS Municipal Councils for Rural Sustainable Development COLMEX El Colegio de Mexico CONABIO National Commission for the Knowledge and Usage of the Bio-diversity. CONAGUA National Water Commission CONANP National Commission for Natural Protected Areas CONAPESCA National Commission for Fishing and Aqua-culture.

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CONAPO National Commission for Population DCZOFEMATAC General Direction Federal Zone Land Sea and Coastal Environments (SEMARNAT). ECOSUR South Border College EPOMEX-UAC Ecology, Fisheries and Gulf of Mexico Oceanography Institute – Autonomous University of Campeche FAO World Organizations, Agriculture and Feeding Unit FIRA Instituted Trusts related to Agriculture – Bank of Mexico FONATUR National Fund for Tourist Development FONDEN National Disaster Fund GPA Global Action Program GPS Global Positioning System IMPLAN Municipal Planning Institute Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche INEGI Statistics, Geography and Informatics National Institute INP Fishing National Institute ITM Merida’s Technological Institute LGEEPA Ecological Equilibrium General Law LGPAS Sustainable Fishing and Aqua-culture General Law UADY Autonomous University of Yucatan UAM Metropolitan Autonomous University UAN Natural Administrative Units UMAS Wild Life Management Units UNAM Mexico’s National Autonomous University UNESCO United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture UQROO University of Quintana Roo USAID United States Agency for International Development

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NOAA National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, USA OCDE Cooperation and Economical Development Organization ONGS Non Governmental Organizations PEMEX-PEP PEMEX Exploration and Production PDU Urban Development Plans PND National Development Plan PNUD United Nations Development Program POET-POEL Territorial Ecological Ordinance Program /Local Ecological Ordinance Program PRI Revolutionary Institutional Party PROCAMPO Alliance Program for the Field PROFEPA Federal Courts for Environmental Protection PRONASOL National Solidarity Program SAGARPA Agriculture, Fisheries, Husbandry and Feeding Ministry SCT Communications and Transport Ministry SECTUR Tourism Ministry SEDESOL Social Development Ministry SEDUMA Urban Development and Environment Ministry SEMARNAP Environment, Natural Resources and Fishing Ministry SEMARNAT Environment and Natural Resources Ministry WRI World Resources Institute

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x xi Authors’ directory

Alfredo Arellano-Guillermo Management – Protected National Natural Areas. c o n a n p -Yucatan Peninsula Yuri Balam Social Anthropology. University of Quintana Roo Eduardo Bartlori-San Pedro Biology-Hydrology. c i n v e s t a v -Merida Agnes Blais Social Anthropology. Département d’Anthropologie-Université Laval. Yvan Breton Social Anthropology. Département d’Anthropologie – Université Laval. Bonnie Campos Social Anthropology. University of Quintana Roo Julia Carabias-Lillo Biology-public policies. El Colegio de Mexico Teresa Castillo Sociology. c i n v e s t a v - Merida Juan Córdoba y Ordoñez Geography. Geographical analysis laboratory, Geography and History Department – Complutense University Madrid. Brian Davy Biology, Aquaculture, development policies. i i s d -Canada x xi Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

Federico Dickinson Physical Anthropology. c i n v e s t a v -Merida Sabrina Doyon Social Anthropology. Département d’Anthropologie – Université Laval. Jorge Euán-Avila Special Dynamics of the coastal zones. c i n v e s t a v -Merida Julia Fraga Social Anthropolgy. c i n v e s t a v -Merida Ana Garcia de Fuentes Geography. c i n v e s t a v -Merida Sergio Graf Biology. Independent consultant. Andréanne Guindon Social Anthropology. Département d’Anthropologie – Université Laval. Patricia Guzmán-Amaya Biology. National Fishing Institute, s a g a r p a Cristina Jaber-Monges Public Administration. i n p l a n -Carmen Catherine Leblanc Social Anthropology. Département d’Anthropologie – Université Laval. Cuauhtemoc León Biology, Public Policies. Independent Consultant Maria de los Angeles Liceaga Special dynamics of the coastal zone. c i n v e s t a v - Merida Ramón Martínez Beberaje Sociology . Carmen Autonomous University Guadalupe Mexicano-Cintora Fishing Biology. c i n v e s t a v – Merida Carmen Monroy-Garcia Fishing Biology. c r i p -Yucalpetén, i n p -s a g a r p a

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Gabriela Morales-García Fishing Biology. c r i p – Yucalpeten, i n p -s a g a r p a Teresa Munguía Social Anthropology. Independent Consultant Gerardo Palacio Aponte Physical Geography. e p o m e x Center – Autonomous University of Campeche Silvia Salas Márquez Biology and natural resources management – c i n v e s t a v -Merida Ligia Sierra Social Anthropology. University of Quintana Roo, Mexico José Sosa Sociology. Independent Consultant Ana Priscilla Sosa Ferreira Social Anthropology. Caribbean Trust, Quintana Roo, Mexico Verónica Ríos Lara Fishing Biology. c r i p – Yucalpeten, i n p -s a g a r p a Evelia Rivera Arriaga Coastal management and marine policy. e p o m e x Institute – Autonomous University of Campeche. Rafael Robles de Benito Biology, public policies. Independent Consultant – Ceiba, A.C. Guillermo J. Villalobos Ecology and ecosystems’ management. e p o m e x Institute – Autonomous University of Campeche. Javier Villegas Sierra Sociology. Autonomous University of Carmen.

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xiv Introduction

Decentralization and sustainable development: the link between Research and public policies Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

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The context: the CIID programs on community-based management, rural poverty and decentralization

Bryan Davy and Ivan Breton

rom its beginnings in 1970, the International Investigations Center for De- velopment (c i i d ) has given priority to the investigations that seek practical Fsolutions to improve the living conditions of the poor of the world, especially in developing countries. These actions have given way to many initiatives in which the access to natural resources and their conservation constitute investigation themes analyzed under inter-disciplinary focuses. It is within this context that c i i d , according to its criteria of re-evaluation periodically adjusts its strategies and takes into account the economical and political changes in several countries, established in 2005 a new program called Rural Poverty and Environment (p r m ). Of all the poorest inhabitants of the world, more than 900 million live in rural zones. Even though they count with the necessary rights, knowledge and technical capacities to exploit the natural resources, often they lack the necessary political support to maintain access to productive areas and they confront the growing competence of other producers. This is one of the reasons for which within the p r m , instances such as the c i i d seek to fortify the investigation role in the establishment of national policies to assist people living in fragile and deteriorated eco-systems. The growing poverty that characterizes many Latin- American countries seriously affects its feeding security levels, as well as their possibilities of having access to running

2 3 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o water and obtain a satisfactory income. An alternative to lessen this negative situation is the promotion of participative investigations-actions that may reinforce the cooperation between several users, which may be direct producers, investigators or administrators. The recent initiative of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (s e m a r n a t ) in the sense of establishing a regional action program in the Yucatan Pen- insula – a program whose most important axels are decentralization and the search of a greater cooperation with the citizenship -, represents a significant example of the initiatives that c i i d wants to promote in its programs. On the other hand, apart from being in constant contact with some of the projects performed previously in the Caribbean, especially those that counted with the significant collaboration of Yu- catan’s investigators and were on the community management of natural resources, this publication aspires to serve as a comparative base for similar projects in other Latin-American regions and at bigger scales. The emphasis put in the decentralization concept corresponds to a basic orientation promoted at world level in several c i i d programs. In fact, decentralization came to be a very important orientation in governance and management in many countries. In Mexico there is a growing tendency to experiment with decentralization policies (and de-concentration). But, as is underlined by several authors (Ribot et al., 2006: Aide and Grau, 2004), it is evident, at world level, that decentralization has not given the expected results in terms of efficiency and equity. For the case of Mexico it is possible to emit a similar affirmation in reference to water distribution, which has been a difficult process with little success (Wilder and Lankao, 2006). In General, it is not easy to obtain trustworthy information on decentralization. There is no doubt that with its rich and particular eco-systems, with the still evident influence of the Mayan culture and the presence of new economical activities such as oil extraction and international tourism, the Yucatan Peninsula represents a significant place for the study of some of the changes linked to decentralization. In this sense, it is important to promote the usage of systems of thought that combine the concepts of adaptability, resilience, and communal organization1(Ollsen et al., 2004). We have seen in many of the cases where we have intervened that the auto-organization process frequently begins with a perspective of modification of the socio-ecological system as a response to major events originated from natural

1For more information: http://www.resilliance.org/564.php

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disasters, conflicts or new agendas. Such vision is normally developed in cooperation with the members of the community as well as other users. The incitement to change (anticipated incentives) motivates the community to search new and different objectives. When an opportunity appears (from the institution media, of cooperation or capacitating), one or more key people (leaders) start mobilizing the available resources and the necessary energy (infrastructure, funds, information) to develop the project. Taking this into account, we are convinced of the great need to promote, in conjunction with the key actors of the process, more elaborated discussions on decentralization. We have the impression that there are still needs and limited interchanges between the social and natural sciences investigators and the government agents involved in decentralization. Our work hypothesis is that the present eco-system will continue to deteriorate and that the conflicts will persist, the growing competence and free access to resources. It is important then, to see this publication as reflective propulsion that wishes to look in depth into these aspects. In the following lines we will examine, in first place, how thec i i d (2005) has tried to understand and guide the development policies in several countries. Secondly, we will discuss the stages that we consider important for the promotion of changes in governance and, we will determine how part of this investigation can give some indicators in this matter. We conclude this section underlining the illustrative value of the Yucatan Peninsular in reference to these initiatives.

The CIID programs: the importance of understanding decentralization and governance

As a Canadian agency involved in international development some decades ago, the c i i d has experimented several interaction formulas with investigators and local towns in different parts of the world. As this is an interactive process, not all actions gave positive results. However, these experiences are still in use as a base for back feeding on which c i i d tries to adjust to a changing world and define intervention tools that could respond better to the aspirations of the countries and groups with which it works. The growing usage of terms such as decentralization and governance, now have an undeniable influence in the elaboration of new programs. Environmental governance and decentralization refer to the structures (management regimes), the organizational forms (e.g. rural investigation teams, water users associations), the processes (e.g dialogue between users) and the actors and regula-

4 5 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o tions (access rights and limits) that determine how the natural resources are handled at an international, national and local levels. The focuses of how multiple users wish to maintain participation, identifying, discussing and solving the environmental challenges for all those affected by such challenges. Focuses such as the users’ analysis2 are frequently utilized to augment the participation opportunities of the social actors in the decision making processes for the management of common resources, particularly water, fodder and fisheries. This line of investigation also promotes investigation activities within the frame of a c i i d (2007) converging program, the program Social Learning, which consists of a series of experiments with diverse policies, practices, organizational forms and institutions. Its specific investigation areas are: • Limits-opportunities for multiple users in terms of effective participation in good environmental governance. • Alternative institutional arrangements that promote more effective environmental governance (which includes decentralization, privatization and other reforms). • Costs-benefits of multiple users focus. • Options and needs of multiple users in terms of their influence on environmental policies and various scales. • Collective action for the sustainable environmental management, as an example, and adaptive management. • Development, test and adoption of tools and monitoring systems to better understand the dynamics of the eco-systems and environmental poverty and to increase the community’s capacity to confront these problems. The preceding list underlines that social learning can be a complex process that requires a lot of coordination efforts and that is closely linked to the promotion of a good governance. We shall see in the following lines some examples. c i i d Initiatives in the management of natural resources

The investigation work done in Santa Lucia, Great Caribbean (Smith and Walthers, 1991) and in Nicaragua (Christie et al, 1993) gave way to a series of additional projects, one of which consisted on the elaboration of the book The Community’s

2 For more information: http://www.sas2,net/

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Management of the Coastal Resources of the Great Caribbean (Breton et al. 2006). This work was followed by other investigation initiatives in the Eastern Caribbean and in Brazil and Peru in a second phase. In Asia, the c i i d has promoted a great number of projects during the last 20 years, starting with the Asian Investigation Net in Social Sciences on Fisheries (Pomeroy 2007), as well as a series of community management projects of environmental resources in the Philippines,3 Cambodia (Nong and Marschke, 2006), Vietnam, Indo- nesia and Sri Lanka. On the other hand, we can go in depth in some the actions taken in Cambodia. The investigation-action started there almost 12 years ago through several projects in coastal and mountainous areas. It is an interesting case of decentralization since this country has recently promoted a participative system of governance that offers opportunities to the community management in the fishing sector (also in the forestry management), in which initiatives of co-management are taking form. More than 85% of the population in Cambodia depends on this important and critical resource. Unfortunately, it has diminished considerably during the 90’s.4 Up to the year 2001, the natural resources management in Cambodia was supported by a centralized governance system, in which the rich fishing resources (that include the very productive lake Tonle Sap and the rivers Mekong and Bassac) were administered though a lot- tery system. However in an unexpected manner, in 2001 the Prime Minister decided to change the system and give 50% of the implied zones to communal groups (Rat- ner, 2006). Although there were some isolated discussions on the co-management or the communal management, there were few abilities or legal focuses for governance. During the last 5 years, the government has worked in an active way to promote this new orientation. It established a legal frame that includes a national sub-decree for the fishing and forestry sectors and created a community development office in its Department of Fisheries, as well as promoting the communal fishing in selected places in the country. For example, recent statistics on the fishing sector register that more than 500 communal groups have been created and that the demand to facilitate this process is growing exponentially as this new orientation is known better. However, there is no doubt that the government was not well prepared for this change of policy, in such a way that the Department of Fisheries has had to perform

3 More information: E. M. Ferrer 2003, Historical overview of community-based coastal resources management. Paper presented at the c b n r m Festival june 2-4, 2003. Subic, Philippines. 4 See c b r m Learning Institute 2005 (http://www.cbnrmli.org/english.html); and: Nong y Marshcke en Tyler (2006).

6 7 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o great efforts at national and provincial levels in order to attend the demand. This situations has several negative aspects, as many communal fisheries have been formed lacking a legal base, a well defined territory and a management plan or of designated conservation areas (c f d o , 2006), and the limited means of the Department of Fisher- ies to give them an efficient support. With all, we can point out some positive facts as to the consolidation of participative coastal governance. 1. The development of a series of practical options to promote an environmental governance at several scales and in several sectors. The organization and training of the community is one of the most important results. The community’s organization at local level has been very effective in order to transfer local worries to higher levels, in a process that created a favorable context in the search of change. These organized platforms work as “dialogue and learning spaces” that allow such community groups to request assistance to higher levels of government (district or provincial, as an example) and, therefore experiment with several options for the improvement of their ecological and social system. This experimentation focus allows them to try improvement techniques in their resources (Ex.: replanting of mangroves), techniques that augment the fishing, and that are useful for many other public goods in terms of general improvement of the environment in the Savage Sanctuary of Peam Krasoap (Marschke, 2003). We have seen that these platforms can cause failures as well as successes. The Cambodia platform, for example, experiments several type of economical activities with a “minimal” success, but maintains certain continuity in spite of the challenges. With the efforts of the national and provincial governments, the improvement work of the resources base has been re-doubled successfully in several neighbor places, such as the Binango- nan region in the Philippines, the Tam Giang lagoon close to Hue in Vietnam, and in other Cambodian places. Once established and running, these “learning” communities start other activities such as the reduction of illegal fishing techniques. 2. The role and responsibilities of some users involved in environmental governance are clearer. In any case, it is first necessary to modify the users and government roles. This training stage is critical for the following steps and frequently demands the assistance of a change external agent (an o n g or a government agency) to facilitate the beginning, ensure formation and also to look for modest or other kind of financial resources. A good example of a significant change is that of the personnel of the Ministry of the Environment that previously intervened as a control and authority instance and now is supported

8 9 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

on more decentralized mechanisms, which facilitate discussions. In fact, some external observers have mentioned that at provincial as well as at local levels, the personnel of the Ministry of the Environment actually perform a role that is more similar to that of an ONG than that of a government agency. 3. It is possible to understand better the costs and benefits of participative governance. One of the major problems linked to many of these focuses resides in the growing transaction costs. The project executors have not been able to measure quantifiably these factors, even though some qualifying indicators suggest that the majority of the communal groups think that the benefits obtained from the mentioned activities overcome the costs, which every day are higher. It is undeniable that costs have grown (the majority of the costs are in the meetings and work sessions with the government representatives). To this effect, Cambodia is already making a long term quantifiable study. 4. The local users and governmental authorities back up, with more frequency, the communal management in fragile and marginal eco-systems. For example, the Town Management Committees that with the use of the work of its members have been very successful in reforesting the mangroves in degraded areas due to the manufacture of charcoal (Marschke and Nong, 2003). The town’s monitoring committees confirm that the inhabitants now see in a clear manner the benefits obtained from these efforts and, not only in what concerns to the improvement of the degraded eco-systems but also in the reduction of the causes of such degradation. There is no doubt that all this has a positive impact on nourishment security and the income of the inhabitants.

How to ensure successful governance?

We consider useful to try and link the work made in conjunction with several organizations that collaborate in this publication with that of other groups that have been able to obtain good results in the promotion of governance focuses. This will be the discussion base for the conclusive chapter, where we will make a balance of the results obtained by the social and natural science investigators of the Yucatan Peninsula on the costal governance and decentralization program. A rhetorical question could be asked: What would we do if an important development agency gave us several million dollars to design a better management system? At this moment it seems that we do not know how a successful community negotiation of aquatic resources should be. In this sense, it would be better to admit that

8 9 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o we only have partial answers to this question. In the majority of cases, “success” seems more or less stable, even though it may be useful to recognize that there is no consensus on how to define it. In addition to the consultation of authors, such as Pomeroy (2007), Cunningham and Bostock (2005), we suggest the examination of the following problematic:

Share perception of the problem and will to change

Seixas and Davy (2007) discuss a series of successful cases of community negotiation based partially in what has been done in the “Ecuador Initiative” (c i i d program). They conclude that the shared understanding of the problem is a key factor in the control of crisis linked to the resources degradation.

Restatement of power (training in knowledge)

The restatement of power constitutes and important element. However, the majority of the cases do not give simple answer to define what success5 is in this field. For example, case studies in the Philippines, where a process of restatement of power has been going for 20 years, suggest the existence of some positive achievements (e.g the creation of Protected Marine Areas6), managed at local levels and with a certain improvement of eco-systems. To this moment, however, it is not about definite lessons and the situation is still an object of discussions and debates.7

Understanding the key users and their responsibilities

A series of lessons learned in several cases linked to the aquatic sector (Philippines, Brazil, the Caribbean, Mexico …..) show that a change in functions and responsibilities is a critical factor in the successful implementation of the community’ negotiations. The government is one of the main actors, but in the majority of cases it is difficult to make it change its attitude. In the majority of countries, the government (in any department and at any level: Environment, Natural Resources, Fisheries) has the legal responsibility of managing the resources for the public welfare, and

5 Véase por ejemplo: Bene y Neiland (2004). 6 Véase: http://www.da.gov.ph/FishCode/c3a2s68-79.html 7 Véase: f a o , 2005 http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/75055e/y5055e07.htm y, http://www.cbcrmlearning.org/Publications.htm.

10 11 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

therefore has to be involved. As well, in itself, the government is a “complex system” that promotes a series of policies, often contradictory, handled by several sub- organizations and through the intervention, at various levels, of different administrative styles, which change according to time, challenge and place (Seixas and Davy 2007a; Seixas, Davy and Leppan, in press).

Evolution of thought

The prior discussion on the communal management of natural resources and the various forms of co-negotiation have actually given way to adaptive co-management focuses,8 to which a great importance is attributed to the evolution of thought, especially in relation to scale and level problems.

Capacity building

Many experts point out that the lack of training of most users is an important limit. However, we need to define what skills are necessary to determine under what circumstances these capabilities represent a major challenge.9 It is important to note here that there are challenges both to the researchers, whether in terms of the development of interdisciplinary approaches in social and natural sciences, as a better way to combine issues of theory and practice.

Laws, legislation and political will

A recent f a o publication (2005) entitled Laws and Legislative Focuses for the co- management, provides useful resumes for the cases in 13 countries. Our intention is to revise this work and establish forms of collaboration, even though leaving the majority of details to our f a o counterparts.

8 More information and terms definitions see the web site: http://www.resalliance.org/1.php. 9 For a review of research in the Caribbean, see Breton et al., 2006. Manejo de recursos costeros en el Gran Caribe. Resiliencia, adaptación y diversidad comunitaria. http://www.idrc.ca/es/ev-97371-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html.

Reinforcement

This is an aspect with little study in this area of work. Questions concerning where, how and when the projects work, with which authorities, who finances, and what happens when the conflicts generate violence, are points that should be broached in greater depth. For example, the reinforcement of the community members facing the governmental agents has been practiced in an experimental way in several systems with varied results in Brazil and the Philippines.

Alternative activities, sustainable activities

The majority of the investigators underline that this is one of the most important factors and that the development of adequate alternative activities is crucial to reduce the pressure on basic resources. Some conceptual significant advances have been obtained through the Sustainable Alternatives’ Focus,10 but the progress in terms of linking the practice with the functioning of the alternative options has been a slow process.

Costs and benefits

Such as was mentioned for the Cambodia case, there is qualitative evidence that suggests that the costs are frequently compensated by the benefits, even though there is no trustworthy data that allows an adequate comparison of the different study cases in order to be able to evaluate in a conclusive manner this dimension. What has been exposed priory has pretended to underline some of the central worries on several initiatives started by the c i i d in several parts of the world. As the reader will notice, the majority of these initiatives are characterized, facing the numerous changes at ecological and socio-political levels and at various scales, by experimental formulas that give much weight to the temporary factors. We know that there are no magical formulas, but we have seen that many significant steps strongly depend on actions promoted by the local communities especially when these can reinforce their actions with the support of the inter-disciplinary investigation.

10 Véase: http://www.livelihoods.org/info/info_guidancesheets.html./.

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The illustrative value of the Yucatan Peninsula

Most of c i i d work refers to the management of natural resources in fragile eco-systems which the local population confronts significant subsistence problems. There- fore, we are convinced that with this publication we have the valuable opportunity to support and encourage the Mexican investigators involved in the understanding and strengthening of the decentralization process in the management of the coastal resources of the Yucatan Peninsula. There is no doubt that it can represent an important contribution for similar initiatives in other parts of the world. Many of the ideas in this publication aroused from the encounter in Merida 2005 (Fraga et al.) which allowed the mobilization of several people actually involved in this process. We hope to analyze in depth, in the last chapter, on the elements emphasized by these previous efforts and propose new stages of collaboration. In the Yucatan Peninsula live more than 3 million people, which confront increasing ecological problems. Due the soil characteristics the hydrological resources are a limiting factor for its socio-economic development, as they are vulnerable and confront contamination risks. There are few rivers in the interior region or in the coast, in such a way that fresh water comes from sub-terrain systems; situation that implies many restrictions in production and consumption terms, especially in poor rural areas that lack the necessary equipment for the extraction of the liquid (s e m a r n a t , 2006). At a broader level, this type of environment represents a 10% of the planet’s surface and contains 25% of available fresh water (Arce Ibarra, 2007:150). The Yucatan Peninsula has coastal waters of primary high productivity, with a great diversity of flora and fauna and an important continental shelf, especially in the states of Campeche and Yucatan. These waters, as well, experiment cyclical tropical storms, and its fishing sector, constituted mainly by small producers (90%) has been characterized in these last years by certain stagnation. As well, the practical disappearance of the henequen industry in the 70’s generated strong migrations from the interior regions towards the coasts; a phenomenon that increased the exploitation of the marine resources and contamination. According to f a o , between 1982 and 2000 the number of fishermen increased from 40 000 to 100 000 in the Gulf of Mexico, however, during the same period the volume of shrimp capture had an annual decrease of 10%, and many other important species have registered an annual decrease of 7% since 1997 (f a o , 2003). Like in the case of other coastal zones, the Yucatan Peninsula is characterized by the diminishing of its marine resources; this situation will have consequences on the way the decentralization will progress.

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At the same time, the Yucatan Peninsula is characterized by the presence of two new and important economical activities, the oil exploitation in Campeche and international tourism in Quintana Roo. Both represent important sources of external money, which strongly influence the economical future of the country and contribute to the diversification of the social actors in the communities. As happens in other parts of the world, diverse economical innovations can compensate during certain time periods the deterioration of the traditional activities, but simultaneously can generate new problems and challenges, which cannot be forgotten in the decentralization perspective. If we add to this increasing social and economical differentiation the significant presence of ethnic divisions between Mayas and non Mayas in the Peninsula, a situation that can influence the communication channels between authorities and local population, we have no doubt that this region has a great illustrative value for many decentralization programs at world level. The following paragraphs clearly show that the actions started by several administrators and investigators in the Yucatan Peninsula are written within an evolution context in which decentralization constitutes an essential vector to foresee its future.

14 Objectives, clientele and publication plan

Julia Fraga and Sabrina Doyon

his publication has its origin in several initiatives, institutional as well as individual. It arises from a long experience of work with the c i i d since 2000 when Ttwo projects in Yucatan were part, in their first phase, of the communal base program of coastal resources management in the Caribbean. No doubt, the manner of performing investigations, involving the participation of natural and social scientists as well as local institutions and users, was a challenge for those who are interested in the socio-environmental problems of the Yucatan Peninsula. The coastal themes were becoming visible in the peninsula two decades ago, and since the end of the 90’s the decentralization and governance theme has called the attention of many international agencies and given way to diversified programs en many Latin American, African and Asian countries in which the natural resources management has been a priority. This context has generated the establishment of new ordinance plans in the national bureaucracies, the restructuring of study programs and investigations in university centers and has allowed maintaining and revitalizing the actions of several o n g ’s in the evaluation of local levels. s e m a r n a t ’s intervention plan in the Yucatan Peninsula, adopted in September 2006 and elaborated in collaboration with p n u d -n o a a -g p a , constitutes an important reference point for this publication and is a good illustration of the results linked to these recent transformations, for example, the accelerating of decentralization process in environmental management since the year 2000 and previously from the arousal and consolidation of an environmental agenda of the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fishing.

15 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

One of the book’s first objectives is to give the investigators of government institutions, universities and o n g ’s the possibility to reflect on a common theme: the impact of environmental management decentralization in this Mexican region. Even though at certain point all are directly involved in initiatives linked to decentralization, and have the opportunity to interchange their worries, in reality their actions and efforts are developed in different administrative and scientific contexts and influenced by the level or scale of their interventions, among which, there isn’t yet a real agreement. There is no doubt that planning a development at regional level that seeks to take into account the local diversities, generates high transaction costs that cannot be reduced without additional efforts in coordination and interchange of information. After an initial section (Introduction and Part I) that tries to locate the Mexican case and that of the Yucatan Peninsula in particular, in the decentralization path at world level, part II touched the actions and visions of investigators that belong to government institutions at federal as well as state levels, with emphasis in their regional level interventions. Part III informs the reader about the investigation challenges of scientist that work in University centers with evident worries about the most outstanding problems in their respective states. Part IV gives more attention to the investigation efforts at local levels, and in a specific way, how the decentralization effects (positive-negative) are perceived. This publication wishes to emphasize the main challenges, at various institutional levels, that investigators have to confront and, in conclusion, identify ways to reduce them. As many countries have similar governance and investigating structures (federal, state or provincial, municipal government), we hope that the lessons learned with the Mexican case will have an illustrative value for a broader clientele from other parts of the world that no doubt have a strong component of coastal zones. The second objective is to study in depth the relationships existing between the decentralization and territorial notions. Such as is underlined with emphasis by certain authors, one of the main problems in relation with decentralization, as it implies the transference of powers or resources from the center to the periphery, is precisely identify pertinent scales of decision and intervention. It is important to point out that de-concentration and decentralization are not synonyms; while the first one implies the transference of faculties and economical resources from the federal government central offices to its representations or federal delegations in the states; the second comprises the transference of faculties and economical resources from the federal government to the state and municipal government. Frequently the regional or local administrative divisions are the result of a history influenced by a series of factors, not only linked to the ecological characteristics but

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also to the colonization, displacement of population due to political conflicts and the emergence of new industries that attract new workmanship resulting in a progressive generation or inequality that does not conform to a firm model of decentralization. The difficulty resides in the identification of units or intervention levels in which a given policy is capable of certain applicability without having very high transaction costs. The Yucatan Peninsula, with its three states and 125 municipalities – these distributed in a very unequal way between the states – constitutes an interesting social laboratory for anyone interested in studying the consequences between intervention units. This situation, that represents a great challenge at investigation level, requires additional adjustment efforts between actors with differentiated responsibilities in terms of decision and intervention. The problem here is not only to identify pertinent intervention zones or points, but see how certain equilibrium can be established between users with unequal economical and political power. A third objective seeks to illustrate the validity, within decentralization focuses, of a shared scientific contribution between the natural and social sciences. In the case of Mexico, like in other countries, environmental management decentralization, may be reinforced when it is about terrestrial and marine zones; at the same time, generally depends on focuses and plans originated from natural sciences. Initial efforts for the identification of management problems and degrees of natural resources deterioration, some times are completed with some statistics on demography and the economical sectors present. Without denying the almost absolute pertinence of this planning base to establish decentralization programs and parameters in certain sectors, it must be admitted that the main features of social and political organization prevailing in the municipalities and communities are rarely studied in depth, the training levels of their leaders and especially the perception that the locals have on prior and present interventions of State and academia representatives. It would seem that the “social” part referred by the majority of decentralization promoters at a discursive level as very important, is really perceived as necessary when the decentralization process touches inferior levels of intervention: the local communities. This orientation has a double disadvantage. Firstly it presupposes that many decentralization plans in certain regions or sectors diminish the importance of the “social factors” in their initial elaboration, emphasizing the material base. Secondly, when limiting the importance of the “social” at local level, it presupposes that it is not necessary to take into account the actors involved in intermediate or higher levels. However, many studies underline categorically that the internal characteristics of bureaucracy or academia (internal stratification, promotion criteria, interests

16 17 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o linked with the communities) have a lot to do with the decentralization perception and the way in which it is promoted, particularly in Mexico. In this publication, we find a good equilibrium between investigators from the natural and social sciences, mainly biologists, anthropologists and geographers. Another objective, linked to ordinance plans, has to do with the specific ecological characteristics of the Yucatan Peninsula. The almost total absence of open rivers and mountainous areas makes the planners, ecologists and geographers utilize a focus term of “basin”, which has an applied value reduced to the Yucatan Peninsula. Without insisting here in contamination mechanisms linked to the hydrologic and karstic characteristics of the region, it is important to underline that they do not stop having consequences in the mobilization of a population at regional level when we are talking about environmental management. Arguments utilized to make people aware of the close relationships between the interior and coastal zones in terms of contamination- very perceptible when there is a focus on “basin” management- can- not be easily applied in the case of the Yucatan Peninsula. In this publication we see how the natural and social sciences investigators analyze in depth the modals of environmental decentralization in the region at short and long terms. As it is underlined in the introductory chapter, there is no doubt that, aside from the Mexican, Spanish and Canadian investigators directly involved in this publication, investigators from many other countries will find in the Yucatan Peninsula case a rich comparative base that will help them enrich their own experiences, especially in what concerns to environmental decentralization in coastal zones. The ecological, social and cultural diversity of the Peninsula constitutes an experimentation base from which many lessons can be learned and interchange initiatives emphasized, at scientific as well as political-organizational levels with several categories of users affected directly by decentralization processes. Finally, we leave to the reader a total of 16 chapters distributed in the four parts that form this book. The four chapters of this first part offer the experience of recognized authors in the matter with a large experience in Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. The three chapters of the second part illustrate the Mexican and peninsular context with punctuated and emerging themes, such as the proposal of Inter- municipal Coastal Alliances, the Natural Protected Areas and the role of the national institutions and fishing and aquatic sectors. The four chapters of the third part are centered in the peninsular processes where oil, fishing and tourism constitute the dynamic economical sectors of the three states of the peninsula. In this part we introduce a chapter on the experience of a group of investigators from different fields of knowledge, which come from different institutes, universities and states confronting the challenge of working jointly in order to

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generate the ecological and territorial ordinances. ¨The five chapters of the fourth and last part analyze at a more local level, municipal, region, locality, the social- environmental processes, communal intervention, economical activities expansion and local planning strategies. At last, the final conclusion is a reflective effort on decentralization and the enormous challenges it presents in order to land it at municipal level, taking into account the multiple actors that interact from the global to the local in an inter-phase context, the coastal zones.

Bibliography

Aide T. M. and H. R. Grau, 2004. Globalization, migration and Latin American ecosystems. Science, 303 (5692): 1915-1916. Arce Ibarra, A. M., 2007. Assessing livelihoods, aquatic resources and non-monetary values of local natural resources in Mexico’s lowland Maya area. Ph. D. Thesis, Interdisciplinary program, Dalhousie University. Halifax, Canada. Béné C., and Neiland, A. E., 2004. Empowerment reform, yes … but empowerment of whom? Fisheries decentralization reforms in developing countries: a critical assessment with specific reference to poverty reduction. Aquatic Resources, Culture and Develop- ment, 1: 35-49. Breton Y., et al. 2006, Manejo de recursos costeros en el Gran Caribe. Resiliencia, adaptación y diversidad comunitaria., Ediciones Mayol, Colombia, i d r c .Ottawa: http://www.idrc.ca/ es/ev-97371-201-1-d o _t o p i c .html. c f d o , 2006 (Community Fisheries Development Office) Department of Fisheries Cambodia (briefing and personal communication). Christie, P, D. Bradford, R. Garth, B. Gonzalez, M. Hostetler, O. Morales, R. Rigby, B. Sim- monds, E. Tinkam, G. Vega, R. Vernooy, and N. White, 2000. Taking care of what we have. c i d c a and i d r c . 169 p. c i i d , 2007. Social learning for adaptation. Rural Poverty and Environment Program. http:// www.idrc.ca/en/ev-81763-201-1-d o _t o p i c .html. c i i d , 2005. Rural Poverty and Environment Program. http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-81668-201- 1-d o _t o p i c .html Cunningham and Bostock, 2005. Successful fisheries management: issues, case studies and perspectives. Eburon. 240 p. f a o , 2003. Mexico fisheries “country profile” the United Mexican States, Rome . f a o , 2005. Guidelines for designing data collection systems for co-managed fisheries. Part 1: practical guide and Part 2: technical guidelines, f a o Rome Part 1 42 p & Part 2 108p. f a o , 2005. Policy and legislative frameworks for comanagement (Leyes y enfoques legislati- vos para el comanejo). Rome 66 p.

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Fraga J., et al., 2005. Taller peninsular: manejo de base comunitaria de recursos costeros en el Caribe, Mérida, Yucatán. Marschke, M., 2003. From planning to action: what can resources management committees do “on the ground”? Cambodia Development Review, 7(3): 7-10, 12. Marschke, M., and K. Nong, 2003. ‘Adaptive co-management: lessons from coastal Cambo- dia’, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 24(3): 369-83. Nong K., and M. Marschke, 2006. Building Networks of support for community-based coastal resource management in Cambodia. p 151-166. In: S. Tyler (ed.) Communities, livelihoods and natural resources i d r c /i t m g Press 420 p. Ollsen, P., C. Folke, and F. Berkes, 2004. Adaptive co-management for building resilience in social-ecological systems. Environmental Management, 34: 75-90. Palmer, C., and S. Engel. Accepted. ‘For better or for worse? Local impacts from the decentralization of Indonesia’s forest sector.’ forthcoming in World Development, end-2007. Pomeroy R., 2007. Conditions for successful fisheries and coastal resources co-management: lessons learned in Asia, Africa and the wider Caribbean. In: Armitage, Berkes, and Dou- bleday (eds). Adaptive co-management: learning, collaboration and multi level governance. u b c Press. Ratner, B., 2006. Community management by decree? Lessons from Cambodia’s fisheries reform. Policy Review: Society and Natural Resources, 19:79-86. Ribot J. C., et al., 2006. Waiting for democracy: the politics of choice in natural resource decentralization, World Resource Institute, Washington D.C. Seixas, C. S., and B. Davy, 2008. Self-organization in integrated conservation and development initiatives. http://www.thecommonsjournal.org/index.php/ijc/article/viewFile/2420 Seixas, C. S., B. Davy, and W. Leppan. Lessons learned on community-based conservation and development from the 2004 Equator Prize finalists. Canadian Journal of Develop- ment Studies (in press). s e m a r n a t , 2006. Regional action program for the control of land-based sources of marine pollution in the Yucatan Peninsula, Gobierno de México, México, D.F. Smith, A. H., and R. Walters, 1991. Co-management of the white sea urchin resource in St. Lucia. Paper presented at the i d r c Workshop on Common Property Resources, Winnipeg, Canada, September 1991. c a n a r i Communication No. 38:12 pp. Lutz, W. L. Prieto, and W Sanderson, (eds.), 2000. Population, development and environment on the Yucatan Peninsula. i i a s a 257 p. Wilder M., and P.R. Lankao, 2006. Paradoxes of decentralization: water reform and social implications in Mexico. World Development, 34(11): 1977-1995.

20 Part I

Environmental management and decentralization: An analytical, institutional and geographical focus Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

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Decentralization at world level: Tendencies and debates

Yvan Breton and Agnes Blais

Decentralization: a semantic puzzle

s is the case of many terms linked to social development and transformation, decentralization has been the object of many discussions, analysis and Ainterventions at world level during the last years. It now constitutes the main base of discourses and thoughts about the planet’s future. Even though it has a long history and is formed by diversified components, its reappearance in a globalization and privatization context gives it an apparently new significance that puts emphasis in the need to promote a greater participation of civil society in the decision making and State management plans. In this introduction to the theme we underline the diffuse character and multiple meanings of the term decentralization, in order to underline the need to utilize more critical semantic focuses in order to better understand its components and consequences. This is one of the central objectives of this publication, mainly in what refers to the actual decentralization process in the management of coastal resources in Mexico. The first point that must be underlined is that the political transformations that have characterized the evolution of the civil society in recent decades are closely linked with the reappearance of terms such as governance, democratization, co-man-

22 23 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o agement, transversally, citizens’ participation, etc., utilized as mobilization spring- boards for the national government and local towns. Frequently inserted in the official discourses and action plans of organizations and international agencies, these terms are rarely the object of strong technical questioning. The fact that they come from, and are promoted by institutions that have a very visible role at world level, gives them automatically an official and legitimate status that facilitates their diffusion in the national bureaucracies and, indirectly, in the institutions of civil society. Acquiring in a progressive manner a stronger visibility, they are frequently defined as new mobilization means of several actors in their search of a better social and economical equity. However, proceeding in this way, it can be forgotten that, being a “social construction” characterized by a great malleability, the term decentralization can refer to an uncountable series of concrete contexts and partial efforts in which its supposed innovative character hide its previous manifestations and its rich historical trajectory. This constitutes the first element on which attention is called: at world level, decentralization is not a totally new phenomenon. In many pre-capitalist societies and for long periods, decentralization has been the main governance mechanism or political organization. This means that questioning the pertinence of decentralization as political orientations, many lessons can be learned from the past and not only utilize the term in an indifferent and apparently neutral manner, as frequently is the case. The second attention point corresponds to the historical routes, according to which, decentralization took form in much diversified demographic, cultural and economical contexts that influenced its vitality as governance mechanism. If on one hand the population increase in old China or in Japan during the Middle Ages gave way to certain decentralization forms, on the other, even with a state and class structure during the classic period, the Mayan civilization was supported for a long time in a decentralized political organization. Even though different to a certain point, the prevailing context at world level is still influence by various factors that explain the extremely diversified forms of decentralization. A third point to emphasize is that decentralization and centralization should not be conceived as opposing terms in a dialectic sense, that is, as if one were the negation of the other. None can be perceived in an absolute manner or univocal, but as parts of a continuous whose poles cannot be fully actualized in order to maintain all kinds of social organization. The central question is then to know what conditions and particular contexts its elasticity can vary and what degree of elasticity can be reached. Once this question is solved, the problem remains on how can decentralization be promoted in a country or national administration in intervention sectors character-

24 25 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

ized by variable elements. For example, the coastal zones at world level maintain specific characteristics different to the central continental zones in terms of natural resources and users, which should be taken into account in order to consolidate an efficient and successful decentralization management. This publication seeks to underline the main challenges prevailing in this sense in the Mexican context and tries to elucidate which are the advantages and disadvantages of decentralization.

General focus for decentralization

At world scale the decentralization policies retake force by the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s. It is a term linked to development and to the discourse that orientates the State towards economical growth, decentralization came to be one of the major orientations of international agencies (World Bank, o c d e , f a o , u s a i d , c i d a , w r i ….). The first objective was centered in promoting a defined and sustainable development, which is; establish projects that will remain one the financial and technical supports from the international agencies are finished and that they take into account the needs of the local population. The second objective consisted on orienting the developing countries towards real governance according to the liberal democracy model. The agencies define decentralization as the transference of powers and responsibilities of public offices from a central administration to subordinate or almost autonomous governmental organizations or to the private sector. World Bank, for example, considers this orientation as a reorganization of the financial, administrative and service systems, and even when it insists on the need of a global decentralization focus, it sub-divides it in three types: political, administrative and financial (World Bank, 2007). The political decentralization implies giving more decision power to the citizens or their representatives. It generally mean a fortification of the federate state or municipalities, in a way that local administrations can perform, in an effective manner their decentralized administrative functions for which they should count with enough income – either from local sources (taxes) or central government money transfers - , as well as being capable of making decisions on expenditures. The administrative decentralization has the objective of redistributing authority and responsibility of the financial resources to other governmental offices in a way that they may offer public services. It is subdivided in the types: de-concentration, power delegation and devolution. In the de-concentration, considered as the weakest form, the central government transfers responsibilities to regional or local offices, sometimes displac- ing employees and others giving new responsibilities to such employees, and even

24 25 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o though it allows to general closer services to the citizens, it maintain a hierarchical relationship between the central offices and the local field and does not augment the citizens’ participation in the management of resources or governmental decisions. The power delegation is a more advanced way of decentralization in the sense that central governments transfer the decision making and administrative processes to semi-autonomous organizations, which finally have to inform them on their actions. Lastly, in the devolution of power, the governments turn over responsibilities and decision powers to local, almost autonomous, administrative units with the municipality status; generally, the devolution is performed through transference of responsibilities to provide services to the municipalities that elect their mayors or councils, charge their own taxes and can make decision on their investments. In brief, decentralization seeks in a simultaneous manner a greater citizen’s participation in the economical, political and social activities of the countries and the easement of the states’ budget in order to improve their public policies. Decentral- ization is presented as conciliation between the political- that is, the stimulus of participative democracy and the respect to the diversity in the communities- and the economical through a more efficient negotiation. For example, many of the u s a i d programs seek to promote local democracy, governmental efficiency and transparency (World Resource Institute, 2002-2004). As is the case on many concepts developed by international agencies in the last decades and frequently defined as new solutions to old problems, the term decentralization has been adopted and utilized by national bureaucracies to establish firmer relations with the citizens. It is well illustrated in the Peace Declaration on decentralization and the fortification of regional and municipal administrations and the participation of civil society, adopted in 2001 by the American States Organization (o e a ). One of the most concrete results of this initiative has been the creation of an inter-American net to spread information on different national decentralization programs. However, the model to which this declaration refers to is so global that decentralization can loose its significance facing the multiple contexts.

Academic debates on decentralization

Even though some studies on decentralization are frequently originated in initiatives of the great international agencies that see it as a global policy that every country should adopt, there are also other that constitute critical contributions of investigators linked to investigation, governmental or university centers (Agrawal and Gupta, 2005; Baguenard, 2004; Borgetto, 2005; Diaz Cayero, l995; Dubresson and Fauré,

26 27 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

2005, Jounard, 2005; Mendoza, 2000; Ribot, 2004). All this contributions underline, to a certain point, the debate between the equalitarian point and founder of the State-nation and the principle of liberty that promotes the autonomy of local collectives and the diversity. In other terms, they ask the important question: up to what point decentralization can be a source of revitalization of democracy. In the case of Mexico, Diaz-Cayeron indicates for example: “…… the greatest pluralism existing now, associated to the lesser weight of a unique party system, generated many demands from the periphery to the center (and) there is now a growing political challenge to identify a federal arrangement that will allow diminish the regional inequalities” (2004:2). In general the decentralization policy is supported on two declarations that Michel Autes (2205) resumes: To govern in a closer manner is more democratic and administer in a closer manner is more efficient. It is proximity that becomes a source of legitimacy between democratization, efficiency and proximity. What type of proximity? A closer power is more democratic? It can be more or less coercive or finally more controlling (we can think here about the totalitarian regimes), on the contrary, a power that responds in an adequate manner to the needs of the citizens and in order to obtain this it is not fragmented, can sometimes be democratic. Decentralization also touches the role of the intermediate bodies, that is, on one hand the relationships that should exist between the State and the individuals, and on the other between the government and civil society. There is frequently certain confusion between decentralization and “de-ruling”. A very strong decentralization can generate a social atomization favorable to the intrusion of the private sector at the expense of the local collectives. “The neo-liberal dominant economical paradigm, modifying the national norms of the productive systems and re-articulate them in a very selective and differentiated manner, has the tendency to join the local and global scales of interchange. In a simultaneous way, the neo-liberal focuses that dominate the policies of the international institutions have orientated them towards the execution of structural adjustment programs and re-ordinance of administrative powers in benefit of the infra- national public collectives” (Dubresson and Fauré, 2005:140). When bringing the political power closer to the citizens, decentralization gives a new dynamism to participative democracy. It can legitimize a political power that otherwise wouldn’t be only with the universal vote. In fact, with globalization and world influence, in the pessimistic declarations on market laws that dominate politics and finally, the anonymous character of power, the political appears to be very far from the citizen. There is a need of a re-vitalization of the political as a search for renovated action and cooperation between human beings.

Many authors privilege a prudent and moderate vision of decentralization. They insist in the fact that decentralization is not a value in itself but a simple way to promote democracy (Borgetto, 2005; Mendoza, 2000). Centralization and decentralization should be seen as dynamic processes of union and disunion, according to the case, and search of recognition and protection. Taking into account the decentralization challenges that we have just explored, especially when trying to reconcile the liberty of the local communities on one hand, and on the other equity and state regulation in its favor, decentralization can be a consolidation springboard of the level of life of the collectives and an impediment to the destruction of their subsistence means and their culture. In Mexico, from the beginnings of the 90s the decentralization theme has called the attention of several investigators (Courchene, Diaz-Cayeros and Webb, 2000; Diaz –Cayeros, 2995, 2004; Diaz-Cayeros and Magaloni, 2001; Guevara Sangines, 2005; Hernandez Chavez, 1996; Mendoza, 2000; Melin and Calverie, 2005; Rodri- guez Solorzano, 1997 and 2007; Tamayo Flores, 2001; Wilder and Romero Lankao, 2006). After the 1910 Mexican Revolution that put an end to a dictatorship of almost 30 years and generated a dispersion of the population the interior of national territory, the constitution of a stable State-nation gave way to a strong centralization of power and the repression of regional initiatives and local leaders. In 1917, Mexico becomes a centralized regime dressed up as a federal regime. Compared to the other Latin American countries, decentralization in Mexico is a process that started in a slow manner (Mendoza, 2000). It initiated during the 80’s in a weak and non efficient manner due the presence of a hegemonic party and lack of continuity in the adopted policies. The Revolutionary Institutional Party (p r i ) imposed during more than 60 years a centralized and corporative regime. The efforts to fortify the municipal power and the decentralization of national planning began first with president Miguel de la Madrid (1983-87), and were stopped by the actions of the government of Salinas de Gortari (1987-93), with the weakening of power of the regional states and municipalities to restore direct association with the civil population. Decen- tralization was integrated at that moment in the p r o n a s o l program oriented towards fighting poverty. It was during the six years of Ernesto Zedillo (1993-2000) that the government promoted a new federalism that looked to define the relations between the central state, the states and the local communities especially in the health, education and financial transference fields (Melin and Clverie, 2005:114-115). As well, since 1990 the decentralization dynamics stopped depending solely from the center. The local governments take over several initiatives in collaboration with several actors such as the ONGs and members of new political parties. The context of democratic opening favored the decentralization, but mainly in the installation of

28 29 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

the programs, not in their elaboration. Several authors ask if it is possible to talk about a real decentralization when the base actors do not have great decision power (Borgettoe, 2005; Joumard, 2005; Mendoza, 2000); while others (Nadal, 2006) fear that decentralization, with the model recently adopted by the Mexican Senate, will go against the common interests of the country by creating a legal vacuum that could diminish the government’s autonomy facing the market and free interchange. In Mexico the history of decentralization illustrates the government’s adoption of the model proposed by the international agencies, some times influenced by the pressure of the f m i and World Bank on the need to heal the public finances and promote privatization. But the economical situation of the country underlines the need to ponder the real impacts of decentralization on the reduction of poverty, the protection of the means of sustenance in the communities and the growth of inequalities (Joumard, 2005). In its last report, the o c d e mentions that since three years ago Mex- ico has registered an economical growth, but underlines that it has not reduced poverty nor increased the quality of life of the population (Denis, 2005). With 31 states, 2,397 municipalities and a little more than 103 million inhabitants (i n e g i , 2006), decentralization in Mexico has its greatest obstacle in the great disparities between the regions (Preciado Coronado et al., 2003). We can see then that in Mexico, like in other countries, decentralization continues to generate several debates in which the investigation efforts are supported on focuses that sometimes are contradictory.

Specifics of decentralization in coastal zones

We have seen that the decentralization processes can be supported by variable modals according to the intervention sectors in which they are applied and can be linked to the political, administrative or financial spheres. However, there is still much to be discussed and learned about the way in which the characteristics of certain intervention zones can influence on the initial implementation mechanisms. In the following lines we wish to analyze critically some decentralization consolidation elements in coastal zones, particularly in the Yucatan Peninsula. One of the first elements is constituted by the fact that the marine zones form almost 80% of the world’s surface. The presence of the nation-States in the management of the sea – based on the Grotius theorem, formulated in the x v i i century that defined the marine zones and free access zones – was reduced for a great time. With the exception of restricted national marine territories and of some conferred domains in certain coastal areas, the marine zones were not object of direct appropriation mechanisms by States or individuals until the consolidation of maritime national-

28 29 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o isms and exclusive economical zones in the 70’s. Until that historical moment there were no important construction places of social relations based on the property and consequently it did not generate questionings on the possibility of the existence of collective rights in certain areas, the marine zones quickly became, after the access to sea modifications, bases for the consolidation of power of the States. In many countries this process meant a significant extension of its territory and modified the parameters of its national security. In other words, since some decades ago, the marine zones have given way to important centralization of power initiatives on behalf of the States and, with the globalization expansion and free market, its management is not free of consequences in the entirety of processes linked to decentralization. Three examples could be sufficient to illustrate this situation. The first refers to the management of fishing resources. A greater control of the State of the marine zones – phenomenon that took place simultaneously with the expansion of industrial fishing – generated an important centralization in many fishing administrations. The marine resources became a national property, managed by bureaucracies that with their interventions denied the existence of local or daily rights. The shy implant of co-management fishing plans in many countries, underlines the difficulties of decentralization in this field. The fishing section has been one of the most associated themes in the discussion on the “tragedy of the commons” and to co-management issued in the last two decades (Valdimarsson, 2003; Satria, 2004; Hecht et al., 2004: Wilson, 2006: Vivero et al., 1997). Recently, there have been many debates on the validity of the “communal management of the natural resources” focus and the need to promoted new governance forms (Tyler, 2006; Breton et al., 2006; Kishore and Ramsudar, 2006; Rivera Arriaga et al., 2004). Decentralization in coastal zones, due to the diversity of fishing activities and the ecosystems where it takes place, represents an enormous challenge that touches directly the re-definition of the relations between the central government and the coastal communities. Another example refers to the increasing importance of off-shore oil in the marine zones. Due to the income from this activity in many countries, the State generally supervises its development and gives it priority over other economical sectors where the local producers are numerous. The Mexican case and in particular the Yucatan Peninsula illustrates a situation where the decentralization limits are easily identifiable. Oil is a national resource; its exploitation requires a great amount of capital and is closely linked to international markets. It is difficult then for the states or municipalities in which the oil industry is developed to intervene strongly in its management, if anything they can try to negotiate some financial benefits within an asymmetric power structure.

30 31 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

We can also mention that frequently the role of the central governments has been important in the management of marine zones according to the observations of international agencies for the establishment of all types of natural protected coastal and marine zones. But frequently, at least in the initial stages, the local users were conceived simply as independent variables. Now, their insertion into these new administrative units is supported on more participative focuses but, due to the initially adopted focuses, the efforts on retro-active consul still prevail over efficient mechanisms of collaboration between the involved parties. We finally underline that with the increasing presence of international tourism, the coastal and marine lines are places where several categories of users are found, with a highly differentiated economical and political power. Generally, this situation is accented by the expansion of the construction sector and a migration increase that substantially modify the social relations within the communities. When this type of tourism is accompanied by a strong privatization tendency, as is the case of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, and internal diversification is produced in which decentralization cannot be easily promoted due to the multiple interests and challenges in the local managements. A real decentralization may mean high transaction costs that many administrations or communities cannot afford to sustain in an effective manner. The prior comments seek to underline how, at general levels as well as individual levels, decentralization is a complex process that implies multiple historical, economical and social aspects of a country and changes broadness and direction according to the objectives followed by the promoters, always influenced by diverse paradigms aroused by the great international agencies. The following contributions will emphasize the components and consequences in the Mexican context, showing how more frequent interchanges between institution officials of different levels (federal, state, municipal) and investigators belonging to official institutions, universities or o n g ´s, could be very useful in promoting a decentralization that responds in an adequate manner the population’s demands.

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34 Agenda 21 and decentralization in México

Rafael Robles de Benito, Julia Carabias Lillo and Alfredo Arellano Guillermo

Introduction

he discussion around the decentralization processes in relation to responsibilities, faculties and attributions of the federal governments is not particu- Tlarly new to our country. It is a frequent theme in the board meetings of the government offices, in the halls and rooms of Congress and also in some academic gossip. However, in the eyes of many of the actors that participate in this discussion the theme is not finished and antagonist and diverse visions persist that go from those who consider the Mexican state as an extreme centralized and central system to those that fight for a greater federal control of the decisions on public policies that could be considered of national interest (and of course change according to the agendas built by each administration). In this sense, to reason around the meaning, implications (political, economical, social and environmental) and the possible instrumentation means of some national decentralization process is not, in any way a useless discussion. It is necessary to determine in what matters is convenient to the Mexican state to decentralize faculties and attributions, establish process quotas that will guarantee the persistence of

35 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o the federal pact and the viability of a national policy and public policies coherent and congruent; and examine strategic proposals that will allow the operation of a decentralization process that will not compromise the success of the available political instruments and admits at the same time, the construction and operation of new instruments to confront new problems and satisfy the needs of a society increasingly complex. The most renowned students of environmental policies in our country like Dr. Raul Brañes – to mention only the one who was the pioneer in Mexican environmental law-, have shown an acute interest in analyzing the decentralization role in the construction of a robust environmental negotiation. For example, in the year 2000 Brañes wrote: “…. The environmental problem has a main regional nature and as such must be boarded by the environmental negotiation; consequently, the regional problem should be confronted with specific policies that consider the particularities of each ecosystem. These policies can only be designed and applied in a correct manner within the respective regional context, which is not opposed to the existence of a national environmental policy, which by the way, is necessary, but inefficient when it is not accompanied by specific policies for each region”. Further on he mentions: “… it is an unquestionable principle in environmental negotiation that it is performed with a high degree of decentralization, as it is considered that the utilization of the local capacities is one of the indispensable requirements for an adequate environmental negotiation. With all, the need for an integral and integrated environmental management – that is, referring to all its elements and from a joint perspective-, determines that it should all count with certain centralization. Consequently, the problem is to adequately harmonize the decentralization and centralization requirements of the environmental negotiation, in such a way that it can obtain a necessary global level, without falling into generalities and abstrac- tions that characterize the environmental management, which can only be avoided through a decentralized system”. As much as the States are given the faculties (and is supposed as well the technical, economical, political and social capacities) to define their own development modals, they can detonate the real regional sustainable development, congruent to the national standards. This also allows constructing a new relationship between State and society, in which the social group acquires a greater leadership. The decentralization of the environmental attributions that the federation has towards the states of the Republic answer to greater participation demand (and a more informed participation) of the local actors and is congruent with the principle “think globally and act locally” that has inspired the environmental reflection and action since the 60’s decade.

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Even though the central matter of this essay is the Mexican environmental policy –among other things, analyzed from the perspective of the commitments and suggestions emitted within the frame of Agenda x x i -, an appropriate point to initiate the discussion about decentralization would be its relation with the democratic processes, the federal pact and the sovereignty character that the Political Constitution of the Mexican United States gives to states and municipalities. From there we will formulate a brief analysis of the most important instruments of environmental policies that have been constructed in Mexico through the most recent decade and finally we will sketch a proposal to contribute in defining a viable decentralization strategy of the national environmental policy, that will not compromise the search of sustainable ways of development, nor risk natural resources and environmental services, which healthy management and function facing them on a territorial appreciation base, different from the political division of states and municipalities and in view of public interest, even above land property, conceived as an unrestrictive and indiscriminative access to the available resources. It is necessary to indicate that for a better understanding of this analysis we will be including the variables or modals of decentralization that attend to the intra-institutional character known as the administrative de-concentration, as well as to the inter-institutional through coercive or cooperative decentralization, and the participative in which the communities and civil society organisms are involved. It is also important to establish a premise that will be conducive to execution: in spite of the benefits applauded in the discourses about decentralization, this is not always the most indicated way to conduct in an orderly and democratic way the affairs pertinent to the government. It is true that it should be an important element for the construction of a genuinely democratic national political life. But, we are dealing with a process that pretends that the federal government dispossesses itself of faculties and attributions that have been given to it in so many mandates by the Mexican State. Decentralization cannot be a simple generous gift from the Executive, nor the mechanical answer to the demands from the local governments (or the communities of the governed, or the political parties in power or in opposition). By force it has to emerge from a careful evaluation of the matters and the degree that limits decentralization (that is, the Federal Executive will have to reserve the faculty of intervening in the decentralized matters to states and municipalities when it considers that the attention to these matters has stopped being satisfactory). When dealing with processes of environmental management, all decision must be founded in the fact that the ecosystems included within the territorial limits of the nation do not necessarily coincide with the artificial boundaries of our politi-

36 37 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o cal division: the landscapes, as well as the distribution of the organisms that form part of the proverbial Mexican mega-diversity, and the environmental processes and services that constitute the fundamental bases of national life, happen in function of conditions and factors very different from those determined by the political and administrative forms of territorial distribution. This affirmation will be one of the main bases of our discussion. In the following paragraphs we give some ideas about the relation between decentralization and democratic life.

Decentralization, sovereignty and fortification of democracy

Up to a few years – we could say the last five years of the last century- the regime in our country was presidential and virtually of one party. The local Executives, independently of the supposed sovereignty given by the Constitution to the states and municipalities, were for all practical effects, subordinated to the chief of the Federal Executive, that held as well very broad powers: chief of government, chief of State, “born leader” of the party in power (p r i Institutional Revolutionary Party), also controlled Congress and Senate, where p r i held the majority, and faced a weak opposition from the other parties, that up to the last years of the x x century were relatively small and with little aspirations from the governed. Of course, the Federal Executive also subordinated the Judicial Power, in a way that the magistrates’ work in the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation would respond without any objections to the presidential agenda. To talk about decentralization in this context was frankly useless: the power was held by the President, with the sometimes obscure participation of his closest collaborators; the increases or decreases of the budgets as well as the capacities for political action of the governors and mayors responded to a type of punishment or reward mechanism related to the fulfillment or lack of political obedience and a supposed loyalty to the dominating political institute and its maximum leader. In the administration headed by Carlos Salinas de Gortari thing began to change and, in many of the national political spheres an opening to more democratic ways of performance started. During this interval some very important decentralization exercises took place, like in the case of the education and health sectors, which became a financial burden to the states that in real terms increased their dependency of the federal power.

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Further on, with Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León at the head of the federal government with a country determined to carry on what was to be a robust and thriving electoral reform, a scenario was created in which the government of the Republic gave some shy steps towards the decentralization of the public policy instruments, additional to those already mentioned, with different degrees of success or frustra- tion. The application of the new General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Protec- tion to the Environment (l g e e p a ) and its instruments, the increasing environmental deterioration; the disperse processes related to the natural resources management (processes that were scattered among diverse agencies with no ties between them) and its divorce from the environmental themes; the influence of the international debate, first around the Report of the Brundtland Commission “Our Common Fu- ture”, where the term of sustainable development is coined and is bonded to the poverty themes, and immediately after, around the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992; and the increasing social mobilization around the environmental themes, were all conditions that constituted the context of the following Mexican institutional arrangement for the environment. In 1992 the Ecological National Institute and the Federal Court for the Protec- tion of the Environment were created as part of the Ministry of Social Development. The first one to norm and define the national environmental policy and the second to supervise the application of the law. Among the intentions of this new institution arrangement the following should be emphasized: • Separate the action of ruling and executing programs from the action of applying the law. • Raise in rank the environmental theme. • Link the environmental theme with those of development and poverty. If the environmental theme obtained more attention from the presidential agenda by the importance that the President of the Republic, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, gave to s e d e s o l , it al coincided with very difficult times for the federal government: those of commercial opening and de-regulation; the thinning out of the State and the financial health; the massive personnel reduction and the cancellation or organisms and public programs; the World Bank and International Monetary Fund commendations on the benefits of decentralization; the affirmation of political plurality, the liberation of public opinion and the explosion of independent political and civil organizations. In this context, the creation of a new institution, with new functions and responsibilities and without being able to fortify its internal capacities, economical, human and material resources, became very difficult and limited.

Even though the tendency – at least in the discourses terms – was directed towards the acknowledgement and consolidation of the local governments, the truth is that the decentralization rehearsals were according to the disposition of the federal government offices, which showed different proclivities towards the possibility of leaving in the hands of the state or municipal administrations faculties and attributions that are usually perceived as spaces for the exercise of power, more than mechanisms to provide services to the community of the governed. A recent example of this condition is present in the nominated “Integral Sustain- able Coastal Administration” (a c i s )1. The arguments expressed to delay, limit or stop decentralization have encompassed, from the supposed need to generate adequate sufficient structures and technical equipment in the local government offices before transferring functions they are not ready to perform, to the affirmation that a determined matter is of national interest and therefore should be administered through the central government. Even though sometimes these affirmations are truthful, they are not so for all states or municipalities or for all sectors or political instruments. It does not seem possible then, at least at first sight, to propose a strategy and a homogenous mechanic to advance in what could result in an incontrovertible democratic advancement. It is necessary to make clear, when we speak about decentralization, we are not talking of de-concentration; neither are we talking about measures such as the one taken more than a decade ago by the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (i n e g i ) when it transferred its central offices to the city of Aguascalientes, or like the one that took the see of the National Forestry Commission (c o n a f o r ) to the city of Guadalajara: in reality, these offices are still implementing policies na- tionwide in a vertical manner, and frequently disregarding the commendations of the local governments, and maybe, many of their actions should continue to have that character. It is neither about fulfilling decentralization processes like those performed in the education and health sectors that have transferred a big share of the instrumentation costs of the policies dictated from the federal offices that head those sectors, which has generated political tensions between the federal and state governments. A harmonized decentralization that includes the transfer of financial resources and fiscal collection mechanisms can well be a source of fortification of the national democratic life and it may also help contribute to a more fair distribution of the

1 The first ACIS was established by the government of the state of Quintana Roo and the municipality of Cozumel in 2006, through the constitution of an Anonymous Society of Variable Capital with 51% of the shares and 49% private investment.

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available resources. But, as it has been allowed to see in the previous paragraphs, this means a pondered analysis of the local capacities and the repercussions that each matter to decentralize may have from the point of view of national security or the solidity of the federal pact. It must, therefore, determine what processes transcend the artificial boundaries that history and politics have established between the states that form the federation and, also between the municipalities that form each one of the states. And also it must be determined of which processes the local authorities can take care of, without compromising the environmental sustainability or the development aspirations of the governed, that is, care must be taken to avoid compromising the survival of biotic resources or environmental services that depend on the continuity of environmental conditions that overflow the state or municipal limits, in order to fortify local sovereignty and generate conditions for the local residents’ participation in the decision making. It may be that the most appropriate way to approximate this type of decentralization is to go through the establishment (and strengthening, in case they already exist) of spaces to generate local consensus, such as has been pretended to generate in the constitution of the Municipal Councils of Sustainable Rural Development (c m d r s ), that has been promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Husbandry, Fishing and Feeding (s a g a r p a ), and is founded in the General Law of Sustainable Rural De- velopment.2 These organisms should have the sufficient convoking capacity – and the necessary negotiation strength- to make the government offices at state level and the Federal Executive’s representations in the states go through the consensus generated in the councils, in order to formulate the Annual Operative Programs (p o a ) and determine the destination of the available resources to instrument the public policies under their command. A way through which the c m d r s can be fortified could well be the coordination with the Consulting Councils for Sustainable Development (c c d s ), (that will provide a nexus with the generating centers in the region, the non governmental institutions and the main organisms of the social and private sectors). Another important way, which would give the councils the legitimacy of the backing of social bases – or, of the local residents in general-, entails the constitution of committees of users of local

2 It has called our attention the fact that it was precisely SAGARPA the government office who headed this initiative. In our judgment, this is one more of the deterioration symptoms suffered by the Mexican environmental policy throughout these six years, and an unavoidable result of a series of decisions that led to the virtual dismantling of the federal agencies responsible of the national environmental management.

40 41 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o resources, such as proposed by Dr. Eduardo Batlori Sampedro, Department of Hu- man Ecology, Investigation Center and Advanced Studies (c i n v e s t a v ) Merida Unit, and has been tried in a incipient and tentative but stimulant manner in the localities of Chabihau and San Crisanto in the Yucatan coast.

Some legal considerations

The advances in Mexican environmental legislation, that with the reforms to the Federal Law for Environmental Protection (1982) begins to separate from the old vision oriented to deal preferably with matters related with environmental pollution and the later issuance of the new General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (l g e e p a ), have been generating a judicial attitude in which decentralization appears with a relevant role. This Law impacted in a broader and more integrated vision of the environmental themes, and in new institutional arrangements at central level and in the states of the Republic. All the states emitted their state laws in a short period of time. Even though this constituted a very significant advance, it did not comply with what was proposed by Dr. Raul Brañes, prominent studious of Mexican environmental law and co-author of the initiative of the l g e e p a , when advising: “environmental legislation should be basically understood as a local legislation that, within the frames established by the federal legislation, allows the design and application of policies that take into account the variety of eco-systems of each region and establishes an also local system for environmental management.” In reality, the state laws were made to image and semblance of the l g e e p a , in the way of more or less mechanical reproductions in which the points that the general law reserves to the federal government were omitted and, very little was elaborated in relation to matters attributed to the local governments. In the decentralization chapter of the l g e e p a Dr. Raul Brañes thought is recognized in relation to the need of public participation and decentralization in order to obtain greater effectiveness and efficiency in the environmental management. Even though this was an advance, unfortunately it did not convert into the strengthening of environmental management at state level as was pretended; there wasn’t enough political will from the federal government, or from the local governments, nor the economical resources, or the trained professionals to do it. When in 1995 the federal government’s institutional arrangement for the attention of the national environmental problems was modified again, it was necessary

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to adequate the l g e e p a to the new sustainability conditions. That same year a consultation process began and a reform proposal was made, which was submitted to the Congress of the Union. After several stumps and displeasures the reforms were finally unanimously approved on December 13, 1996, with the modification of 161 articles of the 194 original ones, 60 additions and 20 derogations. The modification to thel g e e p a was oriented towards changing the distribution of competence in environmental matters between the three government orders (a pending theme in Brañes agenda since the l g e e p a of 1987). This orientation was made clear since the publication of the Law in the Official Newspaper of the Federation, especially where it is established that this ordinance should “…broaden the margins of social participation in environmental management, fundamentally in the decision making, access to environmental information, as well as the right to exercise actions to object the acts of the authority (….) fortify and enrich the instruments of politics in the matter, in order that they effectively fulfill their function; reduce the authority’s discretional margins in order to amplify the citizens security in environmental matters; and incorporate fundamental concepts such as sustainability and bio-diversity ….” (d o f , 1996). As has been said in previous paragraphs, until 1987 the Mexican environmental management was predominantly centralized. It wasn’t until the reform of the constitutional article 73 and the publishing of the l g e e p a that bases were set for decentralization. Later, these precepts were reinforced with the 1996 reforms to the l g e e p a when “the system of competence was determined with better preciseness, the ones corresponding to the states and municipalities were broadened and the recently transcribed constitutional dispositions were developed to establish a gradual system of transference of faculties in favor of the state and municipal governments from the Federation” (Brañes, 2000). The judicial frame that supports decentralization is found in the Constitution as well as in the l g e e p a . In the Constitution, article 73 empowers the Congress of the Union to distribute environmental matters in the three levels of government, in the way determined by Congress; article 124 establishes that the faculties that are not expressly given to the federation, are reserved to the states; and article 116 broadens the possibilities of decentralization through agreement mechanisms between the federation and the states (see table 1). In that concerning the l g e e p a , decentralization is founded in the 12 articles of Chapter II (article 4 to 14 bis). Article 11 complements the decentralization mechanisms, allowing the Federal Executive to make coordination agreements with the states or the Federal District for the execution of functions reserved to the federation.

Table 1. Articles of the Political Constitution of the Mexican United. States that support decentralization in environmental matters. Article 73 fraction XXIX-G. It empowers the Congress of the Union to “make laws that establish the concurrence of the Federal Government, the States and municipal governments in the realm of their respective competence, in matters of environmental protection and the preservation and restoration of ecological equilibrium. Article 124 “The faculties that are not expressly given to the federal officials by this Constitution are understood as reserved to the States”. Article 116 fraction VII “The Federation and the States, in terms of Law, could convene the assumption by any of these of the exercise of their function, the execution and operation of works and public services when the economical and social development requires it.

Among the reasons that make indubitable the affirmation that decentralization offers great advantages for an adequate environmental management, the following can be pointed out: • It foments the planning of regional policies and actions according to the particular conditions of each place, new inter-institutional relation schemes, financing mechanisms for the sustainable development of the natural resources. • It allows consolidation of democracy in as much as the local authorities and citizens establish adequate participation and decision making mechanisms. • The management can be more efficient by having direct information and the authorities can respond faster and with greater flexibility to the social demands preventing and solving conflicts. • There are greater possibilities of public scrutiny to the local authorities for account rendering and transparency in the use of resources. • It favors consensus and application of the management instruments. Decentralization has not been easy in the country and it has not been able to show the expected strength since the publishing of the l g e e p a in 1987. It is to be remembered that the birth of environmental management and its consolidation coincided with national policies adverse to the emergence of new institutions with broad attributions. The tendency towards the thinning of the State – which commenced in the 60’s – the recurring economical crisis, the need to clean the public finances and the loss of credibility from the society towards the government, were impediments for the federal environmental institutions to count with the sufficient economical and human resources to consolidate and perform their functions thoroughly.

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In the almost two decades of the decentralization expectations were generated that, however, have not been fulfilled, and disappointment and disinterest are beginning to be felt around the theme. The local governments’ lack, in general, the necessary capacities to assume new functions and the majority have not consolidated the necessary institutional arrangements, nor assigned sufficient local economical resources. The institutions responsible of environmental matters in the states are still, in general, of second and third levels. It is common that local officials resist increasing their work load, which combines fatally with the fact that federal officials resist to advance in the execution of decentralization programs, as they see them as a loss of power. As well, the actual advance in the construction of national democracy still does not guarantee the conduction of public politics by the organized society – indispensable condition in order to perform a healthy decentralization project -, which tends to generate uncertainty and conflict risks. Sufficient plural spaces have not been created for social participation in decision making and search of consensus, and there are no mechanisms for public scrutiny neither of local authorities, nor of prevention and solving of conflicts. On the other hand, it happens that participation instances – that usually were badly established, and lack real representation of local forces and clear functioning rules – “kidnap” the local authorities. It is very common that such authorities do not accept responsibility in environmental matter in order to avoid conflicts. The pressure held, many times, by groups of local economical interest paralyzes the authority and it evades responsibility. The insufficiency of economical resources that the federation is in condition of transferring, together with the environmental attributions, to the states, complicates the scenario and makes the governors reject decentralization. A great risk that goes with decentralization when it is not performed with the necessary care and guarantees that functions can be performed according to the law is that the decentralized resources become political and economical booty. There are many examples of this situation in forestry and fishing matters as well as federal maritime/land zones, to mention some of the natural resources. Even though the law foresees that when there is lack of compliance the decentralization agreements can be reverted, the truth is that the political conflict it arises makes such reversion not viable. There are no precedents of functions that have been reverted once the federation has passed them to the states, even in the cases in which environmental deterioration has been proven and has been demonstrated that the state executive has not assumed the responsibility of the new function.

Territory and regionalization

As was written in the introductory part of this chapter, the reflection on how decentralization cannot be complete without a discussion around the conception of what territory is and what it implies adopting different forms of regionalizing. Establish- ing a clear conception of what means to accomplish a negotiation capable of ac- counting the responsibility of the State to ensure the national natural wealth, entails to be in condition to determine which precisely is such wealth, what is its magnitude and where their diverse components are found. This has to necessarily do with the need to respond with greater rigor and greater depth the classical questions that Krebs attributed to ecology since 1972: Where are the organisms found how many are there in a determined place and why are they there? 3 But also, if it is understood that management of natural wealth is not done in a vacuum, but having in mind the satisfaction of the welfare needs of the national society and with the intention of guaranteeing that this satisfaction becomes sustainable, then these questions should be answered in terms of distribution of human population, their activities and the demands that such activities put on the natural resources and environmental services. From this point of view and with the desire to contribute to the integrity – and, in a certain sense, transversally – of environmental management, it requires building a conception of territory and regionalization that becomes common language to the different actors involved in these chores. Throughout the history of the three or four decades of environmental management in Mexico, the different agencies involved in it have proposed diverse patterns of regionalization arising from various concepts of territory, in which they have sustained that strategies of public policy formulated to attend the national environmental problems, in such a way that they can offer coherent tools to order the planning works, offer measurable results and become pertinent to the social, political and administrative structure of the nation. It could be said with certain security, that the proposed different regionalization schemes have always counted with a robust scientific-technical backing, it could also

3 Krebs, C.J., 1972, Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance, Harper & Row Publishers, New York. When formulating these questions, Krebs takes into account the conception proposed by Andrewartha in 1961 to define the discipline of ecology, that says that ecology is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms; which the same Krebs later modified, recognizing the importance that relations have with this discipline, with which the definition he proposes states that the ecology is the scientific study of interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms.

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be affirmed that it has not been possible to determine a satisfactory regionalization to put in order the application of public policy instruments that animate the different areas of environmental management started by the Mexican State. It is evident that the geographical, cultural and ecological complexity of Mexico goes against a regionalization that could turn into one tool, common to the different strategies and objectives of environmental management at country scale: Mexico’s physiographic, the diversity of ecosystems that cover Mexico and the bio-diversity that they encompass, the complex courses that water follows in its search of lower altitude areas or places that allow it to filter to the sub-soil and the conformation of water strata, the political/administrative division that has been built from state to state, the population distribution, and the ethnic and cultural diversity that pretends to build a national identity, all this added to budget insufficiencies and lack of institutional human resources, are the most evident causes that each regionalization proposal suffers lacking, deficiencies, or reasons for criticism or controversy. However, the fact is that phenomena relative to the environment happen in a space context.4 In addition, it is also an undeniable fact that strict application, simple in uniform policy lines for all the national geography is, to say the least, ineffec- tive. It should then be considered necessary to establish regionalization criteria that recognize the national diversity and at the same time, make possible the coherent instrumentation of environmental policies according to the existing judicial and administrative frames, but offering the flexibility demanded by the diversity. In certain sense, it is about looking for adaptable planning mechanisms that will allow adequate the available political instruments to the concrete conditions of each national space. The question is then: How to delimit and discriminate between these spaces? The daily concepts usually mask the existence of controversy, fallacies or simply interpretations of reality very different from what they are referred to in equal terms; they seem to indicate a communion of ideas that frequently is not there. It is worth while then, at least to propose a code applicable to the reading of this essay, to expose which is the meaning that has been used to discourse around the concepts of country and territory. It is not about informing on the conception of country or territory: the existence of different and varied social constructions is recognized, and consequently a series of “countries” and “territories” as varied as society itself. It is about proposing a common reading of this document that will allow starting a lucid discussion about

4 We have the vision that from the moment we understand the environment, we interact with it, and that, in this sense, when talking about environment the interactions of the human species with the rest of the elements are also considered.

46 47 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o the national environment, and of the work that the Mexican State should continue executing or, in its case, start in order to guarantee that it is a wealth capable of satis- fying the welfare needs of the Mexicans of today and of future generations. Frequently, when thinking about the country, the first thing that appears in the mind is the conventional national map: the one that appears in the text books from primary school onwards and even the one that is shown on TV in the weather fore- casts. But Mexico is an undoubtedly big country: enormous from our individual perspective; “broad and foreign”, as said by Ciro Alegría,5 if seen from the community; including vast and unreachable when faced by the State. It is then, a mosaic of nations with many colors superimposed by them, intertwining, some times contrary to each other and others covering or shading themselves. From the environmental point of view, the country, conceived as the total geographical space located between national boundaries, including its territorial sea, is not a practical analysis unit, or a manageable negotiation unit. In this sense we would have to discuss what concept of country is more useful to the management of the natural wealth and national environmental services, and it may be worth while initiate this discussion with a conception that in reality is not new – even though it is found anew in the ecologists discussions in the academia terrain -: it is what is yet called by some towns, country (for example, the case of the Catalonian payssos) (Pla, 1927). When seeing things under this light, the country is more than the geographical space, but also a unit whose limits, characteristics and attributes are conceivable to the members of the community that abides in it. As well, it is not only the physiographic panorama, or the joint elements of the environment that could be considered as resources, or what limits with neighboring countries. It also encompasses the people that live in it, the relations of the community with its environment, the infrastructure generated by the social groups that share the environment, and the activities through which they transform it to satisfy their needs: it is similar to what today ecologists call “the landscape”. The other concept that we usually consider as common, and of easy comprehension, is territory. But in this case, the criteria to limit it and the selection of scales to determine its dimensions and covering, makes us once again, talk about many different territories, without stopping the talk about Mexican territory: territory is what is contained within the boundaries that have been built as a result of the relation that Mexico holds with the rest of the international community, and it is also that of each

5 Alegría, C., 1953, El Mundo es Ancho y Ajeno, Editorial Diana, S.A., Mexico.

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state of the federation and of each municipality. This if dealing with political and administrative criteria. But if a hydrographic criterion is chosen, national territories are those that cover each one of the basins through which the superficial waters of Mexico move that in some cases cover several states and in others are limited to a few kilometers square. We can also find ourselves in the territory of the Mexican coasts or the one occupied by the neo-volcanic axel. Or well, we can consider the territories occupied by the sixty two ethnia that form the complex national indigenous universe. To order the modals of appropriation of natural resources and environmental services into this mosaic becomes a necessarily polemic chore: every decision of ecological ordinance, independently of the criteria it arises from, will end being a procedure subject to controversy and the processes of searching consensus. Since the concept of territory is subject to the discretion suggested in the previous paragraph, it is not surprising that the federal public administration offices that organize their negotiations based on territorial criteria generate such diverse conceptions of the limits that characterize and limit their negotiations, that communication amongst them is complicated and some times even incompatible. This is true even for s e m a r n a t and its de-concentrated organs. This way, building a concept of country and an idea of territory (including here the marine zone), that will result in conceptual tools useful for the construction of a coherent and robust institutional discourse, are chores that should not be left aside in the efforts to edify a solid policy of national environmental management. To talk about territory and country, in terms of negotiation, implies talking of the forms to determine which public policy tools should be instrumented in which space units, in relation to their environmental characteristics and the ecosystems that form them (and their resilience facing the anthropogenic activities), and the social actors participating in the appropriation of the environment (the space, the natural resources and the available environmental services). When these political instruments have been designed based on differentiated space and environmental criteria – and when it is recognized that its appliance should be inclusive and participative-, the exercise of applying it with hierarchy and priority in the national territory, taking into account the inviolability and autonomy of states and municipalities, is of an indubitable relevance.

Regionalization, decentralization and social participation

It does not matter what regionalization is being talked about, it is not of plain exercises made on the desks of decision makers worried about putting in order their actions: regions respond to concrete environmental, economical, social or political conditions that allows them to group interaction forms of concrete communities with their environment in coherent systems, where they can aspire to establish sustainable development models In order to achieve this, they must go through an effective decentralization process, that guarantees that the local governments – having accepted the regionalization and ordinance criteria valid in the territory circumscribed in the state limits – count with the financial resources, the judicial instruments and the social backing that will allow them to transit in the proposed sense. Even though decentralization is an express purpose in the discourses of the environmental sector, it is still far from being a fact, independently of the advances obtained by different states. It is evident that an efficient decentralization cannot be pretended unless there is a guarantee of the existence of technical, infrastructure, judicial, and political will capacities that will allow the insurance that the faculties and attributions assumed by the local governments can be exercised with efficiency and knowledge of cause. It is also evident that to be in conditions of assuming with full responsibility the environmental management in the territorial circumscription, the states must count with the conditions and capacities that will allow them assume a complete autonomy for the generation of information, the planning of a management towards sustainable development, the execution of programs and budgets, and the transparent follow up and evaluation of their actions in matters of environmental policies. Further of the decentralization actions mentioned in other parts, the possibilities that the regionalization efforts contribute in building a national policy of environmental management also implies the building of local institutions, not only solid and capable, but also obliged to operate in a congruent manner with the others within its region, be this an eco-region, a priority region, a basin or any other region build on a base of environmental criteria. To talk about the construction or fortification of local institutions implies the incorporation of the communities’ residents’ participation in the diagnosis, planning, execution, evaluation and follow up of the environmental management. Without social participation, especially in as much as the actions are concreted at state, municipal, or community levels, when the representatives of the communities should be closer to their represented, environmental management looses its sense

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in relation to the formulation of policies, strategies and tactics oriented towards the generation of sustainable environmental development processes. One of the elements that with no doubt contribute to the construction of local environmental management capacities is the recognition of local knowledge. Through the almost three decades that Mexico has been building in its own way, environmental management, there has also been the creation – at national level and in all the states of the Republic – centers and institutions creators of knowledge, higher education institutes that form professionals in diverse areas related to environmental management and organized groups of the civil society (non governmental organizations) that have assumed co-responsible postures facing the need to contribute to the conservation of the natural wealth and of modifying conducts and actions that impact negatively on the environment. With the academic and environmental groups and with representation of the organized producers of the so called “social sector”, private initiative, the local governments, the indigenous people, and the Legislation Power, through the last decade have constituted diverse social participation spaces in the planning and environmental management processes. Among them we have to emphasize Consulting Councils for Sustainable Development (c c d s ), not only because of its reach and national covering, but also because it was structured based on a regionalization proposal. Taking into account the regions in which the national territory has been divided – and following the model proposed by the c o n a n p and the c c d s -, the possibility of building biological corridors such as those established in Central America must be explored. To do so, would give and additional sense to regionalization since it would create a space for the orderly appliance of environmental management tools and a formal space would be generated to propose transversal and decentralization processes. An additional factor is the experience that refers to the distinction between the federal and local orders. In this sense, private property and the concessions or exploitation of public wealth by private people, is much more protected judicially in the first instance than in the second. That is, it is easier to obtain the state protection through Law when talking about federal matters (especially through the “Protection Trial”) than when the negotiation is placed at local level. Any lawyer knows that the federal justice decisions are more predictable than those of local justice. This not only applies to the judicial processes, but also to all governmental negotiations. It can be said that to protect their interests, the private owners or companies that exploit public wealth depend more on extra-judicial ties in their relations with the local power than with the federal power.

This distinction is fundamental, since the development of a territorial ordinance and the management and exploitation of public wealth with a vision of environmental sustainability would basically depend on local authorities and the private sector. In this way, as long as the relations between the entrepreneurs, private companies, and that part of the public power with which they have a direct contact (read local power) are regulated by extra-judicial factors, the actions will contribute very little to regulate the different processes of environmental exploitation, including here the assignment of access rights to environmental services.

As a conclusion

Through the still brief history of Mexican environmental management, the offices and organisms of the federal public administration responsible to perform them have generated diverse regionalization proposal allowing them to confront the problematic of their competence in a relative orderly and efficient manner. This regionalization was formulated with different objectives and based on different criteria, and are therefore useful to fulfill such purposes. Based on them, on knowing them, over position them and discussing them, social demands, locally determined should be built in order to utilize the existing environmental management instruments to confront the environmental problems that ail each particular region; in other words, finding the overlaps between the different regionalization allows to determine what instruments should be applied with more strength and intensity and in which region of the country. It lacks sense to pretend to establish only one regionalization and assume it as the only adequate proposal to organize the national environmental management. In fact, regionalization by itself is not a sufficient instrument to perform environmental management from the planning offices to the factual terrain. It is then about combin- ing the regionalization proposed by the different environmental sector organisms, and also harmonizing them with the territory’s ecological ordinance, the exercise of the Consulting Councils for Sustainable Development, the Municipal Councils of Rural Sustainable Development and the decentralization processes of faculties and attributions. In this manner, regionalization becomes a relevant instrument for the rationalization and efficiencies the application of the public policy’s programs and instruments for environmental management. To overcome the problems generated by the existing unbalance between the executive capacities of the federal government and state governments and municipali-

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ties it is necessary to consolidate a decentralization policy assuming that it is about a sustained long term process. The steps of this process should consider, at least, the following elements: Articulate environmental decentralization as an instrument for the regional sustainable planning. • Fortify the capacities of local authorities and assign the indispensable technical, material and financial resources. • Establish social participation mechanism for decision making, follow up and evaluation of results and for the authority’s rendering of accounts. • Increase the capacities of the civil society and clearly define their rights and responsibilities. • Incorporate decentralization to municipal level. • Establish a fiscal reform that will allow attracting new financial sources, apply locally economical and tributary instruments, and use the income from the management of the natural resources in conservation and restoration actions of such resources. • Establish conciliation mechanisms with the federation in case of conflict. Even though these are some of the nodule themes that must be overcome in order to consolidate a real and vigorous decentralization process that complies with fomenting sustainable regional development objectives, there are still unresolved themes that are not problems of form or mechanism, but conceptual problems. There are matters that by their own nature should be reserved only to the federation on the principle of the federal pact, which establishes that the interests of the Nation should always be above the local ones. Among them we can mention the definition of national environmental policies, the issuance of minimum observation standards on all the territory, the international matters, the wealth or national zones, what concerns two or more state governments, the matters that could greatly compromise the environment and especially those related to bio-diversity. A critical theme, that is permanently submitted to debates between the federal government, the state governments, the non-governmental organizations and including the indigenous communities, is that of conservation and use of bio-diversity. A clear example of this debate is that of the natural protected areas. Article 5, fraction v i i i , of the l g e e p a , reserves for the federation the establishment, regulations, administration, and vigilance of the natural protected areas of federal competence, while Article 11, fraction I, establishes that the federation could make arrangements or vigilance covenants of the natural protected areas of federal competence. This possibility, given by the general Law to the states, is not fully aware of the objective of the natural protected areas, which is to “preserve the natural environ-

52 53 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ments representative of the different bio-geographic and ecological regions and the most fragile eco-systems, to ensure the equilibrium and the continuity of the evolution processes” (l g e e p a , Article 45, fraction I) and to “safeguard the genetic diversity of the wild species from which depends the evolution continuity…”(Fraction II). We are dealing here with the protection to the national natural wealth. Without any doubt a strategic theme of national security. The problem is not only that this national natural wealth can become a booty for the states, or even a nuisance to get rid of (that is to allow its destruction, like it happens with the tolerance and fomenting the irregular human occupation in the Re- serve of the Blue Mountains Bio-Sphere in the Lacandon Jungle, to mention only the case that has recently generated an issue in the communication media). It could be thought that we could prevent this through the signature of clear coordination agreements and the establishment of strong control mechanisms to guarantee its enforcement. Many would say that, that is what the national conservation and bio-diversity protection policies are for, and that they should be the coordination frame between the federation and the states. However, the problem lies in that the distribution of bio-diversity does not recognize geo-political boundaries, and requires for its evolution of very big territorial surfaces that usually overcome the limits of a state. Also, the protection of these resources is of national interest and cannot be submitted to the contradictions that arise from the interest of using them only for local benefit. This is a theme that the federation should give the character of un-renounceable, to avoid that decisions taken at local level affect the wealth of the Mexicans and of humanity, of present and future generations. Further on of the immediate reading of the decentralization processes and their legal and political implications it is worth while leaving an open door for a deep reflection around the posture that only the federation can achieve a national balance in the distribution of riches originated by the common natural resources that are distributed unequally around the country. The need to reserve some strategic faculties to the federation does not lie on a problem of incapacity of the states: it is due to the inherent characteristics of nature’s functioning and the organization of a Federate Republic. If the above mentioned is correct, that supposes that there is still a pending assignment to clearly define who should do what, with a strategic vision of nation and a clear understanding about the functioning of nature, which implies a conceptual reflection and not of operative character, and consequently another reform to the l g e e p a .

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Bibliography

Alegría, C., 1953, El mundo es ancho y ajeno, Editorial Diana, S.A., México. Brañes, R., 2000, Manual de derecho ambiental mexicano, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, D.F. Brundtland, G.H., 19 , Our common future, Organización de las Naciones Unidas, Documen- to de Trabajo. Congreso de la Unión, 1988, Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y Protección al Ambiente. Diario Oficial de la Federación, 28 de enero de 1988, México,d .f. Congreso de la Unión, 2007, Ley de Desarrollo Rural Sustentable (última reforma), Diario Oficial de la Federación, 2 de febrero de 2007, México,d .f Congreso de la Unión, 2007, Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y Protección al Ambiente (última reforma), Diario Oficial de la Federación, 12 de febrero de 2007, México, D.F. Krebs, C.J., 1972, Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance, Harper & Row Publishers, New York. Pla, J., 1927, Un viaje frustrado. Contrabando, Editorial Salvat, Madrid. Presidencia de la República, 2003, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, última reforma aplicada (texto vigente), Diario Oficial de la Federación, 29 de octubre de 2003, México, d.f

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56 Decentralization, territory and environment in the Yucatan Peninsula: a geographical view from the centrality perspective

Juan Cordoba y Ordoñez *

Introduction

mong many processes, globalization is inclined to increase efficiency and democracy of the societies – especially in those counties that aspire to join Athe Rich-men’s Club-, decentralization is, in a certain way, a hinge that allows the best integration of these two concepts. Efficiency pretends better com- petitive conditions (regional and sector) within the neo-liberal frame. Democracy is supposedly the search of a better equity: of gender, of access to resources and opportunities, in the re-distribution of riches, in the ability to negotiate, etc. Decentralization has been defined as “the process by which a part of the state power is transferred to political or administrative entities of a lower scale”, and has been identified with a better distribution of competence between the political “cen-

* Professor of Regional Geographical Analysis. This work is part of the conclusion of project BSO2002-01984 and the theoretical proposals of project SEJ2005-05650/GEOC, in which investigators of CINVESTAV-Merida, UNAM and UCM participate. Among these, I wish to personally thank Matilde Cordoba, Julia Fraga and Ana Garcia de Fuentes.

57 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ter” and the political “periphery”, through the transfer of commissions to the local collectives, favoring the reduction of gaps in the decision making. In this sense, investigators such as Ohnet (2003: 225) have manifested the actual importance of this phenomenon in many countries and have identified decentralization with the ideas of State modernization and democratization. The concept of decentralization is actually prevailing associated to its social, political and administrative connotations, but its geographical sense is frequently forgotten, consequently loosing sight of a territorial and space reflection which would help to a better understanding and application. For a field geographer it is difficult to talk about decentralization in an abstract sense, that is, without references to scales or concrete territories, especially now that we live immerse in times of extreme changes and conceptual in-definitions where many neo-logics are so abundant that, they are not yet properly digested by the scientific community such as: globalization, re/de-localization, re/de- territory, empowerment, governance, sustainability, de-regularization. These neo-nouns (logics) also confront a dialectic that opposes speeches and practices and especially creates conflicts between two extremes: the global and the local.

Centrality and marginality: a geographical perspective

To dwell in decentralization from a geographical point of view, requires beginning from the effect that motivates it, the centralization and, consequently, its origin: centrality. Centrality is, in principle and in a strict sense, a topological quality originated from the Euclidian space and as such it is accepted as an extra valued space from the economical and social efficiency point of view, related to the mobility conditions of the population. There are many examples of this phenomenon, cities, territories and even countries have gained from a central situation related to a system of relations determined in space and time. Many islands lived a flourishing time associated to the flight limitation of the air- planes: Azores, Green Cape, Terranova in the Atlantic; Hawaii in the Pacific. Coun- tries like Switzerland or the D.R. of Congo have built their complex identity based on a privileged central situation. The most numerous examples concern the cities and particularly the administrative and political capitals, many of which have benefited from their central situation in relation to their territories, in order to obtain a better control. Rome, in the old Empire as in present Italy, Madrid in Spain, Ankara

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in Turkey, Tokyo in Japan, Santiago in Chile among others. In another level, we have Hermosillo, Chihuahua, Culiacan or Oaxaca in their respective states. This Euclidian centrality favors the attraction of functions that reinforce the importance of a privileged situation, generating a process of retroactivity difficult to control, as this agglomeration is sustained by historical inertia. The original centrality (a quality) generates a coalescence of competitions, which we can nominate centralization (a problem). It is a problem in that excessive agglomeration limits the efficiency of scale economies, creating saturation phenomena, which makes inverse processes of de-agglomeration and/or decentralization advisable. Mexico City if one the cases of this model: a long historical process where many forms of territory domination made it a federal capital; this function favored, not only the coalescence of political and administrative functions, but also the economical (financial, industrial, services) until the 1985 earthquake showed the vulnerability of an excessively centralized system. The geographical centrality, however, is not only Euclidian. The cumulus of function in one only center (centralization) also produces centrality effects that are related (and frequently joined) to a different nature to those determined by the traditional geometry of space. This type of functional centrality is inverse to the above mentioned one because is not a consequence but a product of a political or economical centralization, and it is defined as the capacity that the center has to polarize space or its capacity to generate an influential area in the immediate or distant environment. In centralized states, an exocentric political capital can generate this type of functional centrality, like it happens in Paris (France) or in Buenos Aires (Argentina); the capital is (by effects of power concentration and decision making) the generator of functional coalescences that produce productive centralizations and of other services as has happened in Merida (Yucatan) in relation to its state and all the peninsula. It is often, however, that other functions are the ones that detonate the relative centrality of the place: economic (Sao Paulo in Brazil), religious (La Mecca in Saudi Arabia), innovative (New York, u.s.a.). For a long period of time, Geography and other similar sciences have dedicated part of their investigations to this semantic game, trying to find practical applications in space and in the territory’s ordinance. Fruit of these works are theories and models, more or less general, from the Theory of Central Places by the German Christaller in the 30’s, further amplified and explored by the neo-positive currents of the 60’s to the center/periphery model and its variations, like the one proposed by Friedmann in the 60’s and the most recent one that differentiates the world in a rich, developed and prosperous North and an underdeveloped and problematic South, amongst which, globalization would be a big problem.

In the strict sense of Political Geography, references to centrality and centralization are a constant, not only in what is referred to as the origin and formation of the states, but also as the gestation and organization of the world system and the adequate management of the territory in regional and local scales (Taylor, 1994). Outside the strictly geographical field, the study of decentralization has been occupied by the second perspective of centrality, the functional, and has been interested essentially by the socio-cultural aspects of such phenomena as power distribution, and decision and negotiation capabilities. Along this purely political line, the territorial issues are seen with a great frequency and decentralization is seen as a social problem associated with a series of minor considerations such as democratization. Some social investigators have pointed out that the special disposition of the social objects can influence their social relationships, and particularly, that the increasing economical control at national and international levels can generate a greater local politicization in as far as the “hand made” markets are affected by recession processes that not only affect the reproduction of the work force but also the local production processes.(Urry, 1981). Finally, on the other side of centrality you can find the ideas of periphery and marginality that are very often confused. The periphery is only understood by the acceptance of a center, and even though it is an original Euclidian center, its use in Social Sciences is relative. The concepts of center and periphery have been used in relation with more or less actual domination theories, but that they maintain a colonial context (new or old). The most recent North/South dichotomy is a plain projection of the old dilemma. Decentralization in this scheme, is a dream, there is no such decentralization, just the opposite, a supreme effort to monopolize negotiation and decision capabilities, masked by the virtual relationships, by the apparent sense of location, by the “poros- ity of the national economies” (Baumann, 2001: 89) that give life to the Mathiesen Synoptic (1997, cit, ibidem:70), a power mechanism based on some institutional elites (politicians, businessmen, high level bureaucrats) that direct the public opinion, sheltered in the anonymity of the information society. In this system, the Rich North or Neuralgic Center does not “decentralize nor de- localizes globally” toward the Poor South or Dependent Periphery. What the Rich North really does is concentrate its efforts (observe the tremendous issues around the political construction of the European Union, or the panic of the Latin expansion in the U.S.A.) and re-localize its problems (elimination of residues, search for cheap labor, preferential commercial treaties among others); to this effect strong powers are of no interest: the more decentralized, atomized, democratic, but media controlled,

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the better. However, the South continues receiving orders: now subversion, then sustainability, now decentralization, then democracy and always….. Patience. Even though periphery could be synonymous to marginality, simply by difficult access conditions, marginality does not have to be peripheral. Marginality is simply a game that places its actors or territories outside the regulated conditions that form the frame of movement. Marginality can be voluntary, such as the case of many elements and social groups that have historically varied according to the prevalent social systems. Involuntary marginality is actually an object of internal and external denunciation in almost all societies. Geographical marginality is an isolation condition in a given system, generally involuntary, and due to access conditions or lack of interest from the center. As we shall see, such is the case of Yucatan.

Some notes on Mexico

During the 80’s, Mexico was categorized by some social investigators as a surging country in the capitalist periphery (Dabat, 1994:48). Almost thirty years later, the country has not consummated its emergence and it is still characterized by an abusi- ve centralism and strong territorial unbalance; it has also gone through some of the most difficult economical, political and social crisis of its history.1 In a recent report on Mexico, where special emphasis is placed on the need to ease and perfect the financial decentralization of the country, the o c d e indicates that, in spite of excellent economical perspectives and in-doubtable improvements, the level of life of the Mexicans is still low, and poverty is more extended. (o c d e , 2005:9). The geographical centralization of Mexico is a structural problem, based on centuries of history that may only have a long term solution. The regional analyses are evidence of this problem: in all of them, emphasis is placed on a more or less big central region, according to the different investigators, that concentrates, not only the majority of the population but also the financial resources and the productive force. The nominated macro-central region proposed by Bassols in 1989 (Bassols, 1991) and not yet revised, which represents the 14.9% of the country’s surface, by 2005 it still held 50.34% of the population, almost identical to that of 1970 (50.63%) before the decentralization processes began, and superior to that of 1950 (48.67%).

1 It is important to mention the Peso devaluations of 1983 and 1994 and the murders of Colosio and Ruiz Massieu, and the 1994 Chiapas issue or the most recent Oaxaca conflicts and the instability generated by the 2006 elections.

This same region was responsible in 2004 of 53.70% of the national Gross Internal Product, focusing the weight of urban Mexico City, main industry and services center of the country. Mexican centralism has been exhaustively denounced and since the 80’s many forums have voiced the urgent need to decentralize the country (cf. example, Guigale et al., 2000 and Rodriguez Solorzano 2003). The discussion that initially was based on the fiscal resources and regional development, has been acquiring a social view and to this day it goes around political plurality and the democratization of society. It is true that some significant political changes have been made since the reform of the Constitutional articles 115 in 1983, and 27 in 1992, passing by the insertion of the country in the g a t t (1985) the t l c (1992) and the o c d e (1993); at the same time, a daring and accelerated reform of the communication infrastructures have begun to translate into a subtle but important regional territory restructuring. Some of the elements inducive to these changes are known. Some are of economical nature: the dynamics of the oil sector since the exploitation of the Campeche platform, the “maquila” industry and its promotion, modernization of certain agricultural activities based in internal consumption and especially by U.S.A. demand, and tourism. Others have been of political nature, particularly the attention to human rights,2 and the end of party hegemony, that had maintained political power in the country for the majority of the last century. However, the most determining elements of the changes in Mexico during the last twenty years are of a more diffuse nature, and among them, neo-liberalism with its cortege of servitude, occupy a special place. Neo-liberalism and modernization are social parameters in contemporary Mex- ico. Decentralization and democratization should also be the same. However these co-relations are not neutral nor clear because their effects cause important shadings: what is presumably good at world scale does not have to necessarily be at local level, the same way that what is good for some is bad for others. In this game of contradictions, it is necessary to refer to Bauman when he indicates that “the processes of globalization lack unity effects that generally are taken for granted” (2001:8), and that the so “called globalization processes are redundant

2 In February 1990, by Presidential decree the National Human Rights Commission was created, and a paragraph concerning the promotion and development of the languages, cultures, customs, resources, traditions and social organization of the indigenous communities was inserted in Article 4th of the Constitution.

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in the re-distribution of privileges and deprivation, riches and poverty, resources and dispossession, power and impotence, liberty and restriction. (ibidem: 94)

Yucatan’s specifics

For centuries, the Yucatan Peninsula has perpetuated as a periphery of the periphery, or better as a marginal region within the periphery. Even though some romantic Scientifics are striving to evoke the splendor of the Mayan culture, the truth is that such a grandiose culture is far away from reality and from contemporary “occidental” parameters that contaminated the Mexico of the x v century. In a first step towards what today we call “worldly”, the conquest and subsequent Spanish colonization brought Yucatan into that occidental world giving it, since then, a marginal condition. There were no interesting mining resources in Yucatan, and the natural conditions made the potential commercial exploitation of the agricultural and forestry resources difficult. Yucatan was formed, since those times, as a frontier zone, a limit zone, that from the central point of view, its main interest has always been its geo-strategic situation as a continental outpost towards to Caribbean world. For centuries, Yucatan has lived on the fringe of the great colonization waves that greatly affected cultures and territories in America, thus many ancient customs and traditions were able to survive and learned to adapt or juxtapose to the modernity waves that arrived in the Peninsula in a moderate fashion. Among these, the most important one was the system of extensive commercial exploitation, like the Henequen Haciendas that flourished during the transit of thex i x and x x centuries. The juxtaposition between modernity and tradition is, therefore, nothing new in Yucatan, with the exception of episodes like the conquest and the Caste War, it has always developed without the dramatization it has had in other strongly indigenous areas of America. Therefore, it is true to say that modernization in Yucatan – maybe with the exception of the Porfirio Diaz era – has never been as aggressive as it is now. Yucatan is conformed by a natural environment uniform in appearance, which constitutes an isotropic surface, almost perfect from the geographical point of view. The geological substrata is formed by a succession of calcareous materials horizon- tally displayed with very few surface alterations, in such a way that only in the South of the Peninsula are superficial drainage systems that contribute to a certain differentiation of the territory; most of the Peninsula has subterranean drainage, profiting

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from fractures and litho logical alternates or structural weaknesses that give origin to numerous “cenotes”. Over this calcareous surface, where the development of soils is very weak, there is a dominant tropical climate with a marked dry season during Winter even though the pluviometer marks a relevant shade associated with the prevalence of the humid Eastern winds; as a consequence of this pluviometer dissymmetry the predominant perennial jungle located on the Southeastern side of the Peninsula degrades rapidly into open mixed formations and low brush like that dominating the Northeaster side. In this relatively uniform and inhospitable media, any small geographical accident becomes a differentiated ecological niche and is consequently attractive due to its biodiversity. The “cenotes” and the facility to capture subterranean waters through superficial fractures could have been determinant in the historical inhabitation of the Peninsula which, like any other, depended on drinkable water, even though it was conditioned to the itinerant agricultural system, fundamental to the population: the “milpa” (Trans.note.- “Milpa” is the maize field). It is, perhaps, the confluence of these factors that explains the extraordinary dispersion of the population in a great part of Yucatan, justifying, at the same time, the existence of old establishments of a more permanent and preeminent character in the organization of the territory. To this day, we can recognize characteristics of this geographical “determinism” related to natural conditions. One of these, is the predominant habitat concentrated in the Northeast of the Peninsula, much more arid, where the henequen Haciendas were strongly established, facing the characteristically dispersion of the center where the indigenous people abide; separate entities, divided by an imaginary diagonal line that joins the towns of San Felipe and Yaxhachen. Another is the diagonal formed at the base of La Sierrita in the South of the State of Yucatan, where a major depth in the soil has allowed the implementation of irrigation systems for commercial agriculture. In this entire context and in spite of its inter-phase condition, the beach has always been rejected; the confluence of geographical factors have contributed to explain this phenomenon: the low beach front, sandy and straight has not favored the installation of ports; the frequently swampy conditions have favored the persistence of infectious diseases, particularly malaria. During the 70’s the Yucatan Peninsula still offered a languid and romantic image of a territory, voluntarily marginal and partly emarginated by a centralized country. The land communications with the rest of Mexico were not consummated until the mid 50’s with the railroad and ‘till the 60’s with the road (Chias, 1999:117).

Since the Independence, the commercial exploitation of the territory had been centered, first in the Hacienda system (sugar cane, cattle, maize and henequen), and later in “ejidos” (trans.note.-“Ejido is a communal agricultural system implemented after the Mexican Revolution of 1910), whose production was poor and ended by expelling them of the world’s system of competence. The rest of the territory was open to forestry exploitation and the extensive maize production, a secular way of life based on self sufficiency. Industry had only started to show in Merida, and small businesses and bureaucracy animated the life of half a dozen urban centers. Defi- nitely, Yucatan was practically closed in itself. As in colonial times, the interest the Center had on this periphery had been essentially geo-political and one of its most clear manifestations was the neutralization of its independent aspirations through the political fragmentation of the territory into three states: Campeche was separated from Yucatan in 1857 and the Territory of Quintana Roo was created in 1902, and given the category of State in 1974. This fragmentation should be seen as a first step towards the decentralization of Yucatan, due to the territorial power held in Merida, the great regional capital. We should, however, reverse this situation in order to reflect up to what point this division obeyed the interest the Center had in weakening a strong regional power located in a strategic point, with fragility due to its peripheral situation and marginal conditions that could result in secession forces. Two faces for one reality, decentralization of Yucatan and strengthening of Mexico’s centralism. However, since the 60’s the Peninsula of Yucatan, probably without its own knowledge, recovered a new strategic interest, this time world wide, due to the “cold war” related to the instability caused by Cuba in the American “central order”. It cannot be scientifically sustained that the re-vitalization of Yucatan is due to a new geo-strategic centrality in the midst of a macro-regional American scenario, but we cannot avoid thinking that this factor has aided a modernization process and a controlled social restructuring that has no precedent in its history. During the 70’s Yucatan started a process of economical reconversion that has accelerated in the following decades in order to extract the Peninsula of its old marginal condition. At present, the three states, whose population is only 3.59% of the whole country, produce 4.20% of Mexico’s GIP, and have been able to differentiate from the Deep South of the country in which the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas are submersed. For centuries the homogeneity of the yucatan environment sustained a relatively simple system of social and productive relationships where an urban bourgeoisie and a rural dependent society faced each other juxtaposed to an isolated rural indigenous society. During the last decades, this relationship pattern has been broken.

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The impact of neo-liberalism in Yucatan and the modernization processes have generated an extraordinary variety of situations. In such a way, that today Yucatan is characterized by heterogeneity of social, economical and productive environments that express themselves in the territory and in the use and occupation of the land. It wouldn’t be correct to assume that phenomena like globalization, decentralization, democratization or empowerment have the same effects on this heterogeneity and much less the same significance.

Today’s geographical reality of Yucatan

Without statistics to back us because there aren’t any, we can assume that the socio- economical model of today’s Yucatan rests in the uneven interaction of a series of main actors. On one side, we have the residues of the old societies. The ancestral Maya that still only speaks the indigenous language and survives on maize cropping, which live isolated in the interior regions of the Peninsula. On the other extreme, the old aristoc- racy, the so called “Divine Caste”, recognizable by their names and social pages of the local press, behind the walls of some of the Merida mansions and that some times are seen in social functions, specially at the theatre Peon Contreras. The majority of this ancestral social class has dissolved in a bourgeoisie classed by economical and professional status, which can be perceived in Merida. On the opposite extreme of the before mentioned groups, we find another well defined social group that we could categorize as “middle class”, which are unified by a presumptive modernization and urban character. It is formed mainly by professionals in administration and modern services, many of whom are immigrants from other states and sometimes foreigners. To this group, which everyday increases, the other groups are united in a pyrami- dal fashion, having at the top the bourgeoisie of the “Divine Caste” and at the base the thousands of urban youngsters, sons of immigrants, touched by modernity and often in precarious conditions. This entire group, as mentioned before, is touched by an assumed modernity condition either because they were born to it or because they had to adapt. Between these two social groups we could place a third one, tremendously complex, which could be catalogued as “transformation society”. It is the most numerous group, affected by modernity in a most discriminatory fashion, both socially and economically and geographically. This group is characterized by its homogene-

66 67 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ity and by the heterogeneity of answers as a result to their involuntary insertion in the global processes and particularly the neo-liberal dynamics in which Yucatan has been involved since the 80’s. This group is formed by thousands of peasants affected by the agrarian crisis in Yucatan and the closure of the henequen system and the rural exodus. Based on this hypothesis, the Social Geography of Yucatan should be, at this moment, a priority investigation theme,3 especially when this group is receiving a shower of generic speeches such as decentralization, democratization, representation, empowerment, preservation, sustainability, privatization, competence, sustainable development. Can this be understood in an equal manner by a businessman that has brought his money to invest in Yucatan, and a person from the old bourgeoisie? A director of an international hotel chain, and a recently migrate waiter that wears a uniform for the first time? A migrant worker that returns to his village and the old father that is loosing his maize crop because there are no arms to harvest? A fisherman that is limited by a system of fishing prohibitions and a peasant to whom the new God Chac in the form of a computer informs him that his products do not have the quality standards required by the demands in the Riviera Maya? The recent changes in the Yucatan society are interlaced with the economical and are particularly visible from the geographical point of view. The old henequen region that circled Merida has diluted into a great suburban area, depending directly from the city, part time employments, intense pendulum movements, milling of traditional crafts, modernization of the husbandry methods, co-exist with the family dwelling and orchard. The old fruit area has lost its big scale commercialization expectations and has centered in the regional market, complementing its income with the dollars sent by the migrants. The old maize region is contracting daily. Urbanization grows every- where and affects not only the old nuclei but also small cities and towns. Urbanization has gone wild and is in the process of reorganizing the territory: in only 30 years Cancun has turned into a regional equilibrium pole that competes with the leadership that Merida has had for more than five centuries. And, in all this transformation-modernization process there are two first place actors: environmental preservation and tourism. Both are confluent, paradoxically, in a long forgotten space, the beach, 1 941 lineal kilometers from New Campechito (Campeche) to Che- tumal (Quintana Roo).

3 There are few deep reflections on the social impact of economical transformation. As an example, the classic of Ramirez Carrillo (1993) or his most recent trilogy on Yucatan (2004-2006) and the investigation work of Baños Ramirez (2003) and Fraga with Paré in 1994.

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The Peninsula’s beach front, confluence of interests

Forgotten by centuries, mainly due to its inhospitable environment, the coast line of the Yucatan Peninsula is now the object of contrary interests. In the first place there is a strong conservation interest of global shadings and in second place a development interest clearly modern and economical. Both interests are confluent in the peninsular coastline in an exemplary manner and have given way to a complex social web. This complex social web should be understood within an international frame in which the preservation of green areas is at the vortex of the ethical globalization pyramid, oil exploitation and regional development through tourism are, paradoxically, at the base of the productive pyramid. We shall see how this dualism materializes in the Yucatan coastline. It can be said that the official preservation interest found its golden age in the Yucatan Peninsula during the last two decades of the past century and is perfectly visible in the great amount of institutions with preservation philosophy that work in the Peninsula, either governmental such as the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (s e m a r n a t ) and the Federal Court of the Environment (p r o f e p a ), or nongovernmental such as Pronatura Yucatan, Niños y Crias or Cuerpos de Con- servación, just to mention some. The preservation interest, endorsed by conservationist discourses and practices, such as the discourse for sustainable development and the creation of natural protected areas, has revealed the extraordinary biodiversity of the coastline region especially the importance of the mangrove areas. However, since the discourses on environmental sustainability, the coastal region has been submitted to a new logic of centralities and marginalities built on an impressive social heterogeneity. At present, more than 18% of the Peninsula is catalogued as a natural space under some sort of legal protection, not counting the reefs. This surface represents 2.639,161 ha, including great interior extensions such as the Reserve of the Calak- mul Biosphere, but it mainly concerns the coral reefs, insular spaces and great length coastlines (Terminos Lagoon, Petenes, Ria Celestun, El Pamar, Dzilam, Ria Lagar- tos, Yum Balam, Sian Ka’an, Uaymil). In these protected areas, the environment has become the coin of economical transactions in the global market. These areas are also the favorite referral of inter- ventionists’ plans and policies that have brought into the game of the coastal communities many social-political and economical agents that before were absent. From the analytical point of view, in the institution of these conservationist discourses an interesting reduction of nature has occurred, nature understood as an

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economical resource and therefore quantifiable and interchangeable. This reduction demanded by the international panorama has generated in the Yucatan Coast a series of misunderstandings amongst the local agents (fundamentally small fishing companies, fishermen and migrants) and the supposedly expert knowledge (represented by institutes and technicians that frequently are foreigners). These misunderstandings are expressed in situations of mistrust and instability among some collectives and others. In this sense, we can find frequent cases where the preservation interests and actions have come into a real conflict with the local authorities and especially with the fishing villages. Some see their capacity of real action limited and complain of a boycott of the local communities, others sense a cut in their capacity of decision making and others see that their natural territory is limited, understanding that by natural territory we speak of an area of basic resource extraction. This situation is particularly complex especially in those villages that have become immersed into protected natural area such as the Reserve of Celestun’s Bio- sphere in Yucatan or the one of Sian Ka’an in Quintana Roo, and a good example of these conflicts and limitations is expressed in the Plans for the Handling of the Reserves of the Biosphere and the difficulty to establish them socially, as expressed by some investigators (Cordoba Azcarate, 2006). These management or ordinance plans underline an expert desire though sometimes misinformed about the real local conditions, to zone in order to preserve. This desire is translated many times in prohibition that flood the protected municipalities with posters where the phrase “prohibited” or “no” (fishing, hunting, entering, ……) is forever repeated. Due to the lack of understanding between technicians and local authorities, these posters are the first notice to the population that they are immersed in the middle of a protected natural area, and that the conceptions and traditional practices of these communities have been modified and are now subject to new practices and, especially, new sanctions. Facing this panorama, it is easy to say that this sum of misinformation and mistrust is not a conveyor towards a convincing decentralization; there is no basic understanding on the conception of what is viable for protecting/conserving and especially how to do it. On the other hand, the preservation interests are sustained by external decision centers and sponsored by tenths of scientific committees and external social organizations, but it is certain that these institutions have come into Yucatan as agents that mediate in specific villages between the local political institutions and the population, and as a consequence, these external agents have involuntarily fortified, in a

70 71 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o new manner, the traditional chieftain systems of government. Such is the case of the non governmental organizations that operate through u s a partners and the case of the neo-chieftains associated to the fishing activity through credits, privatization, and financial concentration. Far from being this our debate theme in this work, it would be interesting to point out that it is precisely the conversion of the Yucatan coast line into an interchange coin and global favorite in referral discourses, which helps us identify together with these conservation interests, another set of interest that have decided to economically exploit the coast (Fraga et.al., 2006). Even though it is difficult to separate some interests from others, as often one comes with the other, it is important to briefly indicate that the Yucatan coastline, within this development tendency, can be differentiated into two well defined groups. The first one can be typified as “traditional exploitation group” and would encompass the exploitation of the ancient coastal resources such as salt and fishing. The second group, recent and with modern ideas, is centered mainly in the exploitation of new resources, fundamentally oil and tourism. There are very few studies on the impact of the oil exploitation in Yucatan, and such studies are only based on Ciudad del Carmen and its surrounding areas, as is studied in another section of this book (cf. Villalobos and Rivera). Apart from the immediate conflict between traditional activities (especially fishing) and the activities and problems derived from the oil activity (changes in the socio-professional structure, uncontrolled urbanization, increase in cost of living, contamination, etc.), the perspectives of exploitation of new oil wells are generating expectation on the Yucatan population either as an economical alternative where p e m e x is seen as an over powerful boss, or as a source of new problems particularly as an unfair competence to the tourist activity. In contrast with oil production, tourism has already had a geographical impact, highly diffused on the entire coastline. The tourism territorial and economical expressions are in many ways: massive concentrations (Cancun), extensive occupa- tions (Riviera Maya), low impact (Holbox), selective (Puerto Aventuras), popular (Progreso), punctuated (Telchac), ordered (Hotel Zone Cancun), spontaneous though induced (Mahahual in Costa Maya), invasive (Tulum). A complex typology that en- riches itself with the crossings of modals that in many cases have generated the birth of twin cities, cities of workers, socially and functionally segregated from the touristic space (Cordoba and Garcia, 2001:701). In the debate on decentralization in Yucatan and concerning the coastline, it is crucial to point out the complex relationship between the fishing and tourist activi-

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ties since they exemplify in a very particular way the interesting daily give and take between conservationists and developers. Being the most conflictive, the tourist activities are also the ones who have given more answers to the regional development problems in Yucatan. On one side tourism has provoked intense and disorderly urban processes and aggressions to the environment; on the other it has been the motor that has place great areas of Yucatan in the global map. But this positioning (especially thanks to Cancun, the new world icon of the modern and prosperous Mexico) has not had zero cost, it has generated, apart from the privatization of land, important migratory fluxes conflictive in many ways, expulsion of coastal villages, selective rural exodus towards the tourist centers, saturation of services and infrastructure due to massiveness and lack of control of the migration, new competitiveness between residents and migrants. The complexity of the coastal social web caused by migratory processes due to tourism and before by the nominated “March to the Sea” (Fraga and Cervera 2003:178), is giving origin to serious conflicts at local level that are suppressed by extra local spheres. Local fishermen are confronted with the over exploitation of species and the federal and state prohibitions that tourism demands unable to comply. In another perspective, the privatization of the fishing and tourist industries has placed in a difficult competence situation those heterogeneous groups: native residents, immigrants: local, national, foreigners, workers, businessmen, and chieftains that are renovated in their control techniques (information and money control). Traditional fishermen, with the knowledge of the possibilities and limitations of the sea; new fishermen, from the rural areas, that know nothing, lacking the basic funds to affront their new situation, both groups reconverted into tourist guides, often by seasons or illegal, competing among themselves in reduced spaces, usually due to the environmental interest than the productive capacity, up to the arrival of tourism and oil. Managers, councilors, advisors, investigators; waiters, construction and services workers; local, state, federal, international, public and private institutions, too many actors in a relative small scenario where social organizations are starting to form as pressure groups due to years of political paternalism. It is to wonder whether decentralization is advantageous in this chaos or if it is simply one more step in the global policy of “divide and conquer” on the road of a style of tyranny exercised by those who control money and information. The municipalities in the Yucatan coast should understand that some of these problems are generic of the coastline areas, in the same manner that the Yucatan Peninsula should understand that it is more than three federal states in order to com-

72 73 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o mence joint action policies that neutralize the adverse effects of an accelerated decentralization, such as fragmentation and atomization, such as is studied by Doyon and his collaborators in this book, in relation with the implications of decentralization and atomization of actors and municipalities, having as study case the East Coast of Yucatan.

Conclusions

Decentralization accepts two readings from the geographical point of view. On one side delegation of power and decision making is given to inferior officials in the political-administrative hierarchy of the territory, which undoubtedly brings needs and solutions closer to the local area. On the other hand, such delegation of power and decision making could result in a territorial fragmentation which will produce, by atomization, incapacity to act, in favor of external mediators that not always attend the real interests in conflict. For centuries the Yucatan Peninsula has occupied a marginal situation in Mexico, a country of strong centralism that has intended to emerge from the periphery in the system of dependency relations sanctioned by the globalization. Since the 80’s and due to international pressure, Mexico has started an accelerated process of political and economical decentralization that affects in different ways its regions and population. In this context, the Yucatan Peninsula has recovered a certain geo-strategic centrality in the American relations scenario and, at the same time has started economical and modernization processes that are seriously affecting some of its structural components, such as its relative homogeneity and the marginality concept. In this peninsular ambience, the coastline is revealed as an area of renovated interest where we find conflicting interests; on one side trying to preserve the environment looking for sustainable development and, on the other side modernizing using unexploited resources with the aim of including the area into the most elemental development circuits. The diversification of relationships between the human being and his environment, the complexity of social relations, the growing pressure on the resources, are expressions of the modernization of Yucatan, that precede the decentralization processes conceived by superior powers, many times disconnected from the local reality.

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It could be affirmed that decentralization cannot act the same in the Yucatan coastline where heterogeneous agents live in small places geographically isolated or, in places where the preservationists, the chieftain, and survival needs are in competence, or in a significant lack of communication. The materialization of the “give and take” between preservation, economical, survival or modernization interests in a complex social web and consequently a complex hierarchy of social and political agents making use of the same natural resources makes the debate of decentralization of Yucatan a very difficult issue. This situation indicates one point of view from which to start the discussion: it is not possible to think of political actions such as decentralization without prior knowledge of the area. This knowledge of the area necessarily needs to have a deep knowledge of the population, its customs and traditions, which give them sense and life.

Bibliography

Baños Ramírez, O, 2003. Modernidad, imaginario e identidad rural. El caso de Yucatán. El Colegio de México, México d.f. Bassols Batlla, A., 1991. Regionalización económica 3. En v v .a a . Atlas Nacional de México. VI-14-3. Instituto de Geografía, u n a m , México d f . Bauman, Z., 2001. La globalización: consecuencias humanas. f c e , México. Chías Becerril, J. L., 1999. Transporte. En: A. García de Fuentes y J. Córdoba (Dtres.) Atlas de Procesos Territoriales de Yucatán. u a d y , Mérida, pp. 113-124. Córdoba Azcárate, M., 2006. Between Local and Global, Discourse and Practices: Rethink- ing Ecotourism Development in Celestún (Yucatán, México). Journal of Ecotourism, V(1 y 2): 97-111. Córdoba, J., and A. García de Fuentes, 2001. Servidumbres del desarrollo: segregación social y funcional en los espacios turísticos de Quintana Roo (México). En Las oportunidades y desafíos del siglo x x i para la geografía latinoamericana. Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile. Dabat, A., (Coord.), 1994. México y la globalización. c r m , u a m , Cuernavaca, 287 p. Fraga, J. and D. Cervera, 2003.Una aproximación a la construcción de un paisaje costero en el área maya. En P. Colunga-García Marín et al. (eds.) Naturaleza y sociedad en el área maya, a m c -c i c y , Mérida, p.175-188. Fraga, J. et al., 2006. Manejo comunitario de un área natural protegida en Yucatán, México. c i n v e s t a v -Mérida y c i i d . Mérida, 214 p. Giugale, M., and S. B. Webb (Eds.), 2000. Achievements and Challenges of Fiscal Decentral- ization Lessons from Mexico. World Bank, Washington.

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Mathiesen, T., 1997. The Viewer Society: Michel Foucault’s Panopticon revisited. Theoreti- cal Criminology: 215-234. o c d e , 2005. México. Estudios económicos de la o c d e . México DF. 192 p. Ohnet, J.M., 2003. Décentralisation. En: J. Lévy y M. Lussault, Dictionnaire de la Géogra- phie et de l’espace des sociétés. Belin, Paris, p. 225-226. Paré, L. and J. Fraga, 1994. La costa de Yucatán: desarrollo y vulnerabilidad ambiental. Cuad- ernos de Investigación, 23, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, u n a m . México DF. Ramírez Carrillo, L. A., 1993. Sociedad y población urbana en Yucatán 1950-1989. Cuader- nos del c e s nº 36, El Colegio de México, México d f . Ramírez Carrillo, L. A., 2004. Las redes del poder. Corrupción, maquiladoras y desarrollo regional en México. El caso de Yucatán. u a d y -Porrúa, México d f . Ramírez Carrillo, L. A. (Coord.), 2006. Un secreto bien guardado. Mundialización y re- estructuración productiva en Yucatán. u a d y -Porrúa, México d f . Ramírez Carrillo, L. A. (Coord.), 2006. Perder el paraíso. Globalización, espacio urbano y empresariado en Mérida. u a d y -Porrúa, México d f . Rodríguez Solórzano, C. (Comp.), 2003. La descentralización en México. s e m a r n a t -i n e , México d f . Taylor, P. K., 1994. Geografía Política: economía-mundo, estado-nación y localidad. Trama, Madrid. 339 p.. Urry, J., 1981. Localities, regions and social class. International Journal of Urban and Re- gional Research, 5: 455-473.

76 The diversity of states and municipalities in The Yucatan Peninsula

Sabrina Doyon, Adréanne Guindon and Agnes Blais

he object of this section is to inform the reader, who is more or less familiarized with the Yucatan Peninsula, about its general characteristics, in such a Tway that he/she can better understand the decentralization territorial challenges that are being promoted. We wish to remind that even though this publication examines one particular case, it wishes to give the non Mexican readers a reflection base on the political processes also taking place in several countries. With a population of 3 million inhabitants, the Yucatan Peninsula has a long economic history, “the milpa” being the predominant factor during the pre-colonial era. Later, from the x i i to x i x centuries it was an object of several intentions of colonization through the “encomienda” and “hacienda” systems, based on cattle and sugar cane. An economical system of plantation was established in the x x century, apart from the forestry exploitation in Campeche and Quintana Roo, which consolidated the henequen culture in Yucatan. In recent decades, the fishing industry developed, even though it has lately reached its limits. Actually, activities such as the “maquiladora” industry and international tourism dominate the economical panorama. Taking into account this long and diversified economical trajectory, it is not surprising that even though there is a certain cultural homogeneity due to the presence of the Mayan cultures, the Yucatan Peninsula includes sub-regions that differ economical and ecologically. We will first discuss the basic differences between the three states.

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As decentralization implies a re-definition of the ties between the central, regional and local authorities, we will make a synthesis of the coastal municipalities, in order that the reader may learn about the multiple contexts to which these policy promoters have to face to.

The Yucatan Peninsula: three different states

Yucatán

The state of Yucatan forms a triangle whose base is on the northerly side of the peninsula. Its shoreline, located on the Gulf of Mexico, has 365 kilometers. Even though it is the smallest state, geographically speaking, it has the largest population in the peninsula, 1.818,948 inhabitants. It includes the largest number of Maya speaking people that are 33.3% of its population. Up to the 70’s, the main activity was henequen exploitation, especially in the northern region. During the “Porfiriato” (1876-1910), the “hacienda” owners were the base of a capitalist economy with high scale henequen production. After the 1910 Mexican Revolution and the agrarian reform which followed, many “haciendas” were turned into “ejidos”: land distributed by the State to the communities and exploited in a collective form without the possibility of being sold in the open market. Summarizing, during the post-revolutionary period, the henequen industry was transformed into a centralized section, even though the “ejido” assemblies had a certain decision power in the work organization. During the 70’s the price of henequen dropped, therefore the government decided not to continue supporting this productive activity. It is at this time that many peasants migrated to the coast, either to Cancun that was in expansion or to the fishing towns. In the mean time, the traditional agricultural activities progressively gave way to an extensive agriculture oriented towards export. As of the 80’s the region was transformed into an important area for the implant of the “maquiladora” industry; Yucatan received 143 plants between 1985 and 2000 (Labrecque, 2005:7), which were initially located around the city of Merida and then in the close by municipalities. The urbanization process was reinforced in 1992 with the modification of Article 27 of the Constitution, which eliminated the no sale condition of the “ejido”. All this measures allowed the consolidation of a neo-liberalism that favored the signing of

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Estados Unidos

Golfo de México México Océano Pacífico

Golfo de México

Source: Geography Laboratory, University of Laval

the Free Commerce Treaty between Mexico and North America (a l e n a -Labrecque, 2005:26). Up to the 70’s the fishing industry was a subsistence activity and only developed in a significant way until the 90’s, especially in Dzilam Bravo and Progreso. From this period onwards, the fishing industry was characterized by the over exploitation generated by the extensive use of resources. According to s e m a r n a t , from 1989 to 1995 the fishing per year was of 40,000 tons. In 2003 only 28,067 tons were obtained. Apart from the fishing activities, the coastal towns exploit the salt as a secondary activity; Las Coloradas is the only place where it is produced in grand scale. The pork production has 3,000 farms that generate more than 5,000 direct jobs. And lastly the tourist sector that expands to the archeological sites in the coastline and the peninsula.

The State of Yucatan is characterized by a great economical diversity where the role played by the state has always been predominant. In the decentralization perspective there is no doubt that these elements will constitute significant parameters.

Campeche

Located in the Southwestern part of the peninsula, the state of Campeche has a 523 kilometer coastline with many wet lands and mangroves and it stretches with the Terminos Lagoon, which has a length of 60 kilometers. 30% of its surface is jungle. It is the largest state of the peninsula (56 848 km2), but it is also the less populated (690 689 inhabitants). The city of Campeche is the oldest in the peninsula and, during the colonial period was the main export port for wood and chicle. Later, after the commercial relations with Spain were finished as a consequence of the Independence war (1821), Campeche became, little by little, a fishing state: 80% of its income comes from fishing (Hale, 2000 in l e a d , 2004); in 2003 the volume of capture reached 56 888 tons. It is in 1976 that Campeche becomes a strategic region for the Mexican oil production and one of largest in the world. From January to November 2006, the marine regions in the Southwest and Northeast of the Campeche Sound produced 2.843,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents 83.7% of the national total. Even though this activity is in expansion, it has had marginal impacts in the state economy: the workers come from other states and the sale of goods and services is performed outside the state. Taking this reality into account, the Regional Action Program of the s e m a r n a t points out that in the future, the oil exploitation should generate more positive effects for the state. In comparison with other states, Campeche has registered and economical stagnation with a growth decrease up to -0.5 in 1993. However, experiments are being made for a diversified economical growth based on commerce, services, transport, communications, etc., as the agricultural activities that in past years represented an important contribution to the economy, are now in crisis (s e m a r n a t , 2006b and see Villalobos and Rivera, chapter 10). Pe m e x expansion modalities certainly influenced the decentralization forms in the state, both in the utilization of the marine zones as well as the fiscal negotiation between the state and the central government.

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Quintana Roo

Located in the Caribbean Sea, Quintana Roo is the most recent state of the country, as it obtained the nomination in 1974. Its actual population is of 1.544,800 inhabitants, with a territory of 54 844 km2. Previously it was an isolated and low populated region with an economy depending strongly on forestry exploitation. The agrarian reform did not have a strong impact in the area even though the “ejidos” were given the greatest extensions of land in the country in order to facilitate the extraction of chicle. This indirectly contributed to the railroad expansion, which gave the people from other parts of the country access to the forest areas. Actually, the fishing industry, centered in the capture of high commercial value species such as lobster and conch, has not yet reached its full capacity. More than half of the population is not original from the state, the majority come from the states of Yucatan, Veracruz and Mexico City. The economical wealth of Quintana Roo depends strongly on tourism. The Riviera Maya (Cancun, Tulum, Playa del Carmen), Costa Maya (South of the Biosphere Reserve of Sian Ka’an to the town of Xcalak) and the Mayan Zone (central region with tourist sites) generate approximately 30% of the country’s income. The tourist activity has had an amazing expansion since 1970: Cancun receives more than 2 million visitors, with a yearly increase of 3% (Noble et al., 2000:583). However the region is characterized by growing differences between the population categories, especially in a context in which tourism is promoted by the private sector in the hands of foreigners. As a consequence of regional migration, new communities appeared, whose main characteristic is the growing social atomization (see contributions of B.Campos et.al., chapter 12 and 16). Finally, we underline that in the three states, the coastal zones have been object of multiple interventions of international and national agencies in reference to the establishment of protected natural areas (see chapter 2): biosphere reserves, national parks, and several areas of flora and fauna protection. The transformations that the peninsula has gone through, which are most visible in the state of Quintana Roo due to its prior reduced population and the recent arrival of the international tourism, will certainly influence the future of decentralization in the Yucatan Peninsula and will have a great illustrative value for similar processes in other parts of the world. We see then, that in terms of decentralization, the challenges for conservation imply actors in differentiated conditions.

The diversity of the coast line municipalities

The above mentioned tries to point out that, in spite of being a specific Mexican region dependent of the Federal government and state bureaucracies – which have many similarities – the Yucatan Peninsula houses three states that have very significant differences between them. It is a first element that cannot be overlooked in the decentralization perspective. Part i v of this publication will discuss in a more detailed manner this orientation. With almost double the population of Campeche, and one and half times that of Quintana Roo, the State of Yucatan has 10 times more municipalities (106) than the other two states (11 and 8 respectively – i n e g i , 2005). From the decentralization perspective, this situation could be seen, apparently, as neutral and could be explained by the antiquity of human occupation and strong population density in Yucatan. However, any person familiarized with the Mexican colonial history can easily establish the bond between the number of municipalities and the regional indigenous presence: the number of municipalities is generally greater in those places where there were intentions to direct or “mexicanize” the indigenous population. In fact, the fragmentation in a great number of municipalities allowed, at the same time, to fragment the political and administrative re-vindications of the indigenous population as well as weaken their cultural identity. It is clear that it was not about decentralization as it is understood today. Seen from the actual context, the great number of municipalities in the state of Yucatan could be seen as a positive element for decentralization, without overlook- ing its prior justification and meaning. This path is slightly different in the neighbor states that have more recent administrative entities which are more extensive, especially in the states of Campeche and Quintana Roo. Table 1 allows us to analyze in depth the differences between the municipalities. While in Quintana Roo most of the municipalities are in the coast (7 of 8) and in Campeche more than half (7 of 11), in Yucatan only 13 of the 106 municipalities are located on the coastline. If we take into account the length of the coastline zone of each one of them (865, 523 and 342 kilometers) we can see that for Yucatan, the coastline geographical weight is not as big as for the other states. The fact that its 13 coastline municipalities do not have an extended interior zone – with the exception of Tizimin -, could be a positive factor for the coastal management since the predominant territory is the one adjacent to the sea.

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Table 1. Selected Indicator of the population by coastal municipalities in the Peninsula of Yucatan, 2005. Source: i n e g ,i i 2005 census, Dwelling and Population Residents in Coastal Total Localities of 2 500 Medium Annual Municipality Population or more Growth Inhabitants (%) 2000-2005 (%) Campeche State 754 730 74.0 1.6 Calkiní 49 850 74.7 1.1 Campeche 238 850 90.6 1.7 Carmen 199 988 86.4 2.7 Champotón 76 116 62.7 1.3 Hecelchakán 26 973 67.3 1.4 Tenabo 9 050 76.6 1.3 Palizada 7 903 -- 1.7 Yucatan State 1 818 948 83.0 1.6 Celestun 6 269 99.6 0.6 Dzemul 3 263 93.8 0.6 Dzidzantun 8 165 99.4 0.6 Dzilam de Bravo 2 248 0.0 -1.2 Hunucma 28 100 91.6 1.4 Ixil 3 598 98.3 1.9 Progreso 49 454 94.2 0.2 Rio Lagartos 3 272 0.0 1.2 San Felipe 1 838 0.0 1.2 Sinanche 2 972 0.0 -0.4 Telchac Puerto 1 626 0.0 0.4 Tizimin 69 553 68.1 1.4 Yobain 2 056 0.0 -0.1

Table 1 (cont.). Selected Indicator of the population by coastal municipalities in the Peninsula of Yucatan, 2005. Source: INEG,II 2005 census, Dwelling and Population Residents in Coastal Total Localities of 2,500 Medium Annual Municipality Population or more Growth Inhabitants (%) 2000-2005 (%) Quintana Roo State 1 135 309 85.6 4.7 Cozumel 73 193 97.6 3.5 Felipe Carrillo Puerto 65 373 54.3 1.4 Isla Mujeres 13 315 83.7 2.9 Othon P. Blanco 219 763 73.0 1.0 Benito Juarez 572 973 96.4 5.6 Lazaro Cardenas 22 357 28.6 1.6 Solidaridad 135 589 89.3 14.2

As well, the population in the coastal municipalities is larger in Campeche and Quintana Roo, which could influence the modalities of decentralization process. For example, in Yucatan, with the exception of 3 of the coastal municipalities of which Tizimin is the most populated, with 69 553 inhabitants, the other 10 have less than 10 000 inhabitants, while in Quintana Roo all the municipalities override this level. The smallest is Isla Mujeres with 13 315 inhabitants and the largest is Benito Juarez – that includes the city of Cancun – with more than half a million inhabitants. Another very important element, as it is a strong influence in the social cohesion of the communities and municipal organizations, is the migratory situation. Present in all the states due to the seasonal or annual changes of the economy, the migratory movements are very visible in Quintana Roo due to the increase of international tourism. The state’s population had in increase from 2000 to 2005 of 290 346 people, going from 874 963 to 1 125 309 inhabitants, which implies an increase of 4.7%, while in Campeche the increase was only 1.6% (i n e g i , 2005). As a result, communities formed by immigrants from the interior of Yucatan have developed along the coastline of Quintana Roo, which have had to adapt to a new environment and a work market dominated by the construction industry. This great disparity in geographical and demographical size and space mobility indicated that in the implementation of the decentralization processes the local particularities of the municipalities demand different interventions.

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The preceding paragraphs wish to demonstrate the condition of the Peninsula of Yucatan as a region that internally maintains significant differences both in the state and municipal levels. This situation is not unique to this region, but shows that a decentralization process that wants to really include the basic people should be supported by investigative efforts that give priority to a better knowledge of the local particularities.

Bibliography

Bezaury Creel J. E. B., 2004. Las áreas naturales protegidas costeras y marinas de México. p. 191-222. In: E. Rivera Arriaga, G.J. Villalobos, I. Azuz Adeath y F. Rosado May (eds.), El Manejo Costero en México. Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, s e m a r n a t , c e t y s - Universidad, Universidad de Quintana Roo.654 p. i n e g i , 2005. Conteo de población y vivienda, México. Labrecque M. F., 2005. Être Maya et travailler dans une maquiladora. État, identité, genre et génération au Yucatán, Mexique. Québec, Les Presses de l’Université Laval. l e a d , 2004. Coastal Water along the Yucatan Peninsula: Common Pool Resource Manage- ment. Texto consultado en Internet: http://casestudies.lead.org/index.php?cscid=156 Noble J. et al., 2001. Mexique. Le Sud. Paris, Lonely Planet Publications. Reyes Gómez H.G., Hacia el manejo sustentable del área de protección de flora y fauna La- guna de Términos, Campeche. p. 423-428. In: E. Rivera Arriaga, G. J. Villalobos, I. Azuz Adeath y F. Rosado May (eds.), El Manejo Costero en México. Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, s e m a r n a t , c e t y s -Universidad, Universidad de Quintana Roo.654 p. s e m a r n a t , 2006a. La gestión ambiental en México. México. s e m a r n a t , 2006b. Programa de acción regional para el control de las fuentes terrestres de contaminación marina en la Península de Yucatán. México. Villalobos Zapata G. J., 2004. Reservas de la biosfera costeras: los Petenes y Ría Celestún. p. 397-411. In: E. Rivera Arriaga, G. J. Villalobos, I. Azuz Adeath y F. Rosado May (eds.), El Manejo Costero en México. Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, s e m a r n a t , c e t y s - Universidad, Universidad de Quintana Roo. 654 p.

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Part 2

Governmental agencies and public participation in the coastal municipalities

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88 Inter-municipal alliances in Mexico: alternatives and decentralization examples

Cuauhtémoc León, José Sosa and Sergio Graf

A long road of changes and reforms in Governmental work: suggestions to understand the new decentralization challenges

hen the last five years of the new century began, the panorama offered by the local governments in Mexico and of some other countries was Wat the same time complex and diverse. This is not necessarily new, as mentioned in the many diverse studies and diagnosis performed in the last years, this level of government has been the object of multiple transformations, some of them product of the demographic and socio-economic changes characteristic of the change of century. But, in other cases the changes have been a product of political purposes purposely directed to give a new physiognomy and modify the role that these organisms should fulfill in their respective territories and societies. And is this last type of changes, as is discussed in this work, the one that has most influenced the actual perspectives of the local governments in Mexico. In the case of the coastal municipalities and those with a high environmental value, this condition of “institutional experimentation field” is more acute, as is also discussed further on.

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In order to understand in its proper dimension this era of changes, it is necessary to revise the places where the most relevant adjustments have happened. A way to do it is to locate, on one side, the changes in the local governmental environment, and on the other, what has happened inside this level of government. In an increasing way, all these elements point towards a change in government paradigm which has been dominated by uncertainty, technology, and the inter-dependency of actors, webs and institutions.1

The changes in the environment: from national governance to local governance

After several years of broad academic and political discussions, we attended the conformation of a historical moment in which a period of government reforms is finished, and a new one commences in which the “new institutional order” established by those reforms must start to give fruit. This new order, defined as a new governance, is sustained and legitimized in the general application of the decentralization principles, citizens’ participation, management improvement, de-regularization, transparency, efficiency and responsible account rendering to the structure and operation of public organizations, old as well as new.2 In its gradual – and sometime paradoxical – evolution, the new institutional order was making its purposes more concrete and specific. It commenced with the critical revision of the State’s structure and its most fundamental institutions (especially those related to political representation as an expression of “general will”), and then be inserted in aspects more directly related to the daily actions of decisions and public resources. Following Luis Carlos Bresser The State Reform involves political aspects related to the promotion of governance – that is, the political capacity of the government to represent and be an intermediary between different interest groups; in such a way that it may guarantee the legitimacy and political power for the decisions coming from the Administration – economical and administrative aspects that generate an improved governance – understood as the effective capacity the government has to transform its policies into reality.3 1 Fundacio Pi I Sunyer, 1999. El future dels ajuntaments, vuit visions: p.8. 2. M.C.Pardo, 2004, Prologue, p.11, In: M.C. Pardo (comp.) De la administración publica a la gobernanza. El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico. 3 L.C. Bresser P., 1999, Managerial public administration: strategy and structure for a new State, p. 1.14, In: Luis C. Bresser and P. Spink, Reforming the State: Managerial public administration in Latin America, Colorado, Lynne Rienner

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In this manner, the administrative reforms, aroused from the search of govern- ability to the conformation of the new governance,4 found two essential objectives. On one side, reduce the distance between the social demands and the public answers (through a pro-efficient public administration), and on the other, protect the public wealth (res publica) from a rapacious privatization (the nominated rent seekers).5 Even though academic literature has give a diversity of meanings to the governance term, for our purposes, the essential idea is that the government stops being the autonomous and authoritarian actor it was. On the contrary, now the public sector is conceived as dependent on the private sector in diverse manners, and public policies are elaborated and implemented, in great part, through the interaction of public and private actors. As happened in the case of n a p (New Public Administration), practice frequently leaves behind the theory, which has given the studious difficulties to identify and conceptualize the variety of relations aroused from this situation.6 Consequently with this vision, the actual government and public administration panorama – into which inevitably the local governments inscribe – requires a characterization as a modified environment, in which the previously dominating notions are substituted by those generated by the new institutional order, which we have been referring to. In this manner, anything that tends to point the governments and their administrative apparatus as main media and generators of solutions to the contemporary public problems should be held as anachronism or lack of adequacy to the present historical moment.7 This does not mean that the public sector has renounced to its role as strategic actor of a general character. On the contrary, according to the visions of the new governance, the government now has a more precise and definite role to accomplish, which puts it in a situation of greater vigilance and demand from the society and its organizations. This is a major obligation to render accounts for what it does and what it does not do.8 In the words of the president of the “Ministerial Symposium on the Future of Public Services”: “… what the government should not do and pay, what it should pay for not doing, what it must and must not do, nor pay”.9 Coinciding with this posture, the public sector’s new responsibility is understood as the integration of four main acting areas (see Table 1). Consequently, the public functions – defined as a total for the public sector – are detailed as a continuity

4. M.C. Pardo, op. cit 5 L.C. Bresser, loc. cit 6 Guy Peters B., 2004, Cambios en la naturaleza de la administración pública, p. 72, In: M.C. Pardo (comp..), De la administración pública a la gobernanza. El Colegio de México, México. 7 Grimshaw, D. S. Vincent and H. Willmott, 2002, Going privately: partnership and outsourcing in UK public services. Public Administration, 80 (3): 1 and ss.

Table 1. The new public functions in the governance era. Strategic Nucleus Net of Non Exclusive Activities - Elaboration and appliance of laws and - Education, health and social services. public policies for all the arenas. - Infrastructure, economical development, - Vigilance of the law and public policy’s territorial integration appliance for all the arenas. - Environmental and natural resources management. Exclusive Activities Nucleus Production Net of Goods and Services - Armed forces for the Market and Society - Diplomacy and Foreign Relations - Production of commercially viable goods - Fiscal, economical and monetary policy. - Offer of services to producer and con- - Commercial and Customs policies sumer - Management of communication, information and knowledge nets. Source: Own elaboration based on M.C. Pardo, op.cit.; Luis C Bresseira op.cit. ; and B. Guy Peters, op. cit. that goes from the strategic nucleus, inevitably located in the national instances or government centers, towards the conformation of nets, getting broader and located closer to the local governments in which the main feature is the incorporation of other governmental and non-governmental actors. In all these cases, the functions imply, in lesser or greater degree:10 • The participation of instances different from the judicial or defined by status. • A stricter control on the acting of the public officials. • Broad regimes for the rendering of accounts. • The permanent search of improved management forms, incorporating specific measures for efficiency and efficacy.

8 The growing presence and the enlargement of the roles of local, national or international academic centers (including programs of PNUD type), that propitiate an increase of capabilities (many times explicitly visible in the professionals grouped in the ONGS), form a furnace of new conditions in the municipalities. The external organized capabilities are a source of transparency demand and specialized technical dialogue. It would be the case of ecological-territorial ordinance programs and the assembly of different kind of state and Federal programs (SEMARNAT, CMB-M) that allow the convergence of long term planning proposals and new institutional dynamics of local insertion. 9 OCDE, 1998, Simposi ministerial sobre el futu deis serveis publics. Diputacio de Barcelona, Barcelona (Papers de formación municipal, no. 46 mayo 1998) p: 10. 10 B. Guy Peters, loc. Cit.; pp. 85-93.

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In this manner, the formal and informal relations between governmental and non- governmental actors, within and without the public sector, have tended to vary in such a way that the conceptual pretensions planted during the 80’s 11 to substitute the notion of “hierarchy” for that of “nets”, has become reality. The implications are no less and should be carefully considered, as it is not only a change in principle or rules of paradigm order that rule a wide or limited group of entities, but a modification of organized behavior patterns that could result – and in fact, derive – in a long collection of cases, positive and negative, favorable and unfavorable to cooperation.12 Following the previously expressed arguments, the second five years of the x x i century is the scenario of an important number of public actions in which the local governments are the axel of the new governance. This governance is defined and applied as equilibrium, sometimes a little unstable or unpredictable, among the individual purposes of political, economical and social actors and the attention to the needs of a general character: the so called “common good or general interest”. The difference related to the past dominated by the central government and central actors, resides in that the local governments face two specific challenges of these new times: on one hand they cannot refer to political control and exercise physical or judicial force as they depend on the support and participation of the same actors they intend to control. In many cases the legitimacy and government resources come from organizations that act in the municipality’s contour, sometimes causing a sym- biosis or an integration of interests between the two of them. On the other hand the total effects that generate decisions adopted by local governments has a profound “domestic” character; that is, the benefits and damages are manifested and impact mainly in the immediate environment of the government, increasing significantly the political and social sensitivity regarding success or failure. Therefore the local governments need to calculate adequately the consequences of their decisions, in order to avoid the generation of long term conflicts and sequels. Event though what has been mentioned before equally affects all the acting areas of the government there are significant differences between intervention areas and

11 I refer to the diverse texts and authors that based on the analysis on the evolutions of United States’ federalism made by Deil S. Wright, proposed the abandonment of inter-governmental hierarchy notions to be substituted by concepts of net works and cooperative work. On Wright’s work, see Wright, Deil S., 1978. From federalism to inter-governmental relations in the United State, Political Studies Magazine; no. (1978): pp. 5-28. 12 Vincent Grimshaw & Willmott, art. Cit.: pp. 483-485. The need to cooperate in the garbage management projects or to understand the advantages of copying the neighbor, who supported the ONGS to be advised on the solution of problems. See also Navarrete and Leon, 2003.

92 93 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o types of government. As pointed out by Breton and Blais13 when referring to decentralization effects, the geographical and environmental features of the territories where the new governance takes place, condition the results. For the exercise of public functions defined as “strategic nucleus” and “nucleus for exclusive activities” (see Table 1), the territorial tends to dilute due to the generic of the functions; or, said in another way, the exercised functions do not recognize or distinguish the territorial particularities. In the case of welfare functions, creation of infrastructure and environmental protection (“net of non exclusive activities” in Table 1) and those that have to do with the production of goods and services, the weight of territorial factors is almost absolute. Therefore, as presented by Breton and Blais when talking about coastal environments,14 it is necessary to take into account the specific characteristics of the actors, identifiable natural and social resources and the articulations of interest and purposes that could arise. From another perspective, this territorial dimension – or the needs it creates in terms of guaranteeing the solution of public problems – is the key to explain the appearance of cooperation and alliance formation phenomena or situations, as is presented in the rest of this work.

Evolution of the situation of Mexico’s municipalities: the case of coastal municipalities

The features of centralists that characterized Mexico’s economical development up to 198015 are very well known. The commonly employed arguments to justify the concentration of activities and wealth in a few cities and regions insisted in the need to make available scale economies and withstand the development process and the creation of infrastructure in the main urban localities of the country. Those aspects that are not considered in these arguments are those that limited the development of the regions and localities that were not favored by the centralized decisions. Such is the case of the South and Southwest regions of the country – with the exception of the development poles operated by the oil industry in some states – and the total of shores and coastlines – with the exception of the tourist development poles directed

13 See the introductory work to this book. 14 Loc. Cit. 15 See our discussion on the theme in Sosa J. and C. León, 2006, Coastal municipalities and government capabilities: possibilities for institutional change and sustainable development, p. 949-968. In P. Moreno-Casasola, E. Peresbarbosa, A. Travieso Bello (eds.). Estrategia para el manejo costero integral. El enfoque municipal. Instituto de Ecología AC-CONANP, Volume 3.

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by the Federal government and of some ports designed to cover the needs of international commerce. In the same manner, the development of governmental capacities and the conformation of advanced public policies were concentrated in some sectors and levels. The Federal government and its main decentralized organisms (Petroleos Mexica- nos, Comision Federal de Electricidad, f o n a t u r , etc.) received the majority of resources and the greater capacities to establish a development strategy (Pardo, 1994). The state governments and the municipalities, in their majority, were kept apart from the processes and policies established from the Federal government, even though they had marginal interventions when there were activities that affected their respective towns and territories. In the specific case of the coastal regions and the municipalities that form them, it is possible to affirm that their development all along thex x century was dominated by two main tendencies. On one side, the majority of these regions and municipalities constituted the “dark side” of the main development processes. In other words, they were the localities and territories that ceded population (by migration) in favor of the urban centers created by the strong urbanization that the country experimented since the 50’s; they were the spaces that were not considered by the infrastructure policies (maybe with the exception of the electrification program of the 70’s); and finally they were the regions that did not receive public or private investment for the industrialization in the different phases. On the other side, some regions and coastal municipalities were part of the central development processes due the importance they received in certain contexts due to their resources or geographical position. Such is the case of the oil municipalities in states such as Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche and Chiapas. It is also the situation of the municipalities affected by the creation or expansion of ports and tourist developments in Veracruz, Campeche, Sinaloa, Sonora, Colima, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo. The two previous tendencies gave place to a coastal territorial pattern characterized by strong inequalities in terms of life conditions of the residents, as well as the use and exploitation of their resources and productive potentials. A very general characterization of this pattern is shown in figure 1. In what refers to the coastal municipal governments, the situation that prevailed up to the 80’s can be categorized as of scant institutional development from the negative exclusion processes, centralization and regional specialization previously mentioned. This does not mean that these governments lacked other political and social elements that would give them specific capabilities to attend the demands and needs of their population and territory.

Figure 1. Systems of cities in Mexico: urban structure, hierarchy and ties.

Following the classification of municipalities made by the National Center of Municipal Development (1993), the majority of governments located in coastal municipalities was characterized by an underdeveloped administrative structure result of the limited availability of economical resources; but with a broad communication and contact capacity with the population. Even though their possibilities to obtain resources through fiscal means were also limited, they were compensated by strong political and cultural ties that supported the municipal authorities and allowed them to act efficiently in difficult situations, mobilizing for that purpose social resources. This situation commenced a profound modification since the 80’s when the irruption of new political and economical processes altered the then existing territorial equilibrium. The process of political and economical change that has characterized Mexico since the 80’s, has, in the regional and local government instances, one of the fundamental axels. Perhaps as a reaction to the high level of centralism, the structures of political and social representation at local scale were the first in experiment- ing strong political tensions and demands due to the modification of the traditional mechanisms to attain political power and exercise public authority.

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It is to be remembered that it was a coastal municipality and state the first one to perform the change or transition from p r i : in Ensenada, the p a n (National Action Party) candidate, Ernesto Rufo, won in 1986 and in 1989 was elected governor, becoming the first of the opposition party. As a result of these pressures, the electoral procedures were modified giving way to democratic elections and the arrival into government positions of new social groups and new political parties. In addition to the important effects that democratization of power in Mexico has had on the majority of social sectors, its main consequence in the municipalities has been the formation of new rules that make possible the articulation of ideological discourses and development strategies based mainly on immediate local conditions. In other words, democratization has allowed to revalue the local and regional spaces as places for discussions and authentic politics, and as scenarios in which the government’s action is explained and justified by itself, in terms of the objectives it proposes as well as the use of resources that are necessary to achieve them. Of the complex scaffolding of new definitions that have arisen throughout this period of democratization, three fundamental currents are affecting in a particular manner the capabilities of the coastal municipal governments regarding their insertion in the new governance: • The decentralization of public policies and programs promoted by the Federal government in the education and health fields and recently the environmental protection. • The experimentation of municipal public negotiation inspired in the relative success of some municipalities that, like Leon (Guanajuato), Cuquio (Jalisco) and Benito Juarez (Quintana Roo), have been able to restate their social and economical development models. • The re-configuration of the municipal public agenda in order to promote social interests different from those strictly related with the elections (the value and weight of the local-regional-neighbor-agenda, where the natural resources of climate phenomena are strong). • The distribution of fiscal resources and the adequacy of the normative frames. It is to be emphasized that even though these tendencies have emphasized the local governments’ capacities, in the majority of the cases the forms they have adopted do not adequately contemplate the differences existing between regions and municipalities in terms of population size, territorial extension, environmental complexity, urbanization degree, and specific characteristics of their governmental systems.

However, such omissions have been compensated, and in some cases overcome by the emergence of new negotiation schemes and inter-governmental alliances. With this, the municipalities with greater economical level development have benefited more rapidly from decentralization; while the rest have been submitted to important adjustments in their governmental structures that not always result in the full adoption of the faculties and resources involved in decentralization. With all, there are perspectives of an effort generalization and a growing interest between the local authorities to avail the advantages of agreements and pacts linked to a municipal association.16 The contour in which this situation of change has been expressed most clearly is that of the public municipal management. In this case, the use of new models of public management has been conditioned by the previous existence of solid administrative structures, which are only registered – as has been suggested – in urban or metropolitan municipal governments, or those whose productive structures is of the industrial type or of services. The so called “Municipal Public Management” (Cabrero, 1999) although limited to the mentioned municipalities, forms today a solid tendency of governmental change that emphasizes the use of modern technology for the planning and management of systems and resources (strategic planning, modern management of human resources, “just on time” system for the administration of services, organizational engineering, certification of units following the norms ofi s o , etc.). Fundamentally, this tendency assumes the variable existence of unexploited potentials and resources in the midst of the municipal governments and their socio-economic environments. Its appliance as a dominant focus in municipal administration would allow the use of such potentials and resources. The cases that are presented further on are a good sample of the applicability of this idea. Lastly, as is broadly known, the democratization of Mexican society brought the irruption of civil society into the definitions of public affairs (Olvera, 1999). This fact has been configured, especially, as the end of the monopoly of politicians and public officials on the definition of general interest matters, and their insertion in government and political parties’ agendas. Therefore, it has not only been possible to extend or improve the definition of traditional problems, such as health, education,

16 The municipal agenda has been expressed with specific demands on income and the possibility of charging taxes or participations. Such is the case of the National Association of Coastal Municipalities, founded on October 30, 2004, whose agenda shows a clear territorial differentiation in regard to the agendas or territorial spaces (for example, borders or touristic). See www.anmco.org/.

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public security, but also broad roads have been opened for discussion and eventual attention to problems that up to now were not considered fundamental, such as rights of the minorities, protection to the environment, and the territorial equality of conditions of life. The increasing weight of these three currents and their gradual interaction and integration in the public debates and the attribution of responsibilities to the different levels of government, is giving place to a situation in which the citizens tend to put more attention on governmental work and, and at the same time, present an also bigger load of demands and needs that they expect to be satisfied. For the municipal governments these pressures are particularly acute. The fact that these governments have been the first spaces of democracy, condition the possible strategies that the local leaders could perform, when they are not able to present different alternatives to the most successful electorally speaking, in other terms, those “with a social feeling”. Even though the fiscal decentralization process has reached the total of Mexican municipalities, fundamentally, through the resources from “Ramo 33”, there are still important differences in what refers to attention capacities in the different municipal public apparatus and the condition the local economies present. Therefore, it is necessary to take clear notice of the concrete conditions given in the different regions and municipalities of the country. In the case of the coastal municipalities, it is fundamental to understand their position relative to the rest of the country, as well as the particular challenges they face and are not present in other parts of the national territory.17

Inter-municipal alliances: available evidences and successful cases

Along these paragraphs, two cases are described, relatively linked, and whose evolution confirms some of the above listed elements. First, the case of inter-municipal alliance associated with Rio Ayuquila is presented, where the restoration of the river and the local forces had an arrangement that allowed and culminated, among other forms, in an inter-municipal institution. In second place, some elements are described that have determined that the coastal municipalities of the state of Yucatan also line up towards a mutual benefit alliance.

17 This theme is seen in more detail in Leon C., and Sosa, 2006, Atributos del desarrollo Costero en México: ¿Derrotero sin rumbo?, p. 921-947. In: P. Moreno-Casasola, E. Peresbarbosa, A. Travieso Bello (eds.). Estrategia para el manejo costero integral. El enfoque municipal. Instituto de Ecología AC-CONANP. Volume 3, pp. 921-947.

Among some of the common elements that could be pointed out in both cases are: a strong social demand to attend cases of complex environmental problems: urban growth, garbage, public health, water contamination (the river or the sea); and a strong participation and availability of scientific information from the ONGS and academia. The link between the municipalities is articulated in one case by the river (the flow and the basin), and in the other case the beach-sea and the economical or territorial net with the capital (Merida). In both cases it is confirmed that the inter-municipal alliance – expressed or consolidated through any manner (decentralized public organisms or just political purposes) – represent, for the decentralization process a form to express its advantages or its inevitability for the municipal, state or Federal governments, that is an increased obligation to render accounts for what it does and does not do (“what the government should do and pay, what it should pay for not doing, what should and should not do nor pay”).18

Case 1. Inter-municipal initiative for the management of Rio Ayuquila’s basin19

Ayuquila’s basin covers and extension of 9 821 km2 in the states of Jalisco and Co- lima, and it is considered as one of the most important 15 in the Pacific slope; the second in importance in the state of Jalisco and the first in the state of Colima. Ayu- quila River basin is considered at national level as a priority hydrological region as it houses five protected national areas, a high diversity of endemic and endangered species y three big dams that provide irrigation water to 54 000 cultivation hectares in Jalisco and Colima. Ayuquila River constitutes seventy one kilometers of the Northern limits of the Biosphere Reserve of Sierra de Manantlan, recognized by the u n e s c o due to its international importance. This basin, as many others in the country, with the passage of time, has suffered a gradual deterioration process of its natural resources, generating problems such as

18 OCDE, op. cit. 19 Brief description based on_ Sergio Graf M., Eduardo Santana, Salvador Garcia, Luis Manuel Martinez J., Jose Llamas, Leyla Wynter, Tania Roman, Document presented in the Water World Forum March, 2006: Collaborative governance for sustainable water resources management: the experience of the inter-municipal initiative for the Integrated Management of the Ayuquila River Base, Mexico. Environment & Urbanization. International Institute for Environment and Development (HED). Vol. 18 (2): 297-313 www.onlinelearning.unu.edu/ayuquila/archive. html; www.onlinelearning.unu.edu/ayuquila/e-archive/04.pdf

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Reserva de la Biósfera Sierra de Manantlán

Jalisco

Colima

Oceano Pacífico

Figure 2. Area of the Inter-municipal Initiative of Ayuquila-Armeria River (shaded) and area of the Manantlal Reserve (line in black).

the loss of vegetation, soil degradation, water and soil contamination among others (Graf et al., 1995). However, during the last 20 years the main deterioration factor was water contamination, mainly due to the discharge of residues from the local sugar industry and the main human settlements in the region. Yearly, during the sugar grinding season there was a massive death of fishes and crustaceans, seriously affecting the health and food source of the river population in the municipalities of Tuxcacuesco, Toli-

100 101 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o man and Zapotitlan de Vadilla that are found down river and are considered among the most marginal in the state of Jalisco. Added to this, the cities of Autlan and Grullo and the state and Federal offices would not answer the citizens’ complaints on the contamination problems. As well, the current legislation had many inconsisten- cies that made its application difficult in order to stop contamination. The situation at River Ayuquila was the classic case of “environmental injustice”, in which the neediest communities suffered the negative impacts and costs of contamination, but were not benefitted by the economical downpour generated by the industrial and agricultural activity up river. They went then, from the strategic nucleus (inevitably located in the national or central instances of the government) towards the formation of nets, growing wider each time, in which the main feature was the incorporation of other governmental and non-governmental actors. As an answer to the demands of the river populations in the reserve, which were affected by contamination, mainly generated by discharge of residue waters from the sugar industry, the Manantlan Institute of Ecology and Conservation of Bio-diversity (i m e c b i o ) of the University of Guadalajara made in 1990 a diagnosis of the problem and a series of suggestions to initiate actions conducive to the environmental recovery of the river (Santana et al., 1993). Later, with the creation of the Direction of the Reserve of the Sierra Manantlan Bio-sphere (d r b s m ) in 1993, a new institution dynamic was generated that facilitated the structure of the social demands through “defense committees of River Ayuquila” that were created in the river bed communities. As well, s e d e s o l , the State Govern- ment, the d r b s m and the municipal governments developed a participative planning process to define priority actions to fight poverty, in which the communities identified the river’s contamination as the main limitation for development. On another side, in 1992 the New Law of National Waters was published and in 1995 the s e m a r n a t (which incorporated the National Water Commission as the director of water management in the country) was created. That same year (1995) a political alternative was produced in the state government of Jalisco and the sugar mill was privatized (it was a State industry). These events generated a new institutional and judicial context that allowed the opening of new routes to face the river’s contamination problem. Parallel, a campaign of public denunciation was generated in the local, state and national media and formal complaints were issued, with contamination proofs, to the government offices responsible of environmental management. Thei m e c b i o and the d r b s m on their part developed an environmental education campaign on the theme that included the impulse of a successful program of separating solid residues in the municipalities of El Grullo and Autlan.

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In face of the citizens’ demand, the National Water Commission (c a n ) created in 1997 the “Commission of River Ayuquila-Armeria Basin”; and as a product of the intensive environmental educational campaign the cleaning of River Ayuquitla is established as citizen’s priority in the regional planning process of the state of Jalisco. Little by little diverse investment programs began to take place in the development planning of the region, the expectation for a solution to the problem of contamination disappeared rapidly with the creation of the Commission for the Basin, since it became a space focused mainly in the distribution of water to the irrigation districts between the states of Jalisco and Colima, but with nil results to the most important problem of the local population: water contamination. Finally, in 1998 an accident in the sugar mill caused a great molasses spill into the river, causing the massive death of fish. This crisis finally catalyzed, in order that the authorities responded to the contamination problem. The peasants, with the support of their municipalities, manifested against the sugar mill. The mill was fined and through several mechanisms, including its closure, it was obliged to change the handling system of residues, eliminating totally their discharges into the river. This disposition immediately generated a visible improvement in the quality of the water in the river, which reflected in the increase of local fishing and the observation of endangered species such as the otter or water dog (Lutra longicaudis). With the process of control of the contamination generated by the sugar industry, and the positive work experience through the process of regional planning, the advantage of municipalities working together to solve common problems – like the river’s contamination – and to link with institutions like the d r b s m and i m e c b i o , was made evident. In this manner, and facing the incapacity of the Basin’s Commission to begin a recovery process and effective management of the basin, there was a search for other agreement mechanisms that would respond immediately to the initiatives of the local groups. On July 25, 2001, a letter of intention was signed in which 8 municipalities signed the agreement of a joint execution of environmental management projects within the frame of Inter-municipal Initiative for the Integral Management of River Ayuquitla’s Basin (h g i c r a ). The objective of this initiative is to “consolidate an association of municipalities that counts with the participation and support of the citizens… with the institutional capabilities to improve the conditions of life of their population… through an effective environmental management…. That includes the local initiatives and counts with the coordinated participation of the three levels of government”.

In August 2002, a trust was created as a financing mechanism with funds from the three levels of government20. At present, the h g i c r a is formed by 10 municipalities from the state of Jalisco: Autlan, El Grullo, Union de Tula, Ejutla, El Limon, Tuxcac- uesco, Tonaya, San Gabriel, Toliman and Zapotitlan de Vadillo. The initiative has a total of 136 000 inhabitants and encompasses a region of 4 100 km2, equivalent to the surface and number of municipalities in the neighbor state of Colima.

Civil society’s irruption in public matters’ definition

The municipal governments are reformed and this case shows an innovative local governance mechanism for environmental management. It incorporates, as allies, federal agencies (r b s m - National Commission for Natural Protected Areas) and state agencies (Ministry of Rural Development for the State of Jalisco). It also includes the academic sector and local civil society through the University of Guadalajara and m a b i o , a.c. The initiative is part of the Commission for the Rio Ayuquila-Armeria Basin’s agenda prompted by the National Water Commission, ensuring an adequate interchange between the three levels of government with the planning and management of the group that form the basin which also involves the state of Colima. The formation of new rules that make possible the articulation of ideological discourses and development strategies mainly based on the most immediate local conditions. River Ayuquila’s basin, as well as the rest of the national territory, is facing a rapid decline of natural resources. This situation has negative impacts in local economy as the natural capital is lost, development base of the rural communities, the capability of the ecosystems to provide environmental services, like water provisioning, is diminished and the risks of natural disaster increases. Based in the association of municipal governments and public participation, this inter-municipal initiative represents the beginning of a learning curve in the creation of new governance mechanisms for sustainable development and the decentralization of territorial management (natural resources), at municipal level such as the hydrological basin (that surpasses the jurisdictional limits of municipalities and states). Among the results obtained by the inter-municipal initiative are: 1) the planning for the territorial management; 2). Cleaning of River Ayuquila; 3) the creation of

20 Trustees, the 10 municipalities. Technical committee 10 municipalities. U.de G., RBSM, Ministry of Rural Development of Jalisco, and Fundacion Mabo. www.ayuquila.com/

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Modelo Institucionalización para el Río Ayuquila

Acuerdo politico Acuerdo administrativo-legislativo

Alianza intermunicipal Etapa 2 Creación de figura con otros actores y en proceso organizativa con ordenes de gobierno personalidad jurídica, para la gestión ambiental patrimonio propio y a nivel de cuenca o litoral estructura: OPD (opción AC)

OPD: Organismo Publico Descentralizado

Etapa 1 Planes y programas consolidada

Mecanismos de Municipios financiamiento Acciones territoriales y de gestión a nivel de cada unidad municipal FIDEICOMISO y acciones comunes y Comité Técnico (mismo que OPD)

Figure 3. Ayuquila’s case institutionalization – Conceptual model. municipal plants for water and residue treatment; 4) the separation and handling of solid residues in ten municipalities; and 5) fire prevention in Sierra de Manantlan.

Case 2. Inter-municipal alliance in the coast of Yucatan 21

The thirteen coastal municipalities of the state of Yucatan form a belt or biological corridor all along the coast. In the extremes, there are four municipalities where there are natural protected areas (State and Federal): Celestun and Hunucma to the West

21 Brief description based on the Central America Biological Corridor project – Mexico. Document with the detailed description of the project. January 2001. World Bank. Report No. 21136-ME. Evaluation document of the project on a donation proposed by Global Environment Facility Trust Fund. www.cbmm.gob.mx/archivos/PAD.espanol.pdf Sergio Graf Montero 2007, Taller de fortalecimiento de la Alianza Intermunicipal para la Gestión Integral de la Costa de Yucatán, Telchac Puerto, September 29 and 30. Final Report. SEMARNAT/CBM/Niños y Crías, A.C., Convocatoria 2006. Consultant. CBM-M “Fortalecimiento de una alianza intermunicipal para el manejo sustentable de los recursos naturales n el Corredor Costa Norte de Yucatán”. www.cbmm.gob.mx/convocatorias/convocatoria14.pdf. Report 2006 CBM-M (POETCY) (P. 22) www.cbmm.gob.mx/informe1106.pdf. Reports on advisory (Yucatan) CBM-M. www.cbmm.gob.mx./consultorias.php.

104 105 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o and Rio Lagartos and Tizimin to the East. Between these are the other eight: Dzilam, Progreso, Ixil, Telchac Puerto, Sinanche, Yobain, Dzidzantun and Dzilam de Bravo. All share common problems by being linked with ecological and socio-economic processes. 22 The municipal authorities are in principle aware of the need to create inter-municipal arrangements for the integral management of the coastline (the land/ marine territories). The Northern coast of Yucatan23 is a complex region in the social, economic and ecological aspects. Its population of approximately 60 000 inhabitants makes use of the multiple coastal ecosystems. There are several local users that live in a permanent, irregular or seasonal manner in a tight fusion of common and contradictory interests. These users employ the resources and ecosystems in a different manner, based on responsibility schemes and rights acquired through tradition and formal rights. From a sociological and economical point of view, the coastal communities were the safeguard of many peasants in the constant search of survival strategies in past decades (extraction of salt, copra, mollusk cropping, crustaceans, and fishing in lagoons and swamps). The coast of Yucatan was used as a life saver during the henequen crisis between 1978 and 1992. Fishing was one of the selected activities for the state program of diversification, as a productive alternative for a great part of the peasants that required economical resources and job opportunities. At present, the coast of Yucatan is an essential region for the state’s economy and will continue to be in the future, especially due to the urban growth associated with tourist investment. With the creation of natural reserves – Celestun and El Palmar on the West and Bocas de Dzilam and Ria Lagartos on the East – the biodiversity is preserved in the extremes of the coast of Yucatan. Therefore, in the central part of the coast there is a need to influence the economical activities in order to make them compatible or propitiate the conservation and restoration of the natural resources.

22 The natural protected areas are included in the Ramsar list of international importance, two Biosphere Reserves (Ría Lagarto and Ría Celestún), two State Reserves (El Palmar and Dzilam de Bravo) in each extreme. 23 It can be said that the system has eight main ports (Sisal, Chuburná, Progreso, Chabihau, Santa Clara, Dzilám Bravo, Río Lagartos, and Las Coloradas) and four inland towns in parallel (Tetiz, Chicxulub Pueblo, Telchac Pueblo and Loche). These twelve locations are municipalities and delegations located on the coast and adjacent zone at an approximate distance of 25 kms.

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Progreso playas/dunas

Figure 4. Yucatan’s coastline – morphology and landscape. Source: taken from PAD of CBM-M.24 To the coastal corridor of Yucatan, that covers around 115 000 hectares, the coastal waters up to a 50 meter depth should be added, to include the area where artisan fishermen work. This corridor is unique in the world due to its habitat, species and ecological processes and the manner in which the coastal communities make use of the marsh resources: 1) the Yucatan coast is land without rivers, consequently all the fresh water that flows into the unique and extensive (378 km) coastal ecosystem of marsh/ estuary is done through springs of subterranean sources, not from rivers or overland flows; 2) a high endemism of the biotic community of the dune system – which is unique in the world-; 3) many species of global interest inhabit the corridor (for example, American flamingo, three species of marine turtles, crocodile, 33 endemic species of invertebrate and 130 species of international migrating birds); 4) the eco- touristic potential found in marshes and beaches; 5) the marshes and marine ecosystems close to the beach influence the international waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean; and 6) the Ria Lagartos reserve is recognized at international level as Reserve of the u n e s c o Biosphere and Ramsar; the Celestun reserve is candidate to the same acknowledgement. Based on diverse criteria (biodiversity, fishing, tourism, population benefited by the use of water and soil, irrigation area and number of natural protected areas it holds) the Coast of Yucatan is considered by the National Commission for the Use and Conservation of Biodiversity (c o n a b i o ) as a priority region at national level. The social and economical development of the 12 municipalities that form part of the shore line of the State of Yucatan mainly depends on the fishing, agricultural, tourist and commercial activities, which are sustained by the environmental services provided by the natural systems.

24 www.cbmm.gob.mx./archivos/PAD-espanol-pdf

Estados Unidos

Golfo de México México Océano Pacifico

Golfo de México

Figure 5. Natural protected areas in Yucatan.

Paradoxically, these same activities have contributed to the coast line ecological degradation due to inadequate use of soil, deficient programs of solid residue disposition, water contamination and inadequate use of the fishing resources, among other reasons. To stop this deterioration processes, the Federal and state governments have displayed important efforts, many of them with encouraging results mainly in the natural protected areas, however, in the remaining territory of these municipalities the deterioration processes continue in an intense manner. In 2002, during the regional planning processes of the start of the Biological Corridor of the North Coast of Yucatan in the construction and formalization frame of the Central America-Mexico Biological Corridor project (financed by g e f -World Bank and institutionally localized in the c o n a b i o ),25 the handling of solid residues was emphasized as priority in the public health theme sessions as well as in the environmental sessions.

25 www.conabio.gob.mx/; www.cbmm.gob.mx/.

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Since then, sensitivity campaigns have been performed by the municipalities, the Ministry of Ecology of the State of Yucatan, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, the directors of the Reserves of Ria Lagartos and Ria Celestun, as well as civil society’s organizations. There is, therefore an effective collaboration to perform shore line conservation actions between the municipalities, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (the reserves of the bio-sphere), the s e m a r - n a t , the State Reserves- Ministry of Ecology of the Government of the State of Yucatan (Bocas de Dzilam and El Palmar) the Central America Biological Corridor (c o n a b i o ), Niños y Crias, A.C. (local o n g ), academic institutions (for example, c i n - v e s t a v , Autonomous University of Yucatan), schools and diverse organizations.

The irruption of civil society in the definition of public affairs

That same year and in a parallel manner, in the natural protected areas Biosphere Reserve of Ria Celestun and Biosphere Reserve of Ria Lagartos a first campaign of environmental education was finished, based on the Rare methodology on conservation based on pride, with the theme “Handling of solid residues”. Between May 2005 and May 2006, the Central America-Mexico Biological Cor- ridor performed a similar campaign in the communities of Sisal, Telchac Puerto, Chabihau and Dzilam Bravo in the North Coast Corridor of Yucatan. These campaigns have set a precedent concerning consciousness and priority of the region’s problem involving the municipal authorities. The inter-municipal alliance of River Ayuquila has served as a model of what has recently happened in the Yucatan municipalities. We shall see how the effect of these nets (academic and of knowledge or political) also impacts distant states. In the state of Yucatan, nine of the municipalities found along the coast line signed, on February 4, 2006, a letter of intention to form the Inter-municipal Initiative of the Shoreline of the North Coast of Yucatan in presence of the Governor of the State of Yucatan, the Minister of Ecology, s e m a r n a t ’s delegate in Yucatan, and representatives of the Inter-municipal Initiative of River Ayuquila; and later, two follow up meetings were held in coordination with c o n a n p , s e c o l and c b m -m.

Formation of new rules that make possible the articulation of ideological discourses and development strategies based on the most immediate local conditions In July 2005 and February 2006 an interchange of experiences was performed between the Mayors of the Inter-municipal Initiative for the Integral Management of River Ayuquila’s Basin (Jalisco) and the Mayors Calkini (Campeche) and Celestun, Telchac Puerto, Sinanche, Yobain, Dzilam de Bravo, San Felipe, Rio Lagartos and Tizimin (Yucatan); first the ones of the Peninsula visited Jalisco, and later those of the Inter-municipal Alliance of River Ayuquila were received in the Peninsula. In this process, cooperation forms were searched for the solution of common problems; in the creation of inter-municipal institutional arrangements and an opportunity was seen for the integral management of this territory. The Mayors who signed the Inter-municipal Initiative of the North Coast Shore Line of Yucatan agreed to jointly participate with other actors in the region (state and Federal governments, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and organizations of users, among others) in the planning, making and execution of programs and projects, in order to fortify the institutional capability of each municipal government in matters of environmental management, public health and promotion of local development; promote citizen’s educational processes and create participation spaces for decision making on public health, social development, handling of natural resources; help in the coordinated participation of the three levels of government and local actors in the elaboration of initiatives that bond the environment with social development; foment that academic institutes perform investigations applicable to the solution of environmental problems and development of coastal shore line, through the fortification of the university-municipality ties and academic interchange; and promote the conservation, restoration and rational use of water, soils, marshes and bio-diversity. In September 2006 the “Workshop for the fortification of the Inter-municipal Al- liance of the Coast of Yucatan” took place, financed by the c b m -m and the s e m a r n a t Delegation in Yucatan that included representatives of the inter-municipal alliance of River Ayuquila and the new inter-municipal alliance of the Coast of Yucatan. The result of the workshop was an important advance in the consolidation of the alliance and the identification of the need to have an organism supporting and easing the continuity of the actions. An agenda was defined and the purpose to maintain and consolidate (under the Ayuquila model) this alliance was ratified in order to transit through the change of powers in the 2007 elections.

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Even though the resulted diagnosis of the workshop and the immediate actions are great advances – in the concretion and appropriation or clarity of the actions to be performed to face the common problems of the region -, maybe what is most important is the parallelism between both cases. For example, in 2006 the Ecological Ordinance for Coastal Territory (the same territory of the inter-municipal alliance) began in Yucatan, in which practically all the academic institutions assembled and is financed by the same agents that coincide in this effort. On the other hand, s e m a r n a t in this zone also promotes a coastal management regional program as a response to the agreements of the Washington declaration (1995) to regulate contamination from terrestrial activities (better known as Global Program Action). 26 Diverse international agencies also coincide with development programs that are helping in this type of parallel actions that generate options, social capital and productive alternatives, many of which are focused towards sustainability; such would be the case of p n u d with its Little Donations Program.27 The evolution of this social conglomerate, in search of institutionalization, will have favorable winds and different options in its evolution. Part of the agenda could be related, not only with intervention options in terrestrial processes (for example, urban compensation for environmental services to avoid saline intrusion, or protection through the conservation and restoration of dunes and mangroves in disasters) but also in marine processes (the ports, potential agreements for the handling of fishing permits, concessions in the territorial sea, etc.). These emerging themes will be backed by alliances in a bigger context, as would be the processes related with the National Association of Coastal Municipalities that would gladly take over micro- regional efforts such as this one.

Final Reflections Even though it is recognized that the changes caused by the globalization of the economies and societies are a general characteristic of our times, it is also necessary to emphasize that the specific effects on each place can show a great specter that leads to think on societies and territories more or less “globalized”. The same could be

26 Workshop for designing the regional action program to control the land sources of sea contamination in the Yucatan Peninsula. General Direction of Environmental Policy and Regional and Sector Integration, Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. CINVESTAV-Merida, NOAA-PNUMA-ORPALC, Telchac Puerto, Yucatan, November 15-17, 2005. See www.gpa.unep.org/. 27 See www.undp.org.mx/

110 111 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o said of the way in which the adaptations of institutional type have affected the relations between all types of government and their populations. As has been discussed in this work, the change tendencies towards decentralization have not occurred in the same manner for all the local governments. There is then, a panorama of diverse political-institutional arrangements in which the efforts of coordination and control continually appear and disappear. Even though the Federal and state governments have made important efforts to detain the environmental damage and harmonize the development needs (agricultural, husbandry, fishing, industrial, urban, mining, forestry, etc.), the public policies implemented by them are insufficient, and the need to involve the municipal governments in the solution of these problems has been made evident. In this manner, the local governments have been given new attributions and competences in environmental aspects, planning the use of soil and of their own natural resources, but the majority of them have institutional limitations to assume these new functions. The municipalities face problems involving spaces that are broader than their own territory, such as the management of a basin or the sea shore (affected by the currents and extraterritorial marine processes); their economical resources are limited; they lack capable human resources; their institution and judicial platforms are insufficient; and the information with which they count for decision making is little and fragmented. In face of these limitations when acting individually, the 1999 reforms to the Con- stitutional article 115 gave them the faculty to associate in order to provide in a more efficient manner the public services, therefore a new opportunity for the municipalities to assume a more active role in the solution of environmental management. In this process the municipalities can become an example in attending complex agendas that transcend administrations in a context of political alternatives. As well as showing the way to affront the economical and institutional capabilities’ limitations by performing environmental management actions with groups of citizens or academic institutions that generate new solutions for old problems. In the new decentralization context in the country, the municipalities should acquire the technical and professional capabilities and complementary economical resources that will allow them to perform the government action at their competence level. In the case of rural municipalities, in low income zones with a high index of social marginalization, in order to adequately develop their functions, the municipalities must complement their technical and institutional capabilities by building participation alliances with diverse local actors, academic institutions, companies and other instances created by the citizens in the municipality.

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This new governance for the sustainability allows the establishment of intergov- ernmental coordination in different levels, count with innovating instruments of public policies and ensure collaterals; create a sustainability culture; and count with a more active and participative citizenship. The inter-municipal alliances constitute one of the most solid alternatives of institutional experimentation, although they are not the only ones. Their attractiveness resides in that, as has been discussed in previous pages, they offer a field of broad action based on cooperation and the gradual construction of long reach and long duration agreements. From River Ayuquila’s and Yucatan coast’s experiences some lessons and conclusions can be extracted for the near future. These lessons derive exactly on the own adequacy and transformation of the public functions in the municipal and regional contexts. According to the proposal in Table 1 we can explore some lessons from the interpretation of the offered data. In first place, by what is referred to as performance of public functions defined as strategic nucleus, the Ayuquila and Yucatan cases give evidence as to how it is possible to articulate, in specific territorial contexts, the actions of national organisms of jurisdictional and legal nature (especially the Legislative Power of the state of Jalisco). The lesson is no less, especially if it is taken into account that such organisms tend to define, in many cases, their functions as extemporal (that is, not limited to a specific period) and without limited territorial effects (or defined as applicable to all territories). In the Ayuquila case there is a greater vigilance for the fulfillment of norms; innovative public policies were designed that now are promoted at State level. The previous Mayors, now congressmen, promote in the local Congress the financial support to the trust and the o p d . In the case of Yucatan’s Inter-municipal Alliance, the state government and s e - m a r n a t (Federal) promote the Ecological Ordinance of the Coastal Territory, which implies a territorial definition for exclusive planning. On their part, thec m b -m (c o n - a b i o ) confers a differential attribute to the coast. Secondly, in the case of the functions defined as “Net of non-exclusive activities” (Right superior quadrant of Table 1), the two inter-municipality experiences show the exploit potential of the existing social and institutional capabilities in terms of the distribution of chores and responsibilities among the participant actors. This coordinated distribution of chores can be considered, as well, as a sample of participative capital or citizens’ empowerment and their organizations; such as can be the case of these two experiences, although this does not constitute the focus in question, as has

112 113 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o been demonstrated in other contexts, participation by itself is not capable of generating social or environmental optimums. 28 In Ayuquila they promote the management of the basin, municipal services for the separation of solid residue, decontamination and restoration of the river, territorial ordinance and the protection of the basin’s municipalities, communal organization and local capabilities are fortified through international bonds, which generates interfaces with other planning platforms for the use of natural resources, as is the case of the Commission for the Basin of River Ayuquila-Armeria and the Consult- ing Councils of a n p ’s; and the environmental management, responsible of the sugar mills, is promoted. On their part, in the Alliance in Yucatan, the attention to natural disasters and garbage collection services are promoted by different agents (including the o n g s ); the productive activities linked with fishing, tourism and ports are recognized, and there is an emerging interface with other platforms such as the a n p ’s Advisory Councils. Thirdly, the municipal alliances considered in this work do not offer relevant data to analyze in depth the functions defined as “exclusive”. Even so, it is necessary to maintain an open perspective around these themes, as it is to be expected that in the near future they could generate effects or links toward sovereignty questions. As indicated by Breton and Blais, in the handling of coastal territories the questions on energetic sovereignty or territorial integrity are implicit. 29 Finally, the two examples discussed here, bring elements of adequacy and enlargement of public functions relative to the production of goods and services for the market and the society (inferior right quadrant of Table 1), with a broad sense appropriate to the idea of globalization. In the case of Ayuquila as in the one of the Coast of Yucatan, it is understood as an intangible wealth the health of mountain and coastal ecosystems, with their diverse components. When justly defined as wealth, it contributes in many senses to the idea of global citizenship and of general contributions to the stability of the planet. All of this complemented with the emerging communication nets and information interchange presented in both cases. Specifically, in the case of Ayuquila, the health of the river, its wealth and associated environmental services (the basin) are recognized as a public wealth. The landscape is also recognized as a service or public and cultural recreation space. In-

28 Estela I. Sotelo. “Los nuevos protagonistas: relaciones intergubernamentales e involucramiento de organizaciones sociales en la prestación de servicios públicos municipales. El caso de los sistemas de tratamiento de aguas en San Luis Potosí, In. J. Sosa (ed.), Política pública y participación social: visiones alternativas. México, Divip.-CESGAP-UNAM, 2006; pp. 63-92 29 Loc. Cit.

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formal communication nets government-society-o n g -academia emerge in which scientific information is divulged and operates as an instrument. Citizen’s nets emerge for the rehabilitation of recreation areas and bond with citizens nets from a basin in the United States that generate students’ mobility. The residue separation programs allow the commercialization of recyclable products and the alliance with companies. New opportunities arise for the valuation of the river resource and the territory though tourism. Conflict and communication reduce potential crisis and agreements are obtained. In the Yucatan Alliance, the health of the coastal ecosystems, its wealth and associated environmental services (landscape and water) are recognized as a public wealth. The landscape is recognized as a public and cultural recreation service or space. Informal communication nets arise between government-society-ONG-academia in which scientific knowledge is divulged and operate as an instrument. Tour- ism and urbanization claim for conservation and differentiated use. Even though the cases offered by this study cannot be considered conclusive or even sufficient to assume that inter-municipal alliances will be the dominant form of grouping or association in the near future, it is not an obstacle to emphasize its articulating potential. It should not loose sight that both experiences are still unfinished. Therefore, it is convenient to insist in a more detailed observation and study and compare it with other national and international experiences.

Bibliography

Bresser P., L. C., 1999. Managerial public administration: strategy and structure for a new State, en Luis C. Bresser P. and P. Spink, Reforming the Sate: Managerial public administration in Latin America. Colorado, Lynne Rienner; pp. 1-14. Cantón, P., and L. Hoyo, 2003. Animadores sociales: una estrategia incluyente para el desarrollo comunitario. Revista de Administración Pública, 38(3 septiembre-diciembre): 155-161. Fundació Carles Pi i Sunyer, 1999. El futur dels ajuntaments, vuit visions. Barcelona, Fun- dació Carles Pi i Sunyer, setembre 1999; (Punt de vista, 3) 38 p. Graf M., S., E. Santana, S. García, L. M. Martínez, J. J. Llamas, L. Wynter, and T. Román, 2006. Gobernanza para el desarrollo regional sustentable en el contexto de manejo de cuencas iniciativa intermunicipal para la gestión de la cuenca del Río Ayuquila. Docu- mento presentado en el Foro Mundial del Agua en marzo del 2006.

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Graf Montero, S.m., E. Santana Castellón, L. M. Martínez Rivera, S. García Ruvalcaba and J. J. Llamas, 2006. Collaborative governance for sustainable water resources management: the experience of the Inter-municipal Initiative for the Integrated Management of the Ayuquila River Basin, Mexico. Environment & Urbanization. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Vol. 18(2): 297–313. Grimshaw, D., S. Vincent, y H. Willmott, 2002. Going privately: partnership and outsourcing in UK public services. Public Administration, 80(3):. 475-502. Hernández Morales, E., 2003, La participación social en la agenda ambiental municipal. Re- vista de Administración Pública, 38(3 septiembre-diciembre): 141-154. León, C., and J. Sosa, 2006. Atributos del desarrollo Costero en México: ¿derrotero sin rumbo?. p. 921-947. In: Moreno-Casasola, P., E. Peresbarbosa, A. Travieso Bello (eds.), Estrategia para el Manejo Costero Integral. El Enfoque Municipal. Veracruz, Instituto de Ecología a c -c o n a n p . Volumen 3. Navarrete, M., and C. León, 2005. El Manejo de residuos sólidos municipales en México y la participación del Banco Mundial. Comercio Exterior, 55(4): 348-361. o c d e , 1998. Simposi ministerial sobre el futur dels serveis públics. Barcelona, Diputació de Barcelona, (Papers de formació municipal, no. 46 maig 1998); 34 p. Pardo, M. C., (compiladora), 2004. De la administración pública a la gobernanza. México, El Colegio de México, 210 p. Peters, B. G., 2004. Cambios en la naturaleza de la administración pública. In: M. C. Pardo (comp.), De la administración pública a la gobernanza. México, El Colegio de México; p. 72-96. s e m a r n a t /Corredor Biológico Mesoamericano/Niños y Crías, A.C. Convocatoria 2006. Con- sultoría. c b m -m. “Fortalecimiento de una alianza intermunicipal para el manejo sustentable de los recursos naturales en el Corredor Costa Norte de Yucatán”. Reporte Final. Sosa, J., and C. León, 2006. Municipios costeros y capacidades de gobierno: posibilidades para el cambio institucional y el desarrollo sustentable. p. 949-968. In: Moreno-Casasola, P., E. Peresbarbosa, A. Travieso Bello (eds.), Estrategia para el Manejo Costero Integral. El Enfoque Municipal. Veracruz, Instituto de Ecología a c -c o n a n p . Volumen 3. . Sotelo, E. I., 2006 Los nuevos protagonistas: relaciones intergubernamentales e involucramiento de organizaciones sociales en la prestación de servicios públicos municipales. El caso de los sistemas de tratamiento de aguas en San Luis Potosí In: J. Sosa (ed.), Política pública y participación social: visiones alternativas. México, Divip-c e s g a p -u n a m , 2006; p. 63-92. Varese, C., 2000.0 Consumo y sociedad: aspectos legales de las relaciones de consumo. Manual para la formación de formadores. Santiago de Chile, Consumers International, 2000, 64 p.

116 Natural protected areas and decentralization in the Peninsula of Yucatan

Alfredo Arellano Guillermo, Julia Fraga y Rafael Robles de Benito

Introduction

he themes on environmental management, particularly those related to t handling of the Natural Protected Areas (a n p ) as the most solid instruments for Tthe in situ conservation of natural wealth, have gained force due to the accelerated degradation of the ecosystems and the diminishment of biological diversity. The a n p ´s include areas of human population with a great socio-economic marginal degree; a condition that for some of the authorities offers the possibility of facing the situation with one strategy for the social marginality as well as for the biological conservation. However, this is not necessarily compatible, as the conservation of biodiversity can imply new restrictions for the use of the natural resources, assigning economically unsustainable quotas. A general look at the distribution map of the a n p ´s in Mexico and particularly of the Peninsula of Yucatan shows a great percentage of the total of protected areas with different management categories, which, therefore, becomes a problem, where the existence of multiple interests also generates a diversity of real or potential problems. That is, a multiple use of territory where a second critical aspect is the fact that these a n p , specifically those on coastal zones, register an increasing demand from

117 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o the tourist market in all its modals. A third critical aspect is the one directly related with the growth of the a n p area, the use of land and the available resources, that is, they become areas of political interest and can be considered as competitors of the municipalities. At present, the number of natural protected areas of Federal administration in Mexico is 149, with a total area of 17 486,741 hectares. The Yucatan Peninsula has 19 of them (12.75%) with a total of 2 620,010 hectares, representing 15% of the total hectares (Table 1). As well, the local governments have decreed 12 a n p of state administration (6 in Yucatan, 4 in Quintana Roo and 2 in Campeche) with a total of 932,296 hectares and one of municipal administration (Merida).

The complexity in the management of the natural protected areas

Different from other countries, in which the land where the natural protected areas are established is property of the administrating government under the category of public wealth, in Mexico they remain, in most of their extension, private, “ejido” or communal property. On the other hand, to understand the complexity of the management it is necessary to observe what many users of the natural resources consider as acquired rights,1 particularly in the case of the marine a n p , which require a special analysis of the access to the public wealth. This implies the need to plan and discuss with all the local residents and temporary visitors, owners and users, the use of the land and the natural resources management under schemes that will allow them to have and maintain participation. The complexity of the a n p administration does not end with what was mentioned before. To achieve an efficient territorial administration and management of the natural resources, an integration of public policies in the midst of this territorial space is required. To achieve this implies being able to fall into the decisions of more than 10 government offices, from the environmental sector as well as from other governmental sectors in the three levels of government, in relation to the enforcement of the government programs, in what refers to use of land authorizations, permits, and concessions, as well as the resource exploitation (Table 2).

1 It is worth while asking if this concept of “acquired rights” has any judicial sense in a society that pretend to be democratic and is said to be subject to a State of Law. It would seem that the idea of acquired rights answers, not to a formal judicial frame, but to a criterion that attends the first to arrive or, in the worst of cases, to the law of the strongest.

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Table 1. Natural Protected Areas of Federal Administration. Natural Protected Area Date of Decree Surface Reserve of Calakmul’s Biosphere May-23-89 723 185 Reserve of Sian Ka’an Biosphere Jan-20-86 528 148 Reserve of Sian Ka’an Reefs Biosphere Feb-02-98 34 927 Reserve Los Retenes Biosphere May-24-99 282 858 Reserve Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Jul-19-96 144 360 Reserve Ria Celestun Biosphere Nov-27-00 81 482 Reserve Ria Lagartos Biosphere May-21-99 60 348 Uaymil Flora and Fauna Protection Area Nov-22-94 89 118 Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area Jun-06-94 154 052 Otoch Ma’ax Yetel Kooh Flora and Fauna Jun-05-00 5 367 Protection Area Bala’an K’aax Flora and Fauna Protection Area May-03-05 128 390 National Park Xcalak Reefs Nov-27-00 17 949 National Park Puerto Morelos Reefs Feb-02-98 9 067 National Park Cozumel Reefs Jul-19-96 11 988 National Park East side of Isla Mujeres, Jul-19-96 8 673 Punta Cancun and Punta Nizuc Isla Contoy National Park Feb- 02-98 5 126 National Park Alacranes Reef Jun-06-94 333 769 Tulum National Park Apr-23-81 664 Dzibilchaltun National Park ** Apr-14-87 539 Total surface 2 620 010 * Some of the ANP have decrees with prior dates. However, they were postponed in order to adjust them to the current management categories. ** The administration was given to the State of Yucatan; however the Federal decree has not yet been annulled. Source: National Commission of Natural Protected Areas.

Table 2. Government offices in charge of issuing authorizations, permits and concessions, and of applying development programs in the National Protected Areas. Trámites y Aplicación de Programas Dependencia Proceedings and Program Application Government office Fishing permits c o n a p e s c a -s a g a r p a u m a s permits – Hunting d g v s -s e m a r n a t Permits to change the use of land - Forestry d g v s -s e m a r n a t Permits for forestry exploitation d g f s -d g i r a -s e m a r n a t Concession for the exploitation of federal Marine/ d g z o f e m a t a c -s e m a r n a t land zone Permits of environmental impact matters d g i r a -d e l -s e m a r n a t Construction permits Municipality Commercial functioning licences Municipality Vessel traffic Captain of the Port – s c t Permits for scientific collection ina n p ’s d g v s /c o n a p e s c a Endowment and regularization of National land s r a Division of “ejido” land s r a Development of partial plans Municipality for Urban development (p d u ) Tourist-commercial exploit permits c o n a n p Appliance of social development programs s e d e s o l , s e c t u r , c o n a d e p i , s a g a r p a Permits for the use of National waters c n a -s e m a r n a t Design, planning and application of Territorial (p e t , p o e l ) d g p -s e m a r n a t , Ecological Ordinance Programs State/Municipal governments Source: Political Constitution of the Mexican United States. Federal Government – Internal Ruling.

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The examples in which the policies or decisions of the different government organisms are contradictory due to the sector vision of each office or administrative area, as well as the criteria used by the officials who issue permits or authorizations, are multiple and diverse. This constantly affects great part of the management performed by the a n p administrations, especially when the communal work requires a consensus on the use of the natural resources. This is frequently seen in the cases in which the authority responsible of the a n p – with the formal backing of the Manage- ment Program of the area under its control – and the users of the natural resources voluntarily adopt better management practices, as is the case of the elimination of fishing nets in high biological productivity areas. In as much as the fishing resources start recovering, nothing guarantees that this agreement will be backed by the fishery authority and, going against a community’s initiative, will authorize new groups or concessions or the fishing with nets; ending with social and judicial problems, as well as discredit towards the governmental institutions, including the a n p administration. We also have to take into account that in other occasions the communal work is convoked by non-governmental organization working at local community’s level and are strictly linked with the municipalities and the representatives of the government offices. Therefore, many of the consensuses with management schemes are not concluded resulting in discouragement of the local groups and puts them in contradictory dynamics of decision making on local matters. The Management Program is the instrument that the a n p have for the planning of the use of land and the exploiting activities of the natural resources. However, this instrument presents serious limitations, even when it is presented as the most adequate to reflect a real integration of the public policies. It has very little judicial weight, as it has to subdue to what is established in the different laws and regulations of territorial administration, use of land and exploit of natural resources. That is, it cannot establish new norms and regulations if these are already defined in any other regulatory instrument, which makes it difficult for it to become and ad hoc instrument to attend on all the specific needs of eacha n p . The Management Programs as well have limitations in the regulation of densities and construction rules of development works inside the a n p , in such a way that the use of the Territorial Ecological Ordinance Programs (p o e t -p o e l ) and the Urban Development Plans (p d u ) become alternative instruments in the planning and regulation. Based on this premise, to attend the need to regulate the construction densities in the coastal zone of the Reserve of Sian Ka’an Biosphere a p o e t was conceived, while the National Parks of Xcalak and Tulum have been considered within the plans of regional or local p o e t . The Management Programs are also limited in the marine

a n p for the regulation of fishing and other type of activities held in other judicial instruments. Within this complexity are the processes for public consult of the a n p Manage- ment Programs, in which the problem of representation of the economical sectors of the “community” and the Federal, state and municipal offices is present. Another problem refers to the continuity of consensuses and the “appropriation”; that the actors involved take over or share responsibilities. Generally the social sectors guide responsibilities in a one way fashion, leaving the total solution of the problems to the government. And on the government’s side, it is frequent that the municipality does not adopt the responsibilities and capabilities it should. The problem of communication and negotiation has to be considered not only in what concerns the government’s organizations and their different levels, but also the o n g ´s, taking into account their strong dependency on the actions of the organizations that finance the conservation and development activities.

Decentralization of natural protected areas

In the construction of a genuine Federal and democratic system, one of the themes, which analysis is still pending, is the one that implies the administrative decentralization of the Federal government’s faculties towards the states and municipalities for the management of Natural Protected Areas. When observing the complexity that entails the management of the a n p , it is worth asking if its administration would be easier in the hands of the State or municipal governments. Even though there are some experiences, a documented analysis has not been made of the results, and consequently neither has it been determined which are the elements required to define policies directed to enrich the conservation strategies. To better understand the decentralization schemes it is necessary to point out the normative options that have been implemented in the Yucatan Peninsula and that are part of this analysis. The following modals are not exclusive, but we present them segmented with the intention of offering a more detailed analysis and a better historical understanding. Coercive decentralization. In this modal, the state and municipalities are treated as regulatory agents for the Federal government. It is expected that they perform a series of prerequisites imposed by the Federal government. The management policies and regulatory measures should have standards and procedures to achieve the fulfillment of objectives and reduce the discretion of the authority. When

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these measures are not fulfilled, the Federal government can establish certain sanctions. Under this premise, the Federal government – first throughs e d u e and, in due time s e d e s o l – decentralized the management of the Reserve of Calakmul Biosphere in Campeche at the beginning of the 90’s. Cooperative decentralization. This is an approximation to the inter-governmental structures and treaties of the Federal government with the states, provinces, municipalities or other governmental units, in which they are conceived as “partners”. It is assumed that the necessary agreements exist between the government and the indispensable coordination for the appliance of public policies and, sufficient incentives for the achievement of goals. Even though we can point out that due to the requirements needed by the a n p in Mexico, this modal is a desirable condition and is working in the proper direction, it is also true that there are experiences where the signing of these more formal co-administration agreements have generated non commendable experiences as was the case of the Reserve of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere in Quintana Roo and the end of the 80’ and beginning of the 90’s. Participation of academic institutes, o n g ´s. Communities and local companies. In this modality the resource management projects do not necessarily depend on the orders of a central government agency. But the fact is that there is no case in the Yucatan Peninsula where the administration of a Federal a n p has been given to private institutions or of academic character, even though it has happened in areas subject to state jurisdiction such as was for several years the State Reserve El Palmar in Yucatan. It is also true that o n g ´s, investigation centers and higher education institutes have frequently participated in a n p activities or programs. De-concentration. This implies that the Federal authority (c o n a n p ) preferably concentrates the majority of its authority and management decisions in the regional offices. Thec o n a n p has performed its chores in this modality since 2001.

The experience

The experience of coercive decentralization in the case of the Reserve of “Calakmul” Biosphere, allows the appreciation retrospectively of several mistakes: the “delivery” of the administration to the government of the state of Campeche was performed without counting with the necessary normative elements, particularly a Management Program, it did not have internal controls assigning the specialized profiles to fill the responsibility positions in the administration of the area.

Consequently, this broad area (723 000 hectares) that had been subject to wrong colonization policies during the 60’s and 70’s mainly due to lack of available water and, that suffered the in-definition of its territorial limits between Campeche and Quintana Roo, and is also far away from the capital city (350 km), did not count, for its management, with a capable control and promotion instrument. The Reserve’s Direction was occupied through a direct assignment from the governor in turn, and was seen as a step to aspire to a Mayor’s position. In more than one occasion, the available resources from the international programs supporting the conservation were utilized for social programs of political promotion. A second case could be the one of the National Park of Dzibilchaltún in Yucatan, whose administration was given to the State government through a coordination agreement at the end of the 90’s and, different from Calakmul, it continues, up to this day, subject to the State administration. However, the results generated by the change over are, in all sense, practically nil: the Natural Protected Area of Dzibil- chaltún is still a paper park.2 The pressure on this area because of the change in use of land, due to the urban growth of Merida, the capital city, continues to increase, and the available surface for conservation, decreasing. One of the reasons that explain the abandonment of the National Park of Dzibil- chaltún by the Federal authorities – the c o n a n p has made no efforts to re-integrate the management – and what makes it different from the Calakmul case, is that its participation in the National System of Natural Protected Areas seems to lack a priority character.3 A second decentralization experience, closer to the cooperative form, was the one that was established between s e d u e and the government of the state of Quintana Roo for the attention of the Reserve of Sian Ka’an Biosphere, during the end of the 80’s and beginning of the 90’s. Different to the Calakmul experience, this area has good vigilance due to, among other reasons, that is has received multiple international appointments and recogni- tions (World Wealth Site, Biosphere Reserve Nets, r a m s a r Site) as well as the attention it has received from the ONGS working to support its conservation.

2 It is worth stating in this case, that the administration of Dzibilchaltun as an archeological zone continues to be subject to Federal jurisdiction through the National Institute of Anthropology and History, but in reality there is no effective cooperation between the offices responsible of the conservation and administration of the cultural wealth and the office responsible of the national park’s management. 3 The analysis and evaluation of what has happened with the state systems of natural protected areas, which reflects the low level that natural resources conservation has among the priorities of the state governments, would contribute to explain the situation of the “decentralized” areas.

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However, as well as in the Calakmul case, the appointment of the Directors by the Governor in turn, converted the Direction of the Natural Protected Area in a position of political agenda and with different interests in its management. By the end of 1995, the discrepancies between the Federal and State governments in the administration decisions were severe, in a scenario that manifested the institutional weakness of the local government facing the pressures of the representatives of the coastal development interests in the South of the state of Quintana Roo. Table 3 reflects the budgets for environmental attention in the states of the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as the low management level that the administrators or representatives of the state administration a n p have, when it exists. Apart from the low salaries, and minimum incentives for the development of personnel capabilities, the low level of management explains the lack of interest of capable people to fill the position. The state administration level implies little access to the management of economical, technical, political and promotional resources and inter-institutional cooperation at local, national or international levels. This does not imply that those who occupy these charges lack the necessary capabilities, but as they are low rank officials they do not have access to those making decision in the cooperating institutions. Finally, in terms of conservation and development, these limitations are reflected in the loss of habitant, in coverage as well as in quality, as it lacks institutional presence as well as conservation projects that will allow fomenting an environmental culture among the local communities and the government officials that make the decisions that affect directly or indirectly the area. This – the public officials’ lack of environmental conscience – is frequently observed in the constant modifications in the planning and the changes in the use of land, conceived and executed only to adequate them to the financial needs of the private investors. Further on, in many occasions the local authorities promote unsustainable activities that violate the rulings of the a n p . It is not exaggerated to suppose that if the a n p ´s of Federal administration were to be found under a state or municipal administration their physiognomy would be very different. It is difficult to generalize from the different experiences aroused from the management of these areas, but it is valid to mention that local authorities (states and municipalities) have traditionally maintained a “development” view that sees the primary usage extractive and “private-able” of these areas, before valuing the public benefits of the environmental services they provide and the sustainability conditions they can give to the local and regional development processes. The participative decentralization scheme, also called “co-management”, is a management system practiced since the 80’s in the Mexican a n p . In those days the non-governmental organizations proliferated focusing on environment and biodiver-

Table 3. State natural protected areas management. Management level (responsible)/ Budget for the Surface Counts with an a n p manager environment ** (has) (net monthly salary) Quintana Roo. 1. Minister of Urban Development 2007: 36 157 346 Level of attention and Environment 2006: 31 747 136 to the environment 2. Under-secretary to the 2005: 76 157 500 (2) Under-secretary Environment Level of attention 3. General Planning and To the ANP (4-5) Ecological Policy Direction. 4. Area Director (there is none) – ANP unit chief Xcacel-Xcacelito ($16,300 to 26,400) * 5. ANP Department ($9,100 to 13,100). Manati Sanctuary Manager (yes) 281 320 (Chetumal Bay) Xcacel-Xcacelito Manager (yes) 362 Colombia Lagoon Administrated by the Cozumel 1 114 Parks and Museums Foundation Chacmochuc Manager (no) 1 914 Lagoon Manatí Lagoon Manager (no) 203 Yucatan. 1. Minister of Urban Development 2007: 21 363 991 Level of attention to and Environment. 2006: 18 759 415 the environment: 2. Conservation and Management 2005: 18 195 359 (1) Ministry. Level of Natural Resources. of attention to the 3. Assistant Director of Conserva- ANP: (5) tion and Management of Natural Resources 4. Department of Natural Protect- ed Areas ($16,028 to 30,364). 5. Manager of ANP (non existent) State Reserve Manager (no) 50 177 El Palmar State Reserve Manager (no) 69 039 Dzilam

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Table 3 (cont.). State natural protected areas management. Management level (responsible)/ Budget for the Surface Counts with an a n p manager environment ** (has) (net monthly salary) State Park Kabah Manager (no) 949 State Park Yahalau Manager (no) 5 683 Lagoons San Juan Bautista Manager (no) 1 355 Tabi and Sacnicté Annex National Park Manager (no) 539 Dzibilchaltún Campeche 1. Minister 2007: 16 521 386 Level of attention to 2. Asst. Director of ANP 2006: 16 388 298 Environment (1) 3. Department of ANP Ministry. (7,681 to $8,286) Level of attention to 4. Manager (non existent) ANP (4) State Reserve Manager (no 409 200 Balamku State Reserve Balam Manager (no) 110 980 Kin Source: Web. Page: Transparency of the Government of Quintana Roo, the Government of Yucatan; and the Government of Campeche. *In the SEDUMA’s administrative structure the position of Manager of ANP Xcacel- Xcacelito is shown with a bigger salary than that of the Manager of Natural Protected Areas. **It is not possible to know the exact expense budget for the ANP, therefore we count the entire budget destined to the environment. In the case of Quintana Roo, we have to take into account that it is also divided into urban development and environment, which makes the numbers 50% less. In the year 2005, the infrastructure area was still under this Ministry; therefore a substantial decrease is noted in 2006 and 2007.

126 127 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o sity protection, in the context of an organized and participative society in the absence of a structurally strong government to attend the matter. In spite of the obstacles that the lack of authority’s transference to the civil society’s organization represent, these organizations together with the investigation and superior education centers have maintained for more than two decades an active participation form in the a n p management, which can be appreciated in the generation of projects and investigation, education, monitoring, restoration and social development programs In this sense, it must be recognized that previous to the formation of the s e m a r n a p in 1995, and lacking the physical presence of the authority in charge of the administration of these natural protected areas, the participation in them, particularly of the o n g ´s, was determinant to their conservation. The participation of o n g ´s and private sector has been of purchasing property inside the a n p as a measure to reinforce the conservation as has been the case of Pronatura, a.c., in the Reserve Ria Lagartos Biosphere and of Amigos de Sian Ka’an, a.c, in the Reserve of the same name, as well as entrepreneurs that up to now have decided to dedicate some of their property to conservation. Some of these purchases have counted with the support of international organizations, by collecting funds, and this adds to private international participation. This theme will require further analysis due to the discomfort of some sectors that see the risks of “land appropriation”, specifically when the areas are extensive, which could lead to the “natural wealth” staying in the “hands of a few” and these are who will exploit the resources of the a n p . Even if it is true that this presumption could respond to the false premise of the private wealth versus public wealth, it also suggests that the designated administrator of the a n p should return to the institution responsible of its management, the land that constitutes the nucleus zone, in which no human activity should be allowed that would modify the ecosystem’s evolution. Another activity pending to analyze is the one that refers to private a n p in the Yucatan Peninsula – a representation still incipient in the area-, in the modals that resulted from the Federal government’s decree or the certification of the c o n a n p . The first effort in its type is developed by “El Eden, A.C.” in the municipality of Lazaro Cardenas and “Uyumil Ceh” in Othon P. Blanco, both in the state of Quintana Roo. The administrative de-concentration of the c o n a n p that began during President Vicente Fox’ administration and continues in Felipe Calderon’s, was originated with the initiative to regionalize all the environmental sector, however, since the change of the head of s e m a r n a t , only c o n a f o r and c o n a n p withheld this initiative. These changes in policy not only generated uncertainty in the forms and times of the regionalization process, but also disappointment in the political and economical support.

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Even though the regionalization process has obtained, to this day, a greater institutional reach and the operation of new administration schemes for the attention, in greater or lesser degree, of all the Federal Administration a n p , it has also generated an excess of functions and commitments on local and regional levels for the institution’s personnel, as well as reduce the achievements that some of the a n p could have obtained individually throughout the six year mandate of president Ernesto Zedillo. Among this excess of functions in the Yucatan Peninsula, we can point out the increase in attention from 12 to 18 a n p ; the entry 8 new a n p to attend new international arrangements (m a b , w h s , or r a m s a r ), the attention and issuance of tourist exploitation permits, the institutional opinions in matters of environmental impact, changes of use of land, scientific investigation and collection, and many others. To this responsibility cumulus we have to add the attention to the Sustainable Rural Develop- ment programs and Priority Species programs, the establishment of new a n p , the design and implementation of fees for the use of a n p and the support of ANP state, municipal or private systems. All of this without obtaining the necessary increase in personnel according to the required needs. It is important to indicate that since the 80’s in the Peninsula of Yucatan, - different from other regions in the country- conditions have been built to consolidate the regional administration: continuity and cohesion of a work team, internal cooperation, institutional coherence in decision making, and social and environmental homogeneity. Even though to many it may seem that this picture is weakened and erased, especially in these last years, the truth is that the human capital regionally formed, the interaction nets between the actors and the relevant organizations, and the knowledge acquired jointly by the institutional work teams focused on conservation, the ONGS and an important group of academics, continue being an important local wealth that bonds the possibilities of continuously fortifying the in situ conservation. Another factor to take into account is the fact that regionalization of the conservation originated through the trial-error method, which generated different schemes during two or three decades for the “established” regions. At present, proposals for new limits and number of regions in the country are under study (Figure 1). For the case of the Yucatan Peninsula, the guiding objectives for the regionalization are: • Raise the local and regional management level with the state and municipal governments and the social sector. • Ease the decision making and agreement mechanisms with the communities and social sector organisms.

Figure 1. Regionalization proposal for the administration of the Federal ANP - 2007.

• Generate advisory, training and collaboration mechanisms between the region’s a n p that will allow increasing their management level and the professional capabilities of the personnel. • Broaden the attention coverage to the totality of the Natural Protected Areas in the Yucatan Peninsula. • Ease the administration of the natural and financial resources of the region. The process of fortifying the institutional capability for the de-concentration of the a n p also includes: • Improve the recruitment and use of the personnel’s abilities. • Restructure the work and the relations with authorities. • Improve information and communication flow. • Do another inventory and reassign the material resources. • De-centralize and open participative intervention opportunities in the processes of decision making. • Improve the administrative processes.

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Among the proposed regionalization models, schemes were proposed where the a n p directors will additionally count with a regional level thematic leadership or with a regional leadership by protected ecosystem. The obtained model of regionalization is detailed in Table 4.

Table 4. c o n a n p Mission: Conserve the natural wealth of Mexico through the Natural Protected Areas and the Sustainable Rural Development Programs in priority regions for conservation. Role Functions Advantages of the ANP Directors of ANP Directors Geographical distribu- The directors attend and It maintains the management tion of directors and a coordinate the themes and level of the directors. regional directorship or matters related to their It maintains the integrity of coordination based on assigned ANP, and receive ANP territorial management. four types of support to the support of a Regional Fortifies political management the directorships. Directorship in four main at local level. areas: administrative-finan- Eases the local administrative cial; judicial; political and and judicial requirements. technical-this one only in Coordinates the programs that region projects, that is, that involve more than one ANP and it encompasses more than promotes the cooperation and one ANP in the area. Instal- technical assistance between lation of an Internal Council them. for the Directors that will Increases analysis capability support the strategic re- and strategy proposals. gional features. Weakens in lesser degree the directors’ attention in ANP internal matters. Eases the attention to the demands of local actors. The Council watches the welfare of the institution and gives an objective perception for decision making. More influence in the region as there is grater representation in regional decision making.

Source: National Commission of Natural Protected Areas.

Conclusions

The developed regionalization process required “institutional de-concentration” actions, reflected actually in the modifications to the Internal Ruling of the s e m a r n a t (d o f x i /30/06). Some functions and acts of authority that were performed from the center were transferred. Considering that de-concentration is not independence, but allowing or lessening the administrative hierarchy, the central power maintains limited faculties for verification and control. It is necessary to see the a s p as functioning cells of the system (s i n a p ) and the institution (c o n a n p ), as another purely centralist vision would mean a backward motion in decades and would cause distortions in the purpose that encouraged the creation of this institution in the year 2000. The decentralization of the Natural Protected Areas theme is also manifest in the international agenda. In the recent Quintana Roo experience, the interest showed by the municipal authorities to administrate the a n p is due either by the attraction represented by the generation and collection of economical resources from tourists or by the fact that the governmental institution in charge of the administration is seen as a stop to the private economical interests for the use or exploitation of natural resources, the construction of infrastructure and tourist developments, mainly coastal, or to favor, through use of resource permits, specific interests groups or sectors. The manifested interest has not revealed a real commitment with the conservation of the a n p . Based on these experiences and other strategic character arguments, we can en- list the reasons for which it is not convenient, at this moment, to promote the decentralization of the a n p in terms of ceding its administration to the states or municipalities. a). Considering that the a n p hold the most valuable natural capital of the country and that it should be preserved and strategically managed – it is also being talked about considering a matter of national security -, then a national strategy is required in order that the management obeys one high level policy of State commitment. b). Even though some states and municipalities are interested in administering the Federal a n p and can supply important elements towards that end, it is also clear that not all will maintain the same level of commitment in the theme and the technical and economical capabilities of each one will be different. Some past experiences in Campeche and Quintana Roo have shown that state management of the a n p has a tendency to politicize its administration and decision making.

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c). There is still a strong financial and international cooperation dependency in the management of the a n p . The financial international strategies have traditionally been directed towards the National Systems of Protected Areas based on the priorities arisen from the consults with experts. The management of those resources from local level could generate an unnecessary competition that will contribute to diminish and form a bureaucracy of the international cooperation relationships. d). The management of the a n p requires an integration of public policies and the confluence of the management and territorial administration, and natural resources decision making. In this sense, it is not judicially seen, at least on a short term, that the administration and acts of authority of the marine areas, lagoon systems, the Federal land/marine zones and other national wealth within the a n p become of state or municipal character. This condition would limit an integral management of the a n p . e). The management experiences of state or municipal character, or the state systems of a n p , not counting the exceptional cases, do not show a satisfactory performance or a real institutional commitment in its management throughout the governmental changes. This reflects and turns into a secondary matter the local government’s interest in an adequate management and conservation. There are also some states and many municipalities for whom this theme is completely foreign, even though the l g e e p a allows the creation of state systems of municipal initiatives for the conservation of local biodiversity. f). Many of the a n p have been established covering more than one municipality and including two or more states in the Republic, due to the fact that natural conditions do not respect political boundaries. The integration of public policies in divided administrations is still more complex. g). It is not contradictory to indicate that it is necessary to maintain the opportunities that arise from the creation of the a n p from local initiatives for their conservation, with the understanding of the existence of channels according to Federal procedures and laws. h). Recognizing the asymmetries that exist between the social and natural sciences in relation to the management initiatives (Breton and Davy, 2006), will allow recognize the need to work jointly in favor of the a n p , in multi-disciplinary work groups focused in the reorientation and in depth analysis on decentralization and centralization themes of environmental management. In face of the problems expressed in this chapter, product of our experience (the “political” factor in the protected territory’s management, the little access to support negotiations, the lack of institutional presence, the voracity of the authorities

132 133 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o in fomenting non sustainable activities, lack of economical and political support) we are left with challenges and struggles (foment environmental cultures, the need of private investment, a management that will attend the integration of public policies) that will have to be assumed and worked with different multi-scale and multi- functional groups, taking care that real defense of our territory as a Nation prevails. A new Federalism?

Bibliography

Bretón, Y., D. Brown, B. Davy, m. Haughton, and L. Ovares, L. (Eds), 2006. Manejo de Recursos Costeros en el Gran Caribe. IDRC, Ottawa. Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (c o n a n p ), “Logros 2003”, México D. F. http./ www. Página web Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas. http:/ www. Portal de transparencia del Gobierno de Quintana Roo, Gobierno de Yucatán y Gobierno de Campeche.

134 Decentralization in the fishing and aquaculture sectors and investigation: a challenge for the State *

Patricia Guzman-Amaya, Gabriela Morales-Garcia, Carmen Monroy-Garcia and Veronica Rios-Lara

Background

he state decentralization process appears in Latin America as part of the regional planning in the 1980 decade (Ramiro-Fernandez, 2002), in answer to Tthe legitimate crisis of the governments, the fiscal crisis of the central government that made attractive the transfer of functions to other levels of government, and the pressure from international organizations1: World Bank (b m ), Inter-Ameri- can Development Bank (b i d ), Cooperation and Economical Development Program (o c d e ), United Nations Program for Development (p n u d ). 2 Decentralization in Mexico reaches four scopes: economical, political, social and institutional-administrative. In the economical, for a considerable length of time, decentralization was based in an industrialization process that brought a revolution in the economical structure of certain areas of the country and provoked an unequal

* The opinions in this work are personal responsibility of the authors. 1 Decentralization and Poverty. www.eumed.net/tesis/amc/12.htm 2 Rojas, M:A. “Las reformas constitucionales al marco jurídico del Distrito Federal (1986-1996) www.politicas.unam.mx/publ/publicp/razoncinica/.../01_06_05reforma_df.htm

135 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o economical growth in the different regions, a situation that is repeated in the historical development of Mexico. In the political environment it is supposed that decentralization encourages democratization,3 but in the history of our country, with big poverty problems, decentralization has been linked to chieftains joining the State’s power (we must point out that those countries with acute poverty problems and underdevelopment and with low professionalism in the public administrations and lack of trust in the institutions, accelerated decentralization can increase the regional lack of equilibrium). The social area comprises the autochthonous features as expressions of the cultural, historical, beliefs, symbols and traditions of the communities, whose wealth in Mexico is undeniable, result of multiple indigenous groups that define the great cultural and historical diversity in our country. The main objective of decentralization is to consider the members of society as active citizens in the governmental process, and not as mere “user or receptors”. Decentralization and Federalism do not mean the same thing, but in the practice in Mexico their objective is to fortify the local governments (Cabrero 1998). The decentralization efforts in our country can be divided in periods 1970-1976 and 1976- 1982, in which initiatives focused towards governmental de-concentration were developed; from 1982 to 1988 those initiatives were oriented towards governmental decentralization; and in the 1988-1994 period, decentralization is directed towards civil society with p r o n a s o l (Cabrero, 1998).

Decentralization in the fishing and aquaculture sector

The first governmental actions to consider the coastal zone were performed in the six year term of Miguel Aleman (1946-1952), with the creation of the first commissions for integral development of the basin of the rivers Tepalcatepec (Michoacán) and Papaloapan (Castelet, 2000). In the governmental de-concentration period the Port Coordinating Commission is created (1970-1976) and initiatives are taken for the administrative de-concentration, such as the “Alliance for Production” through which many industrial ports were created and prompted (1976-1982). In the 1982-1988 period the governmental decentralization process was done in depth. In the beginning, the government promoted policies and made laws – such as

3 It is interesting to note that World Bank considers its own proposed policies against corruption, in which we find the decentralization process, as responsible for the increase in corruption. “La Jornada” Wednesday, September 20, 2006.

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the Planning Law that established the creation of the Democratic Planning System and the National Development Plan4; the Decentralization Program of the Federal Public Administration was created (in which the transference to the states of basic and normal education and health services is emphasized); and the reform of Consti- tutional Article 115 in order to assign sources of income and political independence to the municipalities (Cabrero, 1998). During this period the Henequen Re-ordination Program and Integral Devel- opment of Yucatan is performed (1984-1987), with an intensive promotion of the fishing activities as one of their action lines. Created to diversify the economy and retrieve the State’s participation in the henequen industry, this program brought, as consequence, the severance of more than 40,000 “ejido” workers that became unemployed, therefore, fishing was seen as an alternative for them; however, this activity became saturated in the decade of 1990 (Canto-Saenz, 2001), with a balance of peasants that ended up as fishermen and in poverty.5 This pressured the government to intensify its efforts in attracting foreign investment to the state, with that in view, the communications and transport infrastructure was improved; during this period the Port of Progreso was inaugurated (Canto-Saenz, 2001). From 1998 to 1994 the decentralization process towards civil society begins based on the National Solidarity Program (p r o n a s o l ) (Cabrero, 1998), promoted and supported by the World Bank (Ramiro-Fernandez, 2002), whose adjustment programs project decentralization as indispensable public policy and of secure benefits. PRONASOL re-centralized functions and decision powers in the Federal Executive, leaving the municipal governments in the margin. In contrast with this State actions, focused to an important population sector, whose purpose was to satisfy a series of needs that the market could not satisfy, the governments of Miguel de la Madrid and Carlos Salinas were identified by their clear international tendencies – characterized by a low profile State, only regulator – and by the search of integration to the market economy (Pardo, 2000). With this State vision, Salinas eliminates from the Fishing Law the species reserved in favor of the cooperatives, and allows the private investment in species like shrimp. This represents a drawback for the organized cooperative system,6 that functioned as a

4 This law had as a planning objective, channel the Federal Public Administration activities and guarantee social participation in the plan’s integration and the development programs. www.universidadabierta.edu.mx.Biblio/Planeaci%F3n%20del%20Desarrollohtml.html. 5 “Auge y decadencia del oro verde”. www.77jornada.UNAM.mx/2000/09/197034n2gen.html 6 The regime to reserve species to cooperatives was the main stimulus for the emergence and development of the cooperative fishing movement. www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/ab493s/AB493SO2.htm

136 137 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o micro-company in which not only the fishermen that formed the cooperative were benefited, but also all the families that lived around the activity. Based on what was previously mentioned, in matters of port infrastructure two actions were implemented: the creation of Integral Port Administration (a p i ) in the industrial and fishing ports, and the des-incorporation towards the state of the f o n d - e p o r t land dedicated to fishing , tourist and recreational ends (Castelet, 2000). In the 1994-2000 period, the attention to the fishing sector stayed in charge of the extinct s e m a r n a p , which created the General Decentralization Coordination that served as link with a Decentralization Net that included the Federal states and central areas and state delegations of the Ministry. Judicial and public administration studies were performed that served as a base for the decentralization process strategy that held the transference of functions and economical resources to the states. To this effect, agreements were signed with the 32 Federal states, concentration, generation and information divulgement strategies were performed, social participation instances were created in the fishing sector or related to the matter: National Consulting Committee for the Responsible Fishing Normalization; National Fishing and Marine Resources Committee; The Fishing and Marine Resources Commissions: and the National or Regional Councils for Sustain- able Development (s e m a r n a p , 2000). As of December 2000, the attention to the sector lies in the Ministry of Agri- culture, Husbandry, Rural Development, Fishing and Feeding (s a g a r p a ), in charge of two decentralized organisms: Fishing and Aqua-culture National Commission (c o n a p e s c a ); and the National Fishing Institute (i n p ), in charge of the scientific and technological investigation that sustains the administrative process of the fishing and aqua-culture resources. Traditionally, the administrative apparatus was located in the Federal District (Mexico City), but in 2001 – when c o n a p e s c a is created (through a decree published in the Federation’s Official Journal on June 5, 2001) to attend the demands of the fishing and aqua-culture sector – it is transferred to Mazatlan, Sinaloa (agreement published in the Federation’s Official Journal on July 17, 2001). This decision has generated problems mainly in the Gulf and Caribbean states. Even when in said agreement it is established that “fishing and aqua-culture are fundamental activities for the development of the country” and “it is necessary to impulse the aqua-culture and fishing development in the country (…) in the context of public policies that favor the coordinated action of the Federal Government and the linking and insertion of state and municipal authorities in the administration of the fishing resources and aqua-culture development, fortifying in this manner the Federalism that the present administration impulses”, in reality this never happened, since the decentralization consisted only in the transfer of the administrative appara-

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tus from the Federal District to another state where an important part of the fishing and aqua-culture activity is located, but just one part. Almost from its creation in 1962, the i n p was conceived as a structurally decentralized institution: it actually counts with fourteen regional centers and four fishing investigation stations that attend on a regional manner the fishing and aqua-culture problems. In function to this structure, the i n p relation with the sector is very close because it is present in almost all the seashore of the country; its formal relation with the sector is manifested through c o n a p e s c a , which is the authority that administers the resources within the s a g a r p a , according to the actual Fishing Law that establishes that the i n p “will perform scientific and technological investigations of the aquatic flora and fauna; will provide advisory service to preserve, re-populate, foment, cultivate and develop fishing species; as well as give technical and scientific character opinions that will provide judging elements to the fishing authority, when requested”. In the past six year presidential term, multiple efforts were made to convert c o n - a p e s c o and i n p into decentralized organisms. In 2004, s a g a r p a requested f a o to perform an evaluation of the INP; among their commendations it suggests to transform it into a decentralized organism, in order that it may count with greater autonomy to perform independent investigation, flexible policies for the contracting of scientific personnel and a salary and stimulus scheme that will foment good performance, permanence and promotion of qualified personnel: improvement and academic and scientific interchange programs; participation in programs from other investigation centers; capability to obtain additional external resources; greater facility to link and answer the requests from scientific and technical information services and capability to promote technological developments to be patented that could generate additional income, among other aspects. f a o suggests as well, that i n p maintains its character of scientific and technical advisor to the State, with a governmental budget that will ensure and sustain such transformation. The evaluation indicates as well, that the regionalized structure of i n p has advantages in the decentralization process.7 According to what was established in the National Development Plan 2001-2006, the i n p established agreements with the state governments as part of a ponds investigation activities decentralization scheme. With this purpose it established a training program for the personnel in the fishing sub-Delegations in the states and teaching and investigation centers that would allow the development of abilities to identify

7 SAGARPA-FAO. 2005. Evaluation report of the Mexican National Fishing Institute. Project UTF/MEX/053/MEX

138 139 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o the vocation of the ponds and evaluate the abundance of resources, create data bases to actualize the National Fishing Chart and elaborate or actualize the Official Mexi- can Norms and Plans for Ponds’ Management. By the end of the six year term (2006) the fishing, aquaculture, and socio-economic investigation activities with the majority of the state governments were finished. The i n p recommended8 to continue with decentralization of the pond’s management. However, this decentralization intent did not reach the expected goal, mainly due to the lack of able personnel in the State’s governments to take over the investigation in the ponds and lack of financial resource transference in order that the investigators could continue their work in the i n p . In the project of the Sustainable Fishing and Aquaculture General Law (l g p a s ), the decentralization theme is stated in Article 22 that proposes to perform regional, state and municipal programs for the adequate management of crops and fisheries and the decentralization of programs, resources and functions. According to the Fishing Commission in the Chamber of Deputies,9 the object is to establish the bases for the attributions that correspond to the Federation, the states and the municipalities in matters of fishing and aquaculture. In order to assist in the performance of such chores, the National Fishing and Aquaculture Council “would become and inter-sectors forum for support, coordination, consulting, agreements and advisory”, with the object of proposing the policies, programs, projects and instruments for the impulse, productivity, regulation and control of the fishing and aquaculture activities, as well as increase the competence of the productive sectors. The directors of s a g a r p a and c o n a p e s c a would form part of said Council, as well as representatives of the offices and States of the Federal Public Administration related to the matter (as is the case of the National Fishing Institute), representatives of social organizations, and producers of the fishing and aquaculture sector and the head of the competent offices of the State governments. In other Articles, the project of Law indicates coordination aspects with the governments of the States and municipalities to perform certain activities such as formulate and apply policies, establish instruments and programs for fishing and aquaculture, in accordance with the national policy for sustainable fishing and aquaculture, among others. To perform the decentralization and coordination chores between the three levels of government, the law foresees the implementation of diverse support systems that will help organize citizens’ participation, information, training and financing.

8 Rendering of Accounts Report. Stage 3 from January 1 to November 30, 2006. 9 www.elporvenir.com.mx/notas.asp?nota_id=60448

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In relation to citizen’s participation, the Fishing and Aquaculture State Councils would support the actual National Fishing and Aquaculture Council. In this sense, the ordinance and management plans (instruments for the administration of the resources contained in the law’s initiative) involve all the participants in an active manner. It is foreseen to fortify investigation and its link with the sector, and that the National Fishing and Aquaculture Institute (i n a p e s c a , known at present as Fishing National Institute) promotes and coordinates the integration of an Information and Investigation National Web for Fishing and Aquaculture, in order to articulate actions and optimize human, financial and infrastructure resources. In relation to finance for the development of the sector, the Law indicates in Articles 16 and 24 that contributions charged by local governments related to the exploitation of fishing and aquaculture resources should be used in programs related to the sector; and s a g a r p a in coordination with the state governments and offices of Federal Administration will apply fiscal economical stimuli and financial support for the development of fishing and aquaculture. A proposal is presented for the creation of the Mexican Fund for the Development of Fishing and Aquaculture (p r o m a r ) that will operate through a mixed committee, and will be the instrument to promote sustainable conservation and exploitation of the fishing and aqua resources, investigation, development and technological transfer, facilitates access to financial services and guarantee the financial institutions that operate with the Fund, the recovery of loans give to the fishing and aquaculture producers. In relation to training, it is s a g a r p a ’s (Article 24) faculty, in coordination with offices of Federal Public Administration and State governments, to organize and train the fishing and aquaculture organizations; and i n a p e s c a ’s to formulate and execute training and capability programs.

South-Southeast region characterization

This region is formed by the states of Campeche, Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Pue- bla, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatan. The historical scarcity, little infrastructure, equipment and market that characterize this region’s condition, its weak integration to the rest of the country. In contrast to this lag is its enormous biodiversity (it forms part of the Central America Biological Corridor renowned as one of the five regions in the world for its mega diversity and concentrates more than 70% of North America’s biodiversity) its diminishing hydro, forestry and scenic resources (tropical and mountain jungle, mesophyll forest, wetlands and mangroves) and oil,

140 141 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o as well as its undeniable cultural richness, product of the diverse indigenous groups that live in the region – 74% of the country’s indigenous population is concentrated in this area.10 In Mexico, 80% of the indigenous population survives in extreme poverty conditions, distributed in the states of Hidalgo, Zacatecas, Chihuahua and the already mentioned states of the South-Southeast region (Torres-Salcido, 2000). The per capita PIB in the Southern states of the country is similar to the most underdeveloped countries in Africa (Diaz-Cayero, 2005; Scott, 2000). The National Population Commission (c o n a p o ) divides the country in five regions. In the fifth where Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatan are, a low population density is registered as well as a smaller number of municipalities, the majority rural. The National Program for the Attention of Priority Regions, developed in 1999, proposes actions of social development and the generation of resources to attack poverty in major marginalization areas; among them we will find the west region and seashore of Yucatan. The greatest number of poor is registered in Yucatan, which has 106 municipalities, 72 of them are part of the priority attention micro regions. Even though political party’s alternation is more frequent, in the municipal environment political plurality does not respond to a greater social plurality, as greater spaces for decisions are not given to women, youngsters or indigenous (Ziccardi, 2003).

Decentralization in the fishing and aquaculture sector in Yucatan

The fishing and aquaculture sector is formed by s a g a r p a – represented by the state delegation that attends business relative to the matter through the Fishing Under delegation -; the i n p – through the Yucalpeten Regional Fishing Investigation Cen- ter (c r i p -Yucalpeten)-; the State government – represented by the Governor and the Ministry of Rural Development and Fishing-; the social sector – grouped in the federative cooperative societies (Regional Federation of Cooperative Societies of the Fishing Industry in the Center and West of the State of Yucatan, Regional Federation of Cooperative Societies of the Fishing Industry East Zone of the State of Yucatan and Regional Federation of Fishing, Tourist, Aquaculture and Artisans Cooperative Societies of the State of Yucatan-; free fishermen; National Chamber of Fishing and Aquaculture Industries (c a n i p e s c a ); and the Ship-owners’ Union.

10 Gasca-Zamora, J. “El Sur-Sureste de Mexico en la estrategia del Plan Puebla-Panamá: ¿Una oportunidad de desarrollo para las regiones olvidadas?. www.nodo50.org/pchiapas/documentos/ppp26.htm.

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As well as the l g p a s project, the current Rural Sustainable Development Law (l d r s ) foresees decentralization as one of the rector criteria to put into practice the support programs for sustainable development, as well as the integration of councils and committees that will make agreements with s a g a r p a and the state and municipal governments and that these be the instances where the producers and other agents related to the sector may be able to participate. Based on the l d r s , s a g a r p a ’s delegation intervenes in the Special Concurrent Program (p e c ) in which several government offices, local authorities, produces and the System-Product Committees (currently they have been established for tilapia and lobster) participate; the Alliance for the Country Program (p r o c a m p o ) also participates through the State Council for Sustainable Rural Development (c e d r u s ). The participation of the fishing sector is given through the Fishing and Aquacul- ture State Council, aided by the Fishing and Marine Resources Committee, and the State Inspection and Vigilance Committee, to generate consensus, agreements and decisions in the handling of the fishing and aquaculture resources. The free fishermen do not take part in the council nor the committees; however, the State government involves them in local fishing-aquaculture ordinance committees for solution of problems. Yucatan counts with a great variety of fishing resources. Among those of most commercial importance are: octopus, lobster, grouper, black grouper, red snapper and snapper, as well as baby shark; which are exploited by the main fleet (medium height boats) and the artisan fleet (formed mainly by launches) which are differentiated mainly by their size and characteristics, fishing and finding equipment, and fishing areas. Fishing in the state is an activity in which the majority of the fishermen do not have any type of social security; they are workers that constantly change boats and objective species; some of them dedicate part of their time in other activities and return cyclically to fishing. In view of this situation, the number of jobs generated by this industry is uncertain; it is considered that there are about 10 to 12 thousand regular jobs and between 4 and 7 thousand irregular. The industry sustains around 2,000 direct jobs, and it could be said that the economy in coastal Yucatan is based on great measure to the fishing activity, in such a way that diverse services in the ports are in connection with this sector (Canto-Saenz, 2001). The commercial fishing development follows an oligopoly pattern through which a few licensees monopolize the fishing, processing, commercialization and export of the fishing products, among them, the outstanding ones are: “Congeladora Golfo y Caribe and Promarmex in the port of Progreso; Pescamex, Congeladora Cuevas and Congeladora Yucalpeten, in the shelter port of Yucalpeten; and La Atlantida del

Sur, Atunamex and Hulkin in the city of Merida. The businessmen or licensees are owners of the processing plants and of the majority of the fishing boats of the main and artisan fleets. The social sector is perceived disorganized, mainly due to their low educational level, and lack of capabilities in administrative, financial and commercialization aspects and to a critical economical lag (mainly by indebtedness). The free fishermen also perform as non employed labor of the big companies, which is reflected in the different Yucatan ports where cooperatives are committed in selling their products at preferential rates to a limited numbers of processing plans since they give them money in advance for their catch and financial support to acquire equipment (Salas et al., 2005). The plants process and commercialize the product for export of sale in the national market and therefore, are the ones who gain the most. An example is lobster, the majority of the production goes to the cooperatives, but these do not commercialize directly, but send it to companies installed in the ports of Progreso, or Yucalpeten, or the city of Merida, where it is processed for commercialization, distribution and export (Rios et al., 1998). The businessmen compete amongst themselves to obtain the majority of the product financing the fishermen in their equipment and vessel purchases, a situation that generates an increase in the fishing efforts and has aided the over exploitation, diminishing the capture volumes and profitability of the main fisheries, for example: grouper. The businessmen have fishing licenses for those boats they finance to the fishermen; when the fisherman finishes paying the boat, he receives the boat and the invoice but not the permit, allowing the businessman to finance the purchase of another boat with the same license; on his end, the fisherman will have to request a new license or make free use of the resources becoming a potential delinquent. This process generates free access to some fishing resources in the state and a constant demand of permits from those who are now owners of their boats. In spite of the fact that the fisherman considers that he pays expensively for the finance received, there is no other way to commercialize his product, either because he does not know how to do it, or because his debt with the businessman does not allow it. One of the actions performed by the Federal government (2000-2006) to regulate these fishermen was to give license plates for the boats, which was done with the purpose of not only counting with an estimate of the number of boats and to give the free fishermen the opportunity to obtain their fishing permits, but also to give the government the possibility to obtain more taxes through the issuance of permits as well as maintaining, in a certain way, political control of the group.

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In response to the over exploitation problem of some of the species at national level, s e m a r n a p presented the Fishing Ordinance Program that included the resources evaluation that i n p developed in 1998; five of the most important species in Yucatan were included in the evaluation (lobster, octopus, grouper, red snapper and baby shark). It was decided that there would be no future increase in the capture and immediate measures were needed to stop the increase in fishing efforts on certain resources and in some cases reduce them. In view that the fishermen and businessmen did not accept these measures as they generally oppose to regulations that restrict the fishing efforts, s e m a r n a p created a link between the Federal government and the users through the State Fishing and Marine Resources Committees to promote the participation of all the actors and develop consensus, agreements and decisions for the management of the resources. Some actors indicate that decentralization can facilitate the administration of the fishing resources through agreements between the State government ands a g a r p a . As advantages, they state that decisions can be made at local level with better knowledge of cause, needs can be prioritized and a better transparency can be obtained on the use of resources. However, as disadvantages they indicate the issuance of permits could be done in a discretional manner to benefit some of the users or promotion licenses could be extended to cover commercial fishing or to avoid the appliance of a regulation measure. A criticism made by the investigation institutions, including the i n p is the lack of coordination amongst them, as frequently they board the same problem generating high investigation costs. This situation worries them in view that occasionally they support the investigations with economical resources. The c r i p -Yucalpeten has a close relationship with the producers, the Fishing Un- der-delegation of s a g a r p a and the State government; fishermen and businessmen provide the c r i p with information utilized in the investigation projects’ analysis. Some groups in the sector demand that the results of the investigation be published as they constitute the base of the decisions taken for the management and administration of the resources. They suggest as well, that c r i p , who is currently performing investigation on lobster, octopus, grouper species, and sea cucumber, boards the study of other resources of the region that require scientific and technological investigation, even though they are conscious that the institution does not have investigation personnel nor enough economical resources to do it.

Conclusions

Contrary to what is indicated by the Fishing Commission of the Chamber of De- puties, we consider that the initiative of the General Fishing and Aquaculture Law (l g p a s ) does not specify the attributions of the three levels of government, on the contrary, the fact of presenting the decentralization of functions in a general manner could open the door to decentralizing those functions applicable to the Federal government. For this reason, it is very important when planning the decentralization process to limit all the functions of the three levels of government and define what aspects are feasible to decentralize, without diminishing the development of the activity. Even though the decentralization process has advanced in the sector, it has not been systematic, and the experiences of past administrations have not been taken into account, and therefore, follow up, evaluation and control actions of the process have not been performed. As an example we have the s e m a r n a p ’s work related to the establishment of concentration, generation and publishing of information strategies, and the creation of social participation mechanisms, which did not continue operating in the following six year presidential period, when the attention to the fishing and aquaculture sector became part of the s a g a r p a . During the last two six year periods, the state of Yucatan has shown a greater participation of the sector in the proposals for decision making. Businessmen and representatives of social organizations are an active part of the committees established to discuss themes related to fishing equipment, minimum sizes, quotas, management plans for resources or fishing areas, etc. However, this dynamic has not been able to reverse the tendency of the catch of the main species of commercial interest, such as is the case of the grouper. Decentralization is a process that is built on the bases of democracy, equity, justice and sovereignty. However, in the case of Yucatan, in the citizens’ environment certain groups are not given major decision spaces and in the fishing sector infrac- tions to the norms and chieftain relationships are tolerated. With these conditions it is difficult to edify a process that has as a base democracy and citizens’ participation.

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Recommendations

The relevance of the fishing activity cannot be seen in function of what it provides to the Gross Internal Product (p i b ). The social importance it entails is the challenge in planning the development of this activity that significantly contributes to the micro- economy of the country. The fishing and aquaculture population is of approximately 300 000 fishermen, plus their families and indirect employment; it is estimated that approximately 12 million people are linked directly or indirectly to the sector’s activities (Arreguin- Sanchez, 2006). On the other hand, the State’s obligation to ensure the production of quality foods for all the Mexicans must be taken into account; this is something where fishing and aquaculture contribute in a significant manner. In relation to the importance of the economical activity in question and the need for a balanced development throughout the country, it is important to conceive decentralization as a dynamic process to be planned taking into account the risks it entails, the analysis of the areas that could be decentralized, the functioning of a real citizen’s participation mechanism – an area that must be taken care of, especially in the state of Yucatan, where women, youngsters and indigenous are not given major decision spaces-; the guarantee of having enough financial resources to perform the decentralization; rendering of account; and a continuous evaluation of the process. A working method must be developed from the needs and demands of the region and establishes locks to the impositions of the power groups and chieftains that would detract the decentralization process11; on this point the National Council and the State Council for fishing and aquaculture would play in important role. Another relevant element in the process is access to information, training and support to the organization of communities dedicated to the fishing and aquaculture activities; this element is present in the project of the l g p a s , but the organization’s support and training should be presented as a continuous chore and not only for those communities that request it, as is indicated in the project of Law. As to access to information, it would be commendable to create a unique information system, fed by the different systems in the project of Law (for example: trustworthy and current fishing and aquaculture statistics, classified by scientific name and fishing area); that contains regulations for information access and allows the search of matters related to fishing and aquaculture (for ex. Interest information

11 It is interesting to note that World Bank considers its own proposed policies against corruption, in which we find the decentralization process, as responsible for the increase in corruption. “La Jornada”, Wednesday, September 20, 2006.

from the Ministries of Economy, Health, Agrarian Reform, s e m a r n a t , etc.); that will contribute to plan fishing and aquaculture investigation with an inter-disciplinary, inter-sector and inter-institutional focus in order to board study of the activity with an ecosystem approach (for ex., the basin, take advantage of the Council of the Basin organization); that will allow the integral management of resources, which implies in an inherent manner the participative management and observes the socio-economic, environmental and anthropological aspects among other. It is necessary to recover the commercialization work and foment the intake as was done through institutions like Productos Pesqueros Mexicanos and Ocean Gar- den, which would contribute to effectively perform the resources integral management. In the decentralization process, the municipality should be the coordination point of the local efforts, among other reasons, because it is the closest to the citizens, it should have the faculty for territorial and environmental planning, be in charge of the promotion of a sustainable economical development, take care of the environment and natural resources, preserve cultural and ethnic identity and foment citizen’s participation in decision making (Ziccardi, 2003). It is important to point out that in the State of Yucatan the participation of municipalities in decision making within the State Fishing and Aquaculture Council is very reduced, since the economical and political power is centered in the State Government. It is convenient to create conscience among the actors on the responsibility they acquire in the citizens’ participation process regarding follow up and control of the agreements’ fulfillment, a process in which authorities, fishermen, businessmen, investigators, etc., are involved for the sustainable exploitation of the resources. It is important to create mechanisms in the decentralization process that will stop the authorities in the three levels of government abuse the functions transferred to the States and municipalities and avoid that the exploitation of resources be handled at the convenience of the governor in turn, for election purposes and/or the benefit of regional chieftains. In this sense, c o n a p e s c a and i n p as State representatives in fishing and aquaculture matters would have the responsibility of facilitating the citizen’s participation process and ensure that the exploitation of the resources be performed according to the norms and based on the mandate of Constitutional Article 27. The participation mechanism of the sector’s actors in the decentralization process could turn back the unfair and unequal relation between the social and private sectors, as long as it is a democratic process in which the state governments may have a more active role in the solution of local problems in the frame of national policy.

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It is important to organize the process considering exclusively the interests of the Nation, especially in the South-Southeast region full of contrasts. Taking into account the experience in Mexico and Latin America, the intrusion of international institutions that support decentralization projects considered as secure benefits12 could endanger the integrity of what is proposed to fortify with decentralization: the Federation; as these institutions could sign agreements directly with the states or municipalities without the intervention of the State (Delgado-Ramos and Saxe- Fernandez, 2005). On the other hand they have financed programs oriented towards poverty prevention, especially in indigenous areas and in states with less advantages; their contents and norms are unknown by the majority of the civil society, which in our country shows a weak participation.13 In consequence, any strategy to boost regional development, such as the Panama- Puebla Plan, should consider the weight of rules and interests that transcend our country, condition the appliance of public policies and do not correspond to those of our regional societies and local actors.14 The discourses talk about boosting development, but in reality they are talking about a mere economical growth. The market does not automatically pour its benefits to the population that is why investigation in a sector as this one cannot stay immersed in a strategy focused only on attending the market needs without taking into account the dimension and importance of its social components. The National Fishing Institute is the “Federal government administrative organism in charge to coordinate and orient scientific and technological investigation in fishing and aquaculture matters, as well as develop, innovate and transfer the technology required by the fishing and aquaculture sector”. To be able to perform this assignment it must have a regional and national vision of the problems in order to plan an integral investigation (throughout the productive chain) that will allow the sustainable development of the activity, according to the obligations of the State which are stated in Constitutional Article 27 that sets the sustainability bases. If the i n p becomes a decentralized organism, it must be out of the control of the c o n a c y t since it is a State administrative organism, as is indicated in Article 29 of the l g p a s project.

12 Rodriguez-Solorzano, C. www.ine.gob.mx./ueaje/publicaciones/libros/403/rodriguez/htmal?id_pub=403. 13 “Vida Municipal”. www.unam.mx/cesem/ART115/BOL18/18vdmp1.htm. 14 Gasca-Zamora, J. “El Sur-Sureste de México en la estrategia del Plan Puebla-Panamá. ¿Una oportunidad de desarrollo para las regiones olvidadas?. www.nodo50.org/pchiapas/documentos/ppp26.htm

The State should plan a national policy of investigation with the participation of all those involved, that will facilitate the articulation of the institutions dedicated to this work and orient the scientific, technological, social and economical investigation needs. The investigation should be presented as a goal to solve society’s needs, reduce inequalities in the different regions in Mexico, especially those with major lags. This is not only a matter of social justice but a strategic issue for the economical growth, productivity, sovereignty, unity, political stability, security and viability of the Nation (Davalos, 2004; Soctt, 2000; Cordera and Ziccardi, 2000).

Bibliography

Arreguín-Sánchez, F., 2006. Pesquerías de México. In: A.P. Guzmán, y D. Fuentes (coord.) Pesca, Acuacultura e Investigación en México. Comisión de Pesca y c e d r s s a , Cámara de Diputados. México. p. 13-36. Cabrero-Mendoza, E., 1998. La ola descentralizadora. Un análisis de tendencias y obstáculos de las políticas descentralizadoras en el ámbito internacional. In: E. Cabrero Mendoza (coord). Las políticas descentralizadoras en México (1983-1993). Logros y desencantos. Grupo Editorial Miguel Porrúa. México. p. 17-54. Canto-Sáenz, R., 2001. Del henequén a las maquiladoras. La política industrial en Yucatán, 1984-2001. Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública. 286 p. http://www.biblioju- ridica.org/libros/libro.htm?l=1732 Castelet, M., 2000. Descentralización y desarrollo económico local: una visión general del caso de México. c e p a l . l c /r. 1974. p. 10-21. Dávalos, P., 2004. Las noticias secretas del Banco Mundial: Poder y violencia en la reforma estructural. Boletín i c c i -a r y Rimay, Año 6, No. 72, marzo. http://icci.nativeweb.org/bo- letin/72/davalos.html. Delgado-Ramos, G.C., and J. Saxe-Fernández, 2005. México, el Banco Mundial en acción: una revisión del Country Asistanse Strategy 2002-2005. www.memoria.com.mx/182/del- gado_saxe.htm. Díaz-Cayero, A., 2005. Pobreza y precariedad urbana en México: un enfoque municipal. Seminario Regional “Financiamiento municipal y superación de la pobreza urbana”. 5 y 6 mayo, Santiago de Chile. c e p a l . 10 p. www.eclac.org/dmaah/noticias/paginas/1/21551/ Diaz.pdf. f a o , 1997. r e d -i f o . Un modelo para analizar la descentralización. www.ciat.cgiar.org/Planifi- cación_rural/Taller_Territorio/f a o /s d a r /Typology_Decentralization/CD_typology/docs/ D03E.pdf. Pardo, M.C., 2000. El diseño administrativo de los programas de emergencia. En: Cordera, R. y A. Ziccardi, Coord. Las políticas sociales de México al fin del milenio. Descentral- ización, Diseño y Gestión. Miguel Ángel Porrúa. Coord. Humanidades Fac. Econ./IIS. p. 459-479.

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Ramiro-Fernández, V., 2002. Transformación del Estado y procesos de descentralización. La propuesta del Banco Mundial en la década de 1990 y las lógicas-intereses en el capitalismo global. Problemas del Desarrollo. Revista Latinoamericana de Economía. Vol. 33. No. 128, enero-marzo. México, i i e c-u n a m . p. 55-93. Ríos Lara, G.V., C. Zetina-Moguel, K. Cervera-Cervera., R. Mena and F. Chablé, 1998. La pesquería de langosta espinosa Panulirus argus en las costas del estado de Yucatán. Con- tribuciones de Investigación Pesquera. c r i p -Yucalpetén, i n p . Semarnap. Documento Téc- nico (6). 36 p. Salas, M.S., P.J. Bello, V. Ríos-Lara, S.R. Rivas, M.A. Cabrera-V., U.A. Santamaría, 2005. Programa Maestro del Sistema Producto de la pesquería de langosta en Yucatán. Conap- esca-Cinvestav. 104 p. s e m a r n a p , 2000. La gestión ambiental en México. p. 323-338. Scott, J., 2000. Descentralización, focalización y pobreza en México. In: R. Cordera, y A. Ziccardi (Coord.) Las políticas sociales de México al fin del milenio. Descentralización, Diseño y Gestión. Miguel Ángel Porrúa. Coord. Humanidades Fac. Econ./i i s . p. 481- 496. Torres-Salcido, G., 2000. El diseño y la gestión de las políticas alimentarias en el campo mexicano. In: R. Cordera, y A. Ziccardi, Coord. Las políticas sociales de México al fin del milenio. Descentralización, Diseño y Gestión. Grupo Editorial Miguel Ángel Porrúa. Coord. Humanidades Fac. Econ./i i s . p. 533-553. Ziccardi, A., 2003. El federalismo y las regiones: una perspectiva municipal. Gestión y Políti- ca Pública, i i Semestre, Vol. x i i , No. 2. Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas. p. 323-350.

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152 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

Part 3

Investigation Centers: economical sectors, coastal communities and transversality

152 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

154 The oil activity in Campeche: Situation, challenges and opportunities

Guillermo J. Villalobos and Evelia Rivera Arriaga

Introduction

uring the l945 to 1975, the main economical activity of Carmen municipality in the Southwest of the state of Campeche was artisan and commercial Dfishing dedicated in particular to the capture of shrimp; the agricultural activity was centered in copra, maize and rice. The discovery of oil in the South of the Gulf of Mexico in the mid 70’s, in what is nominated the “Southeast oil boom”, generates a quick establishment and growth of the oil industry that determined substantial changes in the productive, demographic and development model of the coastal region of the state of Campeche that persist to this day.1 The development model subordinated the rural sector to the urban sector impos- ing the industrial needs, specifically the services linked directly or indirectly to the activities and needs for oil exploration and exploitation, altering and re-orienting the local and regional development modal with great environmental and social costs (accelerated demographic growth, quick and anarchic urbanization, insufficient public services, increase in the unemployment and sub-employment levels, significant

1 Tudela F. (coordinator), 1992 “La Modernización Forzada del Trópico: El caso de Tabasco, Proyecto Integrado del Golfo. 2nd Edition. El Colegio de Mexico./CINVETAV/IFIAS/UNRISD/ México. 472

155 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o increase of inequalities in the income distribution, permanent increase of living costs and increase in insecurity). 2 The Keynesian model was guided by the economical theory of the Economical Commission for Latin America (c e p a l ). This theory articulated the model based on a conception that gave the states the capacity to produce a promising economical and social development through an accelerated industrial modernization. Mexico’s object was to achieve an industrialization that would lead to self economical sustenance based on oil. However, for the functioning of this model the acquisition of capital was necessary, those from internal sources (such as oil) as well as external (such as loans) that on a short term resulted in the economical dependency of the country. The protective economy, oriented towards exports was in search of extra foreign currency, but soon the weakness of this model was made evident: high costs and inefficiency in all senses. The agricultural sector with poor production was not able to cover the industrialization costs and was not able to fulfill payments, magnified by and international recession and the debt crisis of the 80’s. Due to the discovery of the deposit of “Cantarell Well” in 1976 in the internal Continental platform of Campeche, at 100 km off the coast of Isla del Carmen (Table 1), the oil boom made the industrialization process in the Southeast of the country and Campeche receive a powerful stimulus (Tudela, 1992). Cantarell is located 90 km North of Ciudad del Carmen and extends to an area of 134 km2. From 1979 to this date it has produced around 12 thousand million oil barrels and 5 thousand million of million cubic feet of natural gas; just in 2005 it gave one million 778 thousand barrels of oil a day, that is 55% of national total, with what Cantarell became the second important oil field in the world.3 The discovery of the deposits caused the proven reserved volume of hydrocar- bons in the country pass from a little over 6 000 million barrels in 1975 to almost 60 000 million barrels in 1980.4 The proven reserves up to January 1, 2007 added to 15 514.2 barrels of crude oil, 995 million less than those reported the previous year. The proven reserves plus the probable add to 30 771.6 million barrels, while the total reserves added 45 376.3 million barrels of crude oil. In 2007, Mexico occupied the 15th place of production at world level.5

2 Allub L. and M.A. Michel, 1980. Industria petrolera y cambio regional, el caso Tabasco. Ed. Centro de Investigación para la Integración Regional (Ed.).México, D.F. 65 p. 3 PEMEX, 1985. Memoria de Labores, 1979 to 1984 4 DETENAL, 1981, Annual Report 5 PEMEX, 2007, Annual Activity Report.

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Table 1. First oil fields in Campeche Year Field 1950 Xicalango 1976 Chac 1977 Akal 1977 Bacab 1978 Nohoch 1978 Ixtoc 1978 Kanaab 1978 Pol 1978 Ek 1978 Ha 1979 Abkatun 1979 Ku 1979 Maloob 1979 Kutz 1981 Chuc 1981 Zazil

During the decade of the 60’s and the beginning of the 80’s the Southeast region only provided a little more than 30% of the national oil and natural gas production. The Southeast production (Tabasco and Campeche) represented 90% in oil,, 80% in natural gas, and a little over 70% in basic petrochemical production. The environmental, social and economical impact (positive as well as negative) was manifest in Campeche and Tabasco with an unprecedented intensity; it is until 1988 when the Federal Law for Ecological Equilibrium and Protection to the En- vironment becomes available. Further on in the case of Campeche, it is until 1993 when an equivalent law is available that allows including the environment in the productive processes. On the other hand, there were no specialized frames in the local academic sector and therefore the frames from the big universities and institutes of the country were those who attended the problems in an intermittent manner.

Changes in the orientation of regional development

To make this resource available for internal consumption or export requires that a whole exploration, exploitation, transformation, distribution and commercialization industry functions in the country. Due to its magnitude, complexity, dynamism and links with the rest of the economy, this industry is capable of generating, on one side, significant multiplying employment, technological advances, formation of human resources and other productive activities effects at regional as well as national levels and, on the other, action of such dimension and intensity that will drastically affect the environment of areas that, like the tropical, are extremely fragile systems. Because of the boom in oil activity the non oil public investments increase significantly since 1978 in those areas of “human settlements and communications and transportation”, indicating a Federal and state change towards the regional development orientation. At least in Carmen municipality fishing and agriculture decrease their relative importance while the urban industrial sector increases based on a new socio-economic circuit.

Fiscal administrative policies

Different from Tabasco, the government of Campeche did not adequately negotiate with the Federal government the increase of the percentage of financial resources to receive, always having against the Federal argument that the oil fields are found in Federal zone (bottom of the Gulf of Mexico). While the government of Tabasco registered an extraordinary increase of the resources obtained through Federal participations (Tudela, 1992), Campeche has not obtained them as significantly. In 1979, the Oil Law stated that 9% of the exploitation taxes should return to the “producing states” by way of participations and an additional 1% should be chan- neled to the “affected” municipalities. That same year, according to the Fiscal Co- ordination Law, the participations to the states and municipalities were assigned in a proportional way to the total Federal collections; and in 1980 the Federal Participa- tions Fund was created. However, as there was no rigid mechanism to fix the corresponding quota for each state, the assignment of such quota depended on the ability and influence level of the governors, who got the best benefits then was the governor of Tabasco. The mentioned law allowed the municipalities to receive 20% of the Federal participations to the states (Tudela, 1992). To this date, 40% of national total Federal income comes from oil.6

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Changes in the social and demographic processes

Population

With low population, the island of Carmen was a locality of fishermen that maintained a medium level of life, but fair, thanks to the wood activity for boat construction, the exploitation of three species of shrimp (brown, pink and white shrimp) – whose commercial importance was accentuated because it was an export product – and coconut farming and its sub-products. Later, with the arrival of p e m e x an anarchical urbanization process is generated, prevailing to this day, where housing, health, education, public services, security and employment demands are not satisfied. The vigorous oil activity and associated services attracts directed investments and generates a high income social group with little integration and low local cultural values and, on the other hand, generates another group of low income formed by migrants from the rural zones and other urban zones, mainly from the neighbor states (Tabasco, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, Federal District and Tamaulipas), who, when unemployed or with intermittent employment form a significant sector of marginal population.7 The industrialization-urbanization-marginality process is shown clearly in Ciu- dad del Carmen, where the marginalized, lacking education and training do not integrate to the modern productive sector and have to occupy the non qualified jobs. However, this situation actually registers some changes (Tables 2, 3 and 4). The average growth rate in the Carmen Municipality for the 2000-2005 periods is of 2.7%, the highest in the State and 1.1% above the national medium.8 In 1980, the migrant population with ten or more years of residence in Carmen was mainly occupied in the primary sector (agriculture, husbandry and fishing activities) while 50% of the migrants with less than 5 years of residence were occupied by the service sector. The expansion of the oil activity in the Campeche Sound became the main motor for changes in an indirect manner, as by its way of operation does not require inten-

6 Jiménez G. 2005. ¿Coatza? Evoca tragedia del Ixtoc, 4 p. 7 Frutos Cortés, M., E. Solano Palacios, G. Calderón Gómez, R. Martínez Berberaje, 2006. “La Participación social como mecanismo para el desarrollo regional. El caso de Ciudad del Carmen en la región de Laguna de Términos, UNACAR, 21 p. 8 INEGI, 2006. Second census of housing and population 2005. www.inegi.gob.mx

Table 2. Registry of total population in the Carmen municipality and the State of Campeche in the 1950-2005 cycle * Year Population in the Carmen Municipal- Total population of the ity Inhabitants and percentage State of Campeche in reference to the total of the State (inhabitants) 1950 23 999 (19.66%) 122 098 1960 40 855 (24.29%) 168 219 1970 76 747 (30.51%) 251 556 1980 144 684 (34.40%) 420 553 1990 136 034 (25.42%) 535 185 2000 172 076 (24.91 %) 690 689 2005 199 988 (26.50%) 754 730 *INEGI, 2006. Segundo Conteo de Población y Vivienda 2005 (http://www.inegi.gob.mx

Table 3. Population occupied by sectors of economical activity in the State of Campeche Sector Annual Percentage No. of People Population occupied by sector of economical unity 324 278 Primary 68 307 Agriculture, husbandry, forestry, 68 307 hunting, fishing and aquaculture Secondary 71 550 Extraction industry and electricity 8 318 Manufacturing industry 35 630 Construction 27 602 Tertiary 183 195 Commerce 54 372 Restaurants and lodging 19 126 Transportation, communication, mail 11 693 Financial and corporative services 11 072 Social Services 28 331 Diverse services 34 504 Government and international organization 24 097 Non specified 1 227

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Table 4. Economically active population in Carmen, Campeche from 1970 to 2000. Year PT POA PEI POSP POSS POST 1970 76 747 21 028 ---- 37 222 11 665 22 103 1980 144 684 44 944 44 320 16 855 5 478 10 381 1990 179 795 50 168 62 859 18 220 9 621 19 373 2000 172 076 60 935 10 184 17 188 9 486 29 988 PT = Total Population; PEA= Economically active population; PEI= Economically inac- tive population; POSP= Population occupied in the Primary Sector; POSS= Population occupied in the Secondary Sector; POST= Population occupied in the Tertiary Sector.

sive labor, but it does require service providers and services associated to the industry. The expansion of the oil industry impacts in an indirect manner to employment demands through investment and other economy sectors’ stimuli.9 From the end of the 1970 decade to 2007 there is a displacement of peasants towards the construction linked to the oil industry; since in spite of being an uncertain and temporary activity, it has given more income than any agricultural activity. In the decade of the 80’s close to 70% of the state’s p e a that was dedicated to the construction sector worked in works and services linked to the oil industry. The secondary and tertiary sectors were oriented towards the oil dominium. Also, companies from Mexico City, Tamaulipas and Veracruz offering advisory services and other services migrated to Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche.

Inflation

Independently of the inflationary process that operated in the country at the end of the 70’s decade and beginnings of the 80’s, the overflowing growth of the oil activity in the municipality of Carmen caused additional inflationary pressures that to this date place Ciudad del Carmen as one of the most expensive cities in the country, the costs do not correspond to the quality of services. The combination of a great money spill (for the state of Campeche standards) with the sudden increase of demands originated from the oil investments and the conditions of the island, were the main factors for a strong dependency related to

9 Boisier, S., 1986. “La articulación Estado-Región: Clave del desarrollo regional: 309-355. In. Avila Sánchez H. (comp.) 1986. Lecturas de Análisis Regional en América Latina y el Caribe. Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (Ed.) México, D.F.

160 161 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o imported goods and services added to the insufficiency of transport and storage services and lack of qualified manpower, becoming big structural bottle necks that inevitably generate unreal raise of prices and salaries in the Carmen municipality, way above the rest of the state and the Yucatan Peninsula: Carmen is the most expensive city, not considering the beach tourist phenomenon of the Mexican Caribbean with its spectacular cases of Cancun and Playa del Carmen. The speculation with “urban” soil in the island of Carmen prohibits the permanent installation of the low resource groups and temporary hiring. At the beginning of President Echeverría Alvarez’ administration (1970-1976), the regional Southeastern road infrastructure (Veracruz and Tabasco) was significantly broadened, almost doubled in the case of Tabasco, which did not happen in the case of Campeche: the key situation here was communication with the island of Carmen that was kept through ferries up to the end of the 90’s when the bridge that communicates the island in its Southwestern part with the continent towards the border with Tabasco was finished. The public investment in communication and transport matters was then increased up to 200%, 10, 11, 12 centered in communication roads in relation to the oil interests and in some minor cases compromising with the local and state interests. This situation was such that on a long term has caused that to this date the government has had to invest in more functional communication roads, performed with a growth view and major care in relation to the physical environment and the meteorological events to which Campeche is vulnerable to, particularly the Carmen municipality. From the beginning of the oil activity in Campeche to this date, the settlement patterns of the population have been modified mainly due to three factors: 1) The space reorganization of work offer, demand of goods and services and investment; 2) The profitability decrease of artisan fishing, agriculture and husbandry activities; and 3) The restructuring of space in relation to a new road web (Federal, state, and rural). The dynamics of the population with influence in the oil activities was accelerated (Ciudad del Carmen, Atasta, Puerto Rico, San Antonio Cardenas, Emiliano Za- pata and Nuevo Campechito). Prior to the oil boom (1970), Ciudad del Carmen had a population of 76,747 inhabitants; and by 2005 it registered 199,988 (i n e g i , 2006); Ciudad del Carmen exceeds disproportionately the rest of the localities in the Car- men municipality.

10 SIC, 1973 to 1976, Annual Report 1977. 11 SPP, 1981 to 1982, Annual Report, 1983. 12 SPP, 1984, Annual Report 1985.

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On the other hand, when permanent communication began between the island and the continent (first the “Puente de la Unidad” that communicates the island on its Eastern side since 1983 and then the “Puente de Zacatal” on its Southwestern side), an extension is generated of the urban economical scope towards the rural space and the daily migration begins (Ciudad del Carmen, Atasta, Puerto Rico, San Antonio Cardenas, Emiliano Zapata, Nuevo Campechito, Isla Aguada, Sabancuy). This situation reached uncontrollable proportions and anarchy at the end of the 90’s and the beginning of the first decade of the x x i century, when the expansion of the great urban nucleus, Ciudad del Carmen, and the settlements with poor services began and the lack of urban infrastructure was accentuated.

Productive activities in the Carmen Municipality

The insertion of the oil activities into the existing productive activities in the State of Campeche at the time of the discovery of the Cantarell deposit, accented the crisis effect of the artisan and commercial fishing activity, as well as the loss of agricultural manpower. The Carmen municipality, particularly its municipal head (Ciudad del Carmen), prior to the oil exploration and exploitation in the Campeche Sound, sustained its economical activity in the fishing and agriculture activity, mainly coconut planting, while the rest of the municipality, based on the continent practiced agriculture and husbandry in an extensive and inefficient manner due to the quality and nature of soil (mainly wet jungle). The appearance of the oil activity in the mid 70’s accelerated the relative con- traction of activities related to agriculture and fishing. This situation is aggravated or is corollary to the 90’s crisis, when the viral problem of coconut “yellowing” eliminates the coconut activity; and coincidental in the fishing activity the decline of the main fishery (shrimp) due to over exploitation of the resource (intense fishing of young product in the Terminos Lagoon) and the exclusion of a fishing zone due to oil activity when the Cantarell deposit was discovered. Unemployment and sub-employment begins in the rural sector (agricultural and fishing) and commences a process of employment in jobs associated to services and construction. The abandonment of the peasants’ plots contributes to the decline of the agricultural production in the Carmen municipality (i n e g i , 1981). Another process that accentuated the agricultural and fishing crisis was the inflationary process and the 1976, 1982, and 1994 crisis. As well, the public investments oriented towards this sector take another direction and are given the shape of masked

162 163 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o subsidies, with a political criteria of social stability rather than productive with an economical impact. After the first half of the 70’s, the surfaces dedicated to the planting of maize, rice and beans decline significantly (c o n a p o , 1982), and on the other hand credits for this activity were reduced as husbandry credits were increased.

The Petroleum

The discovery of the Cantarell deposit determines that by logistics p e m e x locates Isla del Carmen as its main nodule to perform its land activities surrounded by its service providers. The sudden irruption of significant magnitude promoted in Isla del Carmen and, in a lesser degree, but equally significant in the rest of the State, an economical, cultural and geo-political alteration (to this day there are more foreigners in Ciudad del Carmen than those who were born there, i n e g i ), since the main economical input, direct or indirectly from p e m e x to Campeche is centered in the Carmen municipality, particularly in its municipal head, which creates an imbalance in employment and services regarding the rest of the municipality and the other municipalities in Campeche. Given the moment and the local development conditions, the first p e m e x personnel “arrivals” were foreign in almost all levels, bringing with them high level consumers that demanded urban services that Isla del Carmen did not have (commercial infrastructure, hotels, equipment, professional human resources, technicians, specialized workers, food and health, among others), and indirect service providers that the oil activity brings with it. The establishment and advance of the oil activity in Campeche were kept foreign to the local development needs. The oilmen at all levels felt like passers by, with national commitment but with no commitment with the Campeche reality, particularly with that of the Carmen municipality. The insertion of the activity did not acknowledge the other productive activities of the locality and environmental policy did not have the importance level and the environmental policies did not have the contention and negotiation capacity it has today. In this manner, events such as the purchase of land, construction conditions for p e m e x as well as for the foreign companies providing exploration and other services, and the compensations for the first damages (Table 5) were only economically conditioned. The oil activity and its associated effects, supported by the Federal government prevents the integration to the population and the local social actors of the regional

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Table 5. Example of damages caused by the oil activity at the beginning of its insertion in the mid decade of the 70’s (Tudela, 1992). Origin Cause Damage Exploration Road building Change of direction of water flow in a flooding plane Drilling installations Affectation of cultivable or grazing kand Exploitation Uncontrolled wells Crude oil spills, excessive gas burning. Spills Crude oil and gas spills

Atmosphere residues from Alteration of sediments and the Atasta recompression water masses marine-coast plant. and lagoon-estuary. Solid Residues Acid rain and atmosphere contamination, crop damage and rust on fences and shingle roofs. Animal poisoning (water as well as terrestrial), affectation to human settlements. Infrastructure Deficient road building with Flooding of agricultural insufficient of no water or grazing land or human passes. settlements. Building of drains, ducts Destruction of oyster banks. with little maintenance, poor dredging.

development of those sub-spaces in a harmonious and functional manner with the promotion of the other historical and potential activities according to the soil fitness and the natural resources of the region, in a way that will induce them to be promoters and self manage their own productive, technological and territorial dynamics (d e t e n a l , 1981) in order to achieve what Boisier calls “regional conscience or re- gionalism” (Jimenez, 2005). By the end of the 90’s decade, new great projects are generated: a) Nitrogen Pro- duction Plant; b). The drilling of 13 land wells on the boarder with Tabasco; c) the building of the off shore rigs Ku-Maloob-Zaap, Crudo Ligero Marino and Antonio J. Bermudez, with which p e m e x Exploration and Production (p e p ) fixes a production volume of 3 million 400 thousand barrels a day of crude oil for the 2006-2009 pe-

164 165 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o riod. Through these great projects they estimate obtaining 100% of the total reserves by 2010 (in 2005 it was 59%) and 70% in proven reserves (p e m e x -Annual Report, 2005). The economical support received by the State of Campeche and the municipality of Carmen from p e m e x – not being equivalent to what is received by Tabasco – for works (communication roads, services, education) financing of productive projects and payment for environmental studies have been increasing annually.

Participation of the academic sector

The investigation around the oil activity, from the authors’ perspective, has developed in three great stages. The first one is related with the first exploration works that started in the last years of the 50’ and in the decade of the 60’s with the participation of some groups, mainly from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (u n a m ), the National Poli-technical Institute (i p n ) and the Mexican Petroleum Institute (i m p ) who were centered on p e m e x ’ specific needs and generating primary environmental knowledge of the region, land, lagoon and marine: basic inventories and information of the biota and geographical and physical environment. The local institutions did not participate significantly due to lack of human frames with the required knowledge. The second stage is developed once the marine oil boom is established with the Cantarell deposit, particularly with the lack of control of Ixtoc-1 (that lasted nine months from June 3, 1979 to March 24, 1980) that caused a spill of approximately 3.3 million barrels of crude oil (530,300 tons). The cost for control and repairs was of 840 million pesos, 148 million pesos for operations and study payments, as well as 2,000 million from the spilled oil. (Frutos et. al., 2006), which makes a total of 2,988 million Mexican pesos. This event and its repercussions motivated p e m e x and c o n a c y t to finance the academic sector to perform multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional investigations, which had the participation of almost all the laboratories from the Institute of Sea Sci- ences and Limnology of the u n a m , the Chemical Institute of the u n a m , the Mexican Institute of Petroleum (i p n ) among others, who tried to cross examine their investigative results in order to evaluate the damage to the marine and coastal ecosystems. On the other hand, the interaction with the civil society commences through the productive sectors as well as through non governmental organizations, which began particularly in the Carmen municipality as environmental. It is at the end of this stage (1990-1995) when local and regional groups capable of attending the oil problem

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become available, who join the great academic institutions already mentioned. It is in this manner that the Universidad Autonoma de Campeche – through the Ecol- ogy, Fisheries, and Oceanography of the Gulf of Mexico Center (e p o m e x ) (1990 to this date)-, the Investigation Center and Advance Studies-Merida Unit (c i n v e s t a v - Merida) (1980 to this date), Universidad Juarez Autonoma de Tabasco (u j a t ) and Universidad Autonoma del Carmen (u n a c a r ) embody with basic investigation as well as applied investigation, adding their participation to that of the great institutions that still work in the region. Such investigation is reinforced by the fortification and actualization of the Federal environmental policy and the norms associated to it. (i n e , p r o f e p a , c o n a n p , s e m a r n a t , among others). The third and last investigation stage initiates at the end of the last century (1999) when p e m e x starts a new relationship with the academic and social sector based on a greater co-responsibility in the region’s sustainable development. Current investigation is centered in a multi-disciplinary character with an ecosystem and social coverage vision, taking into account social participation as a sustaining element for validity and also viability of their investigations, including following, instrumentation or implementation and evaluation.

Social participation

The other current participation, the social, has transited slowly and intermittently, first through the fishing cooperative societies (cooperatives and societies of social solidarity) and later through the generation of non governmental environmental organizations (o n g ´s) of which several were created in the Carmen municipality: Ma- rea Azul a.c., Profrauna y Flora, a.c., Ariete Ecologico a.c., Tierra a.c. However of all these, only Marea Azul a.c. (Alternative movement to recover altered ecosystems a.c.) has had success, growth and permanence: it has been able to maintain participation in different incidence scenarios such as The Terminos Lagoon Consulting Council for the Protection Area of Flora and Fauna, and have representation in the State Nucleus of the Consulting Council for Sustainable Development, as well as having achieved a direct communication with p e m e x . An event (and process) that activated significantly the social participation was the participative workshops (close to 100) which helped in the construction of the Management Program of the Flora and Fauna Protection Area in the Terminos La- goon (1994-1995). This process that started with a lukewarm and apathetic social participation, gradually changed and finally counted with a broad and positive social participation from all the sectors with the exception of the cattle sector.

Another event that occurred at the beginning of the 90’s in the West continental side of the Carmen municipality, in the Atasta Peninsula, was the emergence of a social movement of protest due to the impact of acid rain, provoked by p e m e x , on the roofs of the houses, the fences and other types of infrastructure in the townships close to the recompression plant of Atasta. This movement that started with a series of anarchical actions such as closing roads and demonstrations in front of the Carmen Municipal Palace and p e m e x installations, turned into a group nominated Movement of Peasants and Fishermen from the Atasta Peninsula (six localities and close to 4 000 people) that demanded from p e m e x compensation for environmental damages, until finally achieving the creation of aSustainable Development Fund for the Atasta Peninsula, financed by p e m e x and s e d e s o l . The Fund was formed with a Consulting Council and a Technical Committee that evaluates the viability of the projects and with an initial objective to support alternative productive and rehabilitation or restoration projects (close to 250) to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the Atasta Peninsula. It received important amount of resources, but lacking schemes and precise indicators of equity, transparence and success follow-up, it became a political exercise focused in giving non payable subsidies and, therefore, has not had any repercussions in a real sustainable improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of Atasta.13 On the other hand, the social participation in Carmen municipality is of two kinds, depending of its origin. The first is the regulated social participation, which is generated and induced from the legal strategies of the local authority where the municipal authorities intervene; it seeks to interest and engage the citizenship in the supervision, follow-up and self-management of the municipal public entities, such as the Communal Development Committees, Neighbor Committees that impact in Public Security, Civil Protection, Environmental Protection, Social Development, Public Services, Public Works, and Urban Development. The second one is the non regulated marginal type social participation, that originates in the irregular urban and rural spaces and is characterized by depending on the negotiation of another group or local people, even though in the majority of the cases they do not receive and adequate answer to their needs (Frutos et al., 2006). Social participation regarding the oil activity has grown, even though not in a homogeneous fashion. Some examples are the State Nucleus of Consulting Council for

13 Oilwatch México, 2004. “Analisis para la integración de una Agenda Social y Ambiental frente a la Industria Petrolera. Relatoría y Conclusiones de Taller.” (www.laneta.apc.org/oilwatch/conclus.html)

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Sustainable Development (c c d s ), Municipal Councils for Forestry Sustainable De- velopment, Municipal Councils for Planning and Development (c o p l a d e m u n ), Plan- ning and Development Council of Campeche (c o p l a d e c a m ), Consulting Council for the Flora and Fauna Protection Area of the Terminos Lagoon, and the new formations of this last one into Micro-regional Councils (Atasta, Isla Aguada, Sabancuy, Aguacatal and Carmen). These exercises show that social participation has responded to certain conditions that have been the detonators, among which we can mention three: a) the common engagements among the different levels of government or political forces; b) the perception of the different interest groups; c) the promotion of debates on the purpose of participation processes and the actors’ participation; and d) the creation of horizontal structures and the establishment of transparency and representation mechanisms14.

Conclusions

Even though the Federal policy is not as centered or as vertical as in the 80’s when the oil activity functioned as the axel of regional development, it is important for the present and the future of the Carmen Municipality that the interaction p e m e x - society be stimulated with more transparent schemes, non coercive nor paternal, that will propitiate the social participation at all levels to guarantee the free organization sustained only by common interests, not conditioned nor manipulated. Participation processes that when induced by the perception and genuine needs of the civil society can be long-lived, different from those organized by the governments that are ephemeral and costly. Under these premises it is considered then, that social participation, particularly the one involved in the oil activity of the region, can develop with a greater participative commitment, proposals based on technical-scientific knowledge, and greater firmness in its agreements and decisions to incorporate the social demands into p e - m e x agenda and the three levels of government involved in the management and appliance of public policies.

14 Currie-Alder, B., 2004. “La Corresponsabilidad Ambiental en el Sureste Mexicano: Procesos de Participación Social en la Gestión de los Recursos Naturales”. Study prepared for the Minga Program Initiative, International Investigation Center for the Development (IDRC/CRDI), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 33 p.

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170 Fishing in Yucatan: from abundance to shortage, to the fragile institutional structures

Julia Fraga, Silvia Salas and Guadalupe Mexicano-Cintora

“…. We have to balance what is very important: the social need with the availability and sustainability of the fishing resources… inevitably, there has to be a Federal authority, but also, and that is the decision and the federal vocation of my government, to achieve a major concurrence of the state and local authorities in all those decisions that affect the interests of the communities in the states and municipalities… give fishing in ucatanY and all Mexico a great impulse, it has a great future; but we have to do it well, we have to do it with criterion, it is valid to use the word scientific, because we have to take care of this resource in order that it may be useful not only to the fishermen of today, but also the fishermen and Mexicans of tomorrow” (President Ernesto Zedillo’s discourse at the i s s t e y Vacation Center in the frame of the Program of giving boats for the Social Sector, July 10, 1997).

Introduction

he central objective of this chapter is to characterize the fishing activity in Yucatan in the last thirty years showing the crucial relationship between pro- Tduction and institutional relations. The production relationships (work force, capital and natural resource) have to be understood in the context of the institutional relations (norms, behavior, rules) that have precise schemes in the management of

171 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o the fishing resources; relations that many authors call governance mechanisms. Facing the disruption of the traditional scientific models to understand the problems of access to the fishing resource, in the last ten years a more social focus has been given to the fisheries as part of the unrest of investigators from Natural Sci- ences. Fisheries in Yucatan are going through difficulties and challenges that the countries from the North suffered fifty years ago; the Central America and Caribbean countries are showing similar tendencies in the last 5 years (cf. Salas et al., 2007). It is interesting to analyze the historical tendency of our main fisheries to observe the concentration of the fishing effort in a restricted number of marine species. How- ever, we notice a growing tendency in the value of production that reveals how the macro-economic forces of the international market put pressure in the exploitation of species. In this sense, the role played by the institutions (including science) is relevant as they regulate the access to resources in favor of sustainable fishing in all its dimensions. During the last decades the expansion of the tourist industry has generated a growing demand of sea food, which leads to an activity substitution in the fishing communities in favor of the tourist services. These are themes that cannot be put aside in order to understand the fishing activity (in the two modals: industrial and artisan). The growing development of extensive aquacultures is as well another theme that requires certain analysis level to understand the fishing activity as an economical, social, cultural, and political system, in other words, a complex system. The search of better practices in the fisheries management is a worry since approximately two decades. The vertical management manner (top down) has prevailed; the (bottom up) schemes are scarce or public consult schemes, where the users’ participation in the decision making of the management is the rule. This last scheme constitutes the challenge for investigators, government and even the direct users. In this sense, the decentralization process of environmental management is presented in a vertical manner to obtain the sustainability of the resources and as a demand of some agencies for the development in the global programs’ frame that impact in national public policies. This chapter does not pretend to analyze each of these cyclical problems and transversal themes of fishing in Yucatan, but simply demonstrate that to understand the problems of the fishing sector in Yucatan, it is important to consider factors such as the role played by the Pacific coasts with 72% of national production and those of the Gulf and Caribbean with 26% (the Caribbean with insignificant contribution), taking into account the growing illegal fishing linked to the expansion of the tourist

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industry, of which the state of Quintana Roo is the first pole in world’s attraction (around 3 million tourists a year) for a tourism that not only demands sun, sand and sea, but also fresh sea food, a demand that is satisfied by Yucatan as it is the closest provider (i n e , 1999). As well, it is important not to loose sight that the world’s demand for fish is covered only by some species of high commercial value that can attract currencies through export to international markets. Maintaining a constant watch in the development of the fishing activity requires a great investigative and synthesis effort that we will try to offer in this chapter in three sections. The first one presents the social context of the fishing activity in Yucatan; the second one is a synthesis of fishing evolution, emphasizing two basic concepts: abundance and shortage of the resource; and the third section exposes the evolution of the institutional structure of the fishing sector to understand the great administrative policies from the decade of the 70’s to current days. At last, as conclusion, we present a reflection on the decentralization of the fishing processes and we emphasize the challenges for the following years facing the new changes in the institutional structure related to the fishing sector.

The social context of the fishing activity in Yucatan

Of the 31 states of the Republic, 17 are coastal states bathed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea from which a million and a half tons of marine products are extracted yearly. All along the 11,500 km of beaches and coasts of Mexico there are around 1,581 marine communities that depending on the importance given by the governments they do or do not count with important port centers, pilotage, oil and fishing industries and a growing tourist industry. Mexico passed from being the fourth exporting country of fishing resources in 1982, to the 17th position in 2006 (i n e , 1999). Several authors (Le Bail, 1987; Gatti, 1986) have indicated the weak tradition of the fishing industry in colonial and independent Mexico. Breton and Lopez (1989) indicate that before the 1950 decade “fishing was a marginal activity in the economy and its role started becoming visible with the installation of the governmental program “March to Sea”. With this program, the government was looking for an alternative for the agricultural sector each day more deteriorated. The official discourses up to the 1970 decade clearly manifested that Mexico had always lived with its back to the sea. The blue revolution of the 1970 decade started taking shape with the declara-

172 173 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o tion of the 200 miles of patrimonial sea. Facing this panorama, Le Bail (1987) formulated two decades ago an interesting questionnaire that is worth while taking back: “How the states without a solid maritime tradition could fulfill their “blue” revolution?” Mexico, underlined Le Bail, “has turned, in very little time, into a great fishery potential: 254 thousand metric tons of fishing product in 1970 to one million one hundred thousand tons in 1983” (1987:72). However, the subsequent increase in fishery production has not been as significant as the preceding boom, that is, from 1983 to 2006 it has not exceeded the million and a half annual tons. We cannot go forward without emphasizing the factors implicit in the sea and fishing exploitation interests in Mexico that made echo in the state ofYucatan: 1. Demographic growth. 2. The country’s food deficit. 3. The constant agricultural problems. 4. Unemployment 5. Regional unbalances; with clearly marginal regional in deep poverty. In this context, the State of Yucatan was one of the most affected by these problems and was not foreign to the “March to Sea” programs that practically started during the mid 70’s in the state, but were reinforced in the 80’s decade. In forums and congresses, Yucatan was signaled as an agricultural region not fishing. However, since the 80’s decade it became a state strongly concentrated in a tertiary economy with commerce and services, but with an important fishing contribution to the gross internal product. During 150 years, the state’s economy was based in the agricultural sector and the last stage of this period with predominance of the mono-cultivation of henequen. After the great labor purification in the henequen agriculture sector in 1984 and 1991, the entity still suffers the havoc of a non consolidated diversification. These great purifications submitted the field working population to a massive transfer to the construction industry in tourist sites such as Cancun since 1973 and towards the United States mainly in the collection of fruit and vegetables, but with the deplorable condition of “wets”. 1 With the emerging fishing activity since 1970, the coastal region became the second attraction pole for ex-henequen peasants, for whom training courses were designed in the Yucalpeten Fishing Training Center (c e c a p e y ) since the decade of the 80’s (Fraga, 1991, 1992).

1 “Wet” colloquial term used in Mexico to nominate the migrant that illegally crosses the border towards the U.S.A. passing through the Bravo River.

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Between abundance and shortage of marine resources

Authors such as Gatti (1986) and Chenaut (1986) have indicated the existence of fishing communities in Mexico since pre-Hispanic and conquest times. The panorama they drew of the small coastal fishing communities, with little communication, dispersed and with a combination of agricultural activities, is similar to the stories told by the fishermen and the oldest inhabitants of Yucatan when describing the communities before the 70’s. (Labrecque and Breton, 1982; Fraga and Cervera, 2003). Until the 1950 decade, fishing had had no importance. There were small wooden sail boats that did not travel great distances. About this the inhabitants usually comment that “fishing was abundant on the beach and why fish more if what was sold was little and they had no means to preserve the catch”. Beltran (1961) reported 527 fishermen in the entire Yucatan coastline and an approximate population of 15 thousand inhabitants during that period. The species that were commercialized in those times for a reduced regional market were mainly snook (Centropomus undecimalis), white mullet (Mugil curema) and the white mullet roe. In 1994, Pare and Fraga emphasized in their study the emergence since 1970 of the coast of Yucatan as an economical productive region based on fishing as their main activity all along the 375 km of shore and as part of the world’s macro-processes. They underlined the beginnings of the formation processes of great fishing cooperatives since 1967 in Progreso; this port would become the axel of Yucatan’s fishing activity, after being the exit port of henequen exports since the end of thex i x century to little after the Second World War. To understand the development of the fishing activity it is essential to notice its link to three strongly interconnected factors: • The seasonal work force that combined and still combines agriculture and fishing with jobs; the artisan work of salt extraction in the Yucatan coasts; paid field, industry and services jobs; and the seasonal octopus catch since the 80’s. • The state policies on territorial management, especially the policy related to the Henequen Diversification Program 1984-1987 and the State Development Plans (every six years). • The start of international programs to exploit the marine and fishing resources in the agricultural crisis context and the world’s demand of marine products. From 1970 to 1990 the first port infrastructures were built, and the use of ice was intensified, the fiber glass boast appear substituting the wooden ones, the number of Federal fishing cooperative societies2 increases, the peasants enter the scheme of “ejido” and rural fishing production societies,3 and the volumes of catch, credits to

174 175 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o the sector and great coastal migration fluxes increase (Quezada, 1993; Fraga, 1993; Pare and Fraga, 1994). With all, the expression “abundance” was present in the interviews with the fishermen of Yucatan up until the mid 90’s. They indicated that the risks involved in fishing were less due to the fact that they only went up to 5-9 meter depths; they practiced free diving (in the first years of lobster fishing; compressors appeared in 1980) and caught up to 100 kg of lobster in fiber glass boats of approximately 8 m with outboard motors (the informants are fishermen from the East coast of Yucatan). During this abundance time there was also more “legality” and more inspection from the chiefs of the Fishing Office of the Fishing Ministry (ibidem). In 1977 there were 155 fishing licenses, Progreso, Celestun and Dzilam Bravo held the majority (Fish- ing Delegation in Yucatan, 1977). By 1994, Yucatan had around 16 thousand fishermen linked mainly to artisan fishing and the private sector, and a production of 41,100 tons of fishing products, mainly of seven commercial species (grouper, red snapper, snook, lobster, tuna and yellow tail snapper). That year 98 rural societies were reported, integrating more than 3,000 members and 20 Federal cooperatives with 1,319 partners (Salas and Torres, 1997). From our point of view, it is at the end of the 1990 decade when the activity begins to stagnate in relation to volumes of catch, with a strong repercussion in the homes of the fishermen. The fishermen notice the decrease of their catching, the increase in gasoline and oil prices, greater distances to find fishing, prices manipulated by the big intermediaries and vigilance measures and norms that restrict their activity. The expression “scarcity” begins to appear among the artisan fishermen of Yu- catan and it is translated into “more people fishing, scarcity of resources, increasing risk by having to go further into greater depths (close to 30 m). The technological improvements such as the availability of g p s (Global Positioning System) provide the opportunity of greater displacements. The pressure of fishing, when resources are every day more limited, is manifest in the increase of illegality that added to the

2 To equilibrate the access to resources, the Mexican government fomented and created the first fishing cooperatives in this sector during the 30’s giving them exclusive privileges on the most valuable species, especially shrimp, oysters and some fish of great consumption and commercial value. The cooperatives were organized by State officials and supported through the official organisms under the political tutorship of the governing party, limiting the autonomy of internal decision, as in other organization (Morales, 1999). 3 At the end of the 80’s the apparition of an associative figure is emphasized, nominated Society of Social Solidarity promoted by the government as formalization of rural groups to be able to access to PRONASOL financing (Fraga, J.; Echeverria, N.; Aguilar, W.; Hirose, J. 2000).

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reduction in number of fishing inspectors (less than half of the existing ones during the 80’s), restricts the fight of these illegal activities in the catch as well as in marketing. At the end of 1999, the expression “fishing in Yucatan capsizes” was on the first pages of the local newspapers and the need to complete the Fishing Ordinance Pro- gram, announced since 1997 and implemented almost 10 years later, was reported. That same year, in one of his visits to Yucatan, the President of the Republic, Ernesto Zedillo, emphasized the ups and downs of the regional problems in the state of Yu- catan, especially in the intricate relation henequen field and fishing activity: “… the Fishing Sector has served during the last years as a buffer for the enormous pressure that we had in the fields when the henequen activity had a drama- tic fall; the Fishing Sector has generously been able to absorb many of the people that were liberated from the field, but this is also bringing many problems that we must confront and which we have to solve” (July 10,1997, i s s t e y Vacation Centre). The fishing activity and its relationship with the henequen fields in Yucatan are variables that have been little analyzed in an integral manner. Therefore it is not strange to find high level discourses such as that of a President of the Republic, which take strength in subsequent institutional structures like s e m a r n a p . In Yucatan, s e m a r n a p accepts the existence of a series of irregularities in the fishing activity that are to be corrected, among them, free access, irregular increase of the fishing effort (fishermen that perform the activity without license or boat regis- tration), the usage of prohibited or unauthorized fishing equipment, and the catch of species in ban or of inferior size to what is authorized (Diario Novedades, November 20, 1991:1). To overcome these irregularities, some measures were established in 1999 such as the cancellation of fishing licenses: “… with the object of having a better control on the fishing efforts and decrease the fishing intensity of the fishing resources in Yucatan, as of 1999 the issuance of licenses was cancelled in order to avoid new fishing boats entering the fishing activity” (Salas and collaborators 2006:9). As of the year 2000 the fishing sector confronts an unprecedented disorganization caused by financial and corruption problems and manipulation policies (Fraga, 2004). This leads to a clear privatization path; especially when in 1992 (during Sali- nas de Gortari’s government) the Constitutional Article 27 was already modified, liberating the seven species reserved to the cooperative sector. In the case of Yucatan, these reserved species were lobster, shrimp and conch, which were the reason for the existence of the cooperatives dedicated to the commer-

176 177 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o cial exploitation. As well, that same year, 1992, a reduction in personnel assigned to the fishing sector in the state of Yucatan was observed, and a fortification of the private sector that offered jobs to the immigrant peasant population leaving the traditional fishermen in disadvantage as to payment of their work force. 2004 reported 1,338 fishing licenses in the Yucatan coast concentrated in 188 licensees3 (s a g a r p a , 2004). Each fishing license could apply from one to a dozen boats. In practice, a licensee does not register all the boats under his name, in order to avoid declaring the amount of production means he really possesses. Property and possession of fishing equipment are two conditions of the production relations and social and institutional relations that are not easy to understand in fishing. For example, a licensee that has 143 boats registered under his name hires seven people or bosses that are responsible, each one, of 14 boats; each boss assigns three or four boats to another person; and this one finds two fishermen to do the actual fishing. These direct fishermen deliver the product in a “minor warehouse”; the minor warehouse to a bigger one; and this one to the main warehouse in Merida or Progreso from where the product is exported. These conditions reduce the license payments, making attractive the introduction of boats without control. This situation is changing with the boat’s license plate process (serial number) as part of the Fishing Ordinance Program (V. Alcantar com. per.) The fishing cooperatives work as a type of “intermediate warehouse” between the fisherman-member and the main warehouse in Merida or Progreso. In the state of Yucatan, 90% of the artisan fleet, named minor fleet, whose boats do not have a length over 10 meters; the boats of the major fleet are between 12 and 22 meters long (Mexicano-Cintora et al., 2007). In addition to the previously mentioned, the region is characterized by the existence of small 2 or 3 meter long boats called “alijos” or “chalanas” (dinghies), which cannot be considered as part of the minor fleet as they do not have the minimal security characteristics established by the Marine Authorities; in 2004, 8,666 dinghies were registered in the state.4 During this period, the fishing fleet in the state of Yucatan had a total of 4,946 boats: 628 major and 4,318 minor (s a g a r p a , 2004); and, according to the census of existing units in the coast, performed by the Fishing Directive of the State Govern- ment (o e i d r u s , 2004) 3,414 boats had fishing license. The amount of boats in the state, including the dinghies (used during the octopus season), gives us an idea of

4 We can indicate that this activity allowed capital accumulation in the hands of the fishing private sector since the 50’s, and to this day this accumulation is allowing fishing entrepreneurs to invest in the tourist industry, at least in the state of Yucatan in the Northeaster side of the Yucatan coastline.

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the people dedicated to fishing in a permanent and seasonal manner, around 20,442 people. The Fishing Commission reported 16 245 fishermen in 2004. The registered catch in the State includes more than 100 species, among fish, crustaceans and mollusks, but only 24 give the big volumes. According to s a g a r p a (2007) preliminary statistics, the 2006 catch in the State was of 25.5 thousand tons, which had reduced 38% in relation to 1994 (41 100 tons) (Figure 1). However, the fishing pressure is mainly located on the shore line, directed to two or three species of high commercial value. The first one is octopus (Octopus maya and O. vulgaris), followed by grouper (Ephiphenus sp) and in third place lobster (Panulirus argus). Grouper and octopus are 60% of the catch and lobster 30%. If the octopus is eliminated from the total catch, the collapse in the catch of the rest of the region’s resources, especially grouper, can be clearly seen (Figure 1). This is not a very promising panorama when it is known that during a six month period (July to December) the income from the octopus and lobster catch allow the fishermen to cover such needs as home improvement, school tuition for their children in other localities, and family entertainment; the fish and some crustaceans that are exploited unrestrictive during the months of January to July are considered basic fishing that provides part of the daily income that allows them to pay the basic home expenses.

50 ) s a d

a 40 l e n o t

s 30 e l i m ( 20 A R U T

P 10 A C

0 76 79 82 85 88 91 94 97 00 03 06 AÑO Cap.Yuc. Cap.sin pulpo pulpo Mero

Figure 1. Production comparison of the most important species (in registered volume) during the 1976-2006 period in the State of Yucatan. (s a g a r p a , 2006)

The opening of the European market for the octopus of the region stimulated improvement in the fishing infrastructure and at present is one of the species that supports the fishing activity in the State. In the information regarding registered production or catch during the 1976-2006 period, the significant increase of 60% is noticed in the octopus production of 1996 compared to that registered in 1995 (Fig- ure 1). This increase in the mollusk catch has been explained by associating it to the climatic event of the hurricanes Opal and Roxana in October 1995.5 As can be seen in figure 1, the drop in grouper catch coincides with an increase in the octopus catch. As we have previously noted, if the octopus registries are eliminated from the global state catch, the tendency is decreasing.

From the offices ofs e p e s c a to s e m a r n a p and to s a g a r p a : Frailty in the fishing sector institutional structures?

In the previous section we showed two extreme conditions related with production relations: abundance and scarcity of the fishing resources. In this section we will indicate some of the implications that changes in administration have had on the fishing sector, especially, since the elimination in 1994 of the Fishing Ministry (created in 1982). To this purpose, the parliamentary group of the Work Party, proposed in 2007 to the l x Legislation of the Senate an initiative to create the Ministry of Fishing and Aquaculture (www.senado.gob.mx) Do this changes in the administrative actions related to the fishing activity imply a frailty of the institutional structures? The administrative structure in charge of the fishing sector has its roots in the agrarian schemes, the same as in other countries. In the 70’s decade the State becomes the main impellor and administrator of the fishing resources in the country. However, the formation of cooperatives and ways of administering the access to the fishing resources were implemented as in the agrarian reform: institutional process of social change in Mexico with land distribution to the peasants as a result of their agrarian struggles since 1917. In spite of the fact that the sea cannot be divided like land, the intervention schemes were transferred to the sea with the impulse,

5 In relation to the fishing fleet of the last ten years, during 1997 thereas w an increase of 20% in the major fleet and 40% in the minor fleet. This was due to a price increase of approximately 100% for octopus registered during the 1996 season, which incited the purchase of boats in the logic that if the fleet increased the volumes of catch would also increase in the 1997 season; which did not happen (Gavaldon, 2004).

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formation and administration of the social organization (Breton and Lopez, 1989 in Fraga and Collaborators, 2000). Among these State initiatives, in the first Fishing Development Plan we find, according to some, the main impulses in the decentralization of fishing functions; their essential objectives were to increase production for popular consumption, the creation of new economical alternatives for the peasants through aquaculture, and the generation of jobs and money. By the beginnings of 1980 fishing was in fourth place among the national exports (Ocejo, 1982; Alcala, 2003). The Under Ministry of Fisheries, that was part of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, disappeared and in 1982 the Ministry of Fisheries was created as an independent organism. However this Ministry lasted for two Federal government’s six year periods until it disappeared in 1994, causing strong impact in the different productive fishing sectors (see figure 2).

Level of Government 1970 to 1980 1980 to 1994 1994 to 2000 2000 to 2007

2 Ministry of Industry Under Ministry Ministry Ministry and Commerce of Fisheries of the Environment, of Agriculture, Husbandry, Natural Resources Rural Development, and Fisheries Fisheries and Feeding (SEMARNAP) (SAGARPA)

3 Under Ministry of Fisheries SUnder Ministry National National of Fisheries Fishing Commission Institute for Fishing (INP) and Aquaculture (INPESCA)

4 National National Fishing Institute Fishing Institute (INP) (INP)

Source: Modificado de Hernández and Kepton, 2003 (Level 1 would refer to the Federal Executive) Figure 2. Institutional changes of government agencies in charge of fishing and science management (1970-2007).

In Yucatan as in the other 16 coastal states in Mexico, the General Direction of Fishing Regions was created, that is, each state had its Fishing Direction – located in its main port – which was dependent from the Under Ministry of Fisheries, which was dependent from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Each Fishery Direction was in charge of carrying registries of the fishing activity and operated in its own office or at the home of the person in charge of the Office in order to lower administrative expenses. This administrative structure, including the delegation of the latter Ministry of Fisheries, allowed the generation of more detailed information on the fishing activity as well as a sense of trust between the fishermen and those in charge of registering and checking the activity. This trust was lost in 1994 when the Ministry of Fisheries disappears and the Office chiefs are pensioned. It is in such a way that every six years the fishing sector goes from one Ministry to the other: s e m a r n a p (1994-2000) to s a g a r p a (2000-2007). According to the registers of the Ministry of Fisheries, the period of the 70’s was the one that gave more impulse to the fishing cooperatives, through credits to purchase fleets with better and more sophisticated navigation equipment and fishing implements. Big offices were created for the commercialization and process of the marine product from the cooperatives. A development bank (b a n p e s c a ) was instituted for the fishing sector (private and social), which was eliminated at the end of the 80’s, and its debt was absorbed by the Fund Instituted in Relation with Agriculture (f i r a - Banco de Mexico). Some public officials and fishermen were of the opinion that b a n p e s c a , as a financial institution was centered in the major fleet and the gathering centers and pro- cessors, giving preference to private enterprise, which increased the nonperforming loans and diminished money flow (Gavaldon, 2004). s e m a r n a p , of which the fishing sector was part of in the beginnings of 1995, was qualified as fragile by Alcala (2003), arguing that it focused its effort in consolidating the environmental importance, its care and conservation in the national context, relegating to a third or fourth place the fishing central theme. The central balance made by the author on this transition can be found in the following phrase: “The environment and nature focuses have a change value, which is through coercion (fines for breaches, bans, withdrawal of financial support) that ecological deterioration can be stopped, it is a short term perspective” (Alcala, 2003:78). Added to this, the p r o - f e p a (Federal Court for the Environmental Protection), created in the same period of President Zedillo, a decentralized organism of the s e m a r n a p , does not have neither the infrastructure nor the adequate institutional capacity to confront the challenges of multiple sectors, not only the fishing sector.

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This institutional fragility of change of Ministry caused, among other consequences, a marked bewilderment amongst the fishermen, as well as contradicting the discourse and practice of ensuring nature’s welfare and foment the extraction of the fishing resources, in other words, it left unprotected a broad productive sector, with diverse action strategies that front asymmetric forces (fishermen and entrepreneurs) especially in the commercialization of the marine products. The pass of the fishing sector to the s a g a r p a (2000-2007) has not produced big changes in favor of the fishermen nor the protection to the fishing resource. It is still current what was indicated and emphasized by President Zedillo a decade ago: “We are facing an extremely delicate and critical activity that is no longer a source of welfare, income and opportunities; we cannot continue managing this activity with the criteria with which we manage the other economical activities” (ibidem). The disarticulation between production, conservation and protection of resources is evident since 1994, as is recognized by the Federal and state authorities: “… this has caused disarticulation with the fishing policies, as on one side we have s a g a r p a promoting the development of this activity and on the other we have s e m a r n a t trying to establish policies directed to the protection of the marine resources” (s e m a r n a t , 2006b). In this context, it is important to retake the arguments handled by the parliamentary group that submitted the initiative of Law of disincorporation of c o n a p e s c a (National Fishing Commission) from s a g a r p a : “The reality is that, since its birth, c o n a p e s c a has had severe acting limitations, because in its organic structure there is no clarity in the legal appliance of its functions, as well as budget, patrimonial, human resources and material deficiencies to fulfill responsibilities, as well as its evident lack of management capacity in the Federal Public Administration” (Obregon, March 22, 2007). The prior proposal is framed within the decentralization processes following the reform to the Political Constitution of the United States of Mexico that added in its Article 73 the fraction x x i x -l.6 That is, to order, foment and regulate the integral management and sustainable exploitation of fishing and aquaculture, considering the biological, technological, environmental and productive aspects, a competent authority in the matter is required, that will apply the constitutional principles to coordinate the Federal government’s actions with the action of the other government ordinances.

6 Reviewing the historical records we noticed that the availability increase of the two species brought and additional benefit related to the economical impact of production, since the price of octopus has an increase of almost 100% from 1995 to 1996.

The o e c d document (2006) on “Agricultural and Fishing Policy in Mexico” indicates that the decentralization of the decision making power and administration responsibility has begun and continues with a very cautious pace. One of the main actions of this process was the relocation of c o n a p e s c a to the port of Mazatlan in 2001, accompanied by the establishment of regional i n p offices. The document indicates that a regionalization process of the fishing sector has the potential to improve transparency; increase the participation of the actors; and broadens the procuring programs and a better direction of the financing for investigation and support work; but, it cautions, this will require of a robust and adaptable institutional structure. As we can observe in the o e c d (2006) document, the decentralization process of the institutional agreements happens incidentally and there is no clear orientation in regard to the government’s intention. A questionnaire arises from this scenario: Could the experience of s e p e s c a be salvaged considering the advantages and disadvantages it had throughout two six year presidential terms? Would it take the fishing activity to decentralization processes in benefit of the fishermen? Will the corruption increase in the state authorities and even more at municipal level? The answers will not be obtained until the decentralization process and state and municipal level is consolidated. The law initiative of 2007 foresees the justification of the need to convertc o n a p - e s c a into a Federal Ministry, because as it is a de-concentrated organism it “has not allowed an efficient contribution to the fulfillment of the objectives established in the National Development Plan, specifically in the National Program for Fishing and Aquaculture, which has impacted the situation of the fishermen and aquaculture’s of the country, who are directly affected” (Obregon, 2007) What we could aspire to have in the present presidential term (2006-2012), is a clear vision to exploit the market power and assign resources in an efficient manner to reinforce the economical viability and adjustment capabilities of the fishing sector. Other mechanisms based on the market, such as administration in the community, especially of sedentary species amongst which we find lobster, are seen as alternatives that, even though we continue discussions, is necessary to implement if we take into account that the market forces are concentrated in other countries, especially in Japan and the United States, who are the main buyers of the fish products (cf. Salas et al., 2005). The o e c d document indicates that the use of transferrable individual effort quotas seem to already be in the readjustment agenda of the Mexican fishing sector, as they have supposedly been successful in other o e c d countries. However, this approach

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looses sight that without an adequate vigilance system and availability of technical support to evaluate the abundance of resources, these measures do not function adequately, much less without the direct participation of the local users. In the frame of these reflections we cannot leave aside that since the environmental and conservationist discourse was intensified in the decade of the 90’s , the common resources or public wealth such as water, forests, fishing and natural protected areas attracted the national governments’ attention as well as the international development agencies. The intricate view of the academic and political debate on what type of development we need in order to avoid risking our common future, found an adequate niche in the concept of “sustainable development”; such niche did not obtain the preceding concept of “eco-development” and for the case of the fisheries it already has a long trajectory of debates, strengths and weaknesses (Fraga, 1999). It is in this frame of sustainable development that regulating the fishing sector is persistent in basic aspects of the so called territorial ecological ordinances (marine, fishing, coastal, terrestrial). In relation to regulating the marine species the National Fishing Chart was elaborated in 2000, and the Fishing Law of 2004 is currently in revision process. (The new Fishing Law was published in 2007). If on one side we have good regulation and administration fishing instruments, on the other we have a social and economical activity regulated by social institutions ruled by a web of rules and individual behaviors and a regime of free access that locate the fishing activity as one of the most complex human systems. What implications does this institutional fragility have for the case of Yucatan? What implications does it have to develop a decentralization process? Maybe the answer can be framed in the three scenarios indicated by Salas and collaborators (2006) answering the question: Where are the fisheries in Yucatan going? 1. If the fisheries continue in their current condition, lack of profitability is evident on a short term. 2. If astringent regulation systems are implemented to a strict access control to the resources in order to rehabilitate the stocks and with the social costs this implies, conflicts can arise at short and medium terms. 3. Assume the implementation of integral management programs, which require adaptive focuses, with schemes of real and effective management. (Salas et al., 2006). No doubt this last scenario demands the search of governance mechanisms that somehow are being debated, even though we do not know if they can become a reality and expand among the local actors. For example, in 2006, in the frame of the Forum on Sustainable Development in Yucatan for the x x i Century, the fisheries and

184 185 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o coasts table, with 23 representatives from academia, government, fishing industry and fishing organizations, emphasized the need of strict rulings, greater finance to the fishing sector, the need of an integral management of the resources of the coastal corridor of Yucatan – the third scenario proposed by Salas and collaborators -, and greater weight at institution level of the fishing sector. The interrogations that arise from this context are: What will be the institutional capacity to administer the fishing resources if in the new Law initiative is shown that the National Fishing Commission currently lacks such capacity? What new institutional schemes are coming for the fishing sector? What will the challenges be for a real decentralization process? Currently we find a more difficult and deplorable situation, with more fishermen migrating to the construction industry (mainly Playa del Carmen and Cozumel) and a weak hope towards a tourism that will no produce food, much less economical welfare such as provided by the 30 years of fishing bonanza in Yucatan for several sectors especially for the 17 fishing licensees and boat builders in the region. In our interviews with the fishermen of Yucatan we noticed that what increases is the need of jobs and opportunities that never arrive, sustainable ways of life that investigation and public policies should work for in collaboration.

Conclusion

The institutional changes in administration and direction of the fishing policies during the last 15 years, as is indicated in the o e c d document, have put at risk the sustainability of the resources and the economy of the sector on the long term. According with the Mexican political system, those changes are, up to a point, inevitable due to the new plan that proposed with each change of administration. The policies at the beginnings of the 90’s did not provide a regulatory ambience that would stimulate a sustainable fishing sector; on the contrary, they blocked the economical perspectives. The Mexican fishing sector depends on an institutional structure in which policy decisions are developed and put into action for all the involved reforms. In this sense the incorporation of c o n a p e s c a as Under Ministry of the s e m a r n a p and then into s a g a r p a reveals the little weight the fishing sector has in the Federal government, in such a way that this sector has to compete with other productive sectors to be heard within a general Ministry. These worries were increased with the change of c o n a p e s c a ’s see from Mexico City to Mazatlan in 2001. This relocation approaches the decision making process

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to some of the interested communities, but not all: How much does it interest the Mazatlan officials regulate the Yucatan crustaceans that are the source of sustenance and income for the marginal families that live in the periphery of the fishing ports? For a very long time the Pacific region (they provide almost 60% of national production) has received more attention than the Gulf-Caribbean region in which Yucatan is found. With all, decentralization of the institutional agreements must continue. As of now, the decentralization process is random and there is no clear orientation of the Federal government to fortify it. It requires a clear plan and an adequate financial commitment, with view to increase transparency, account rendering and participation and authority of the interested actors. In order that the decentralization process be effective, it is necessary to involve the communities in developing a better management of the coastal fishing zones. Ensuring a broader participation of the interested (including the o n g ´s, environmen- talists, and the communal groups, as well as the representatives of the fishermen), the regional administration could be representative, transparent, responsible, and sensible, recognizing faculties to the fishermen within the system and, consequently in the decision making. In general, the benefits of a decentralized decision making rely on a better input of the interested actors to the scientific and regulation analysis, a better acceptance of the rulings as well as potentially lower procuring costs. These processes have proved efficient in other regions (Berkeset al., 2001; Jentoft, 2000). Some initiatives have followed this direction, for example, the decentralization process (1977-1982) that was developed together with the National Plan of Fishing Development established the organization basis of the Federal delegations to create the Fishing Production Units, with organization and training programs in benefit of the fishing communities at state level (Soberanes, 1994). Ten years later, as is indicated by the representative of the National Fishing Com- mission (Alcantar, 2007) “weaknesses are still noted in the system that do not allow an efficient landing of this decentralization process. Some successful cases comprise the conferment of faculties to certain states for the administration and granting of sport-fishing licenses through collaboration agreements between both government organisms, in which the State receives the benefits from access rights in order to reinvest these resources into the sector. The rural aquaculture programs have been handled within the same frame. And a manner of involving the users has been through the State Fishing and Aquaculture Councils; the purpose of these committees is to make restrained decisions.

However, one of the limitations that confronts this decentralization process, involves the limited capacity (logistic, human and infrastructure) with which the State government counts to assume the challenges that accompany this decentralization process, that is, responsibilities and faculties; without a logistic support, limits the process’ reach and looses credibility, or what is worse, lack of interest of the State government representatives to become more involved. The activities and disposition of the political actors in this context are determinants” (V. Alcantar, per.com.). The points of view of the government representatives in relation to the decentralization processes are poorly known, and have little echo between a six year period and the other. For example, the problem of the ban on the bait used in the fishing of octopus in Yucatan, especially the “maxquil” crab, it has been contested, and the need to decentralize decision making has been indicated, such as was demanded by a public official: “As long as it is the Federal government who concentrates the decision capacity for granting licenses, the establishment of bans or quotas, this does not work, because to begin with the Federal government is not interested in the local fisheries. The “maxquil in the Fishery Central Offices in Mazatlan? (Maxquil – a type of crab found in the marshes. Trans.note) It doesn’t exist. They are worried about red snapper and shrimp, lobster, abalone, sardine, tuna …. Now the maxquil? The “chivitas”?... (Chivita – a type of snail similar to the escargot found in the marshes. Trans.note) These are things they do not know anything about. And they will never generate decisions that will allow the employment of the resource for a conflict that is easier for the central government to establish a permanent ban than try to administrate a local fishery. What happens is that currently, the law does not allow an alternative … the “maxquil, where is it used and where is it captured? It is octopus bait, it is not used for human consumption, it is used strictly in Yucatan and a little in Campeche. Well, let it be administered by the government of the State of Yucatan!!... With the criteria established between them and Yucatan” (interview with the s e m a r n a p ’s ex delegate, 2004, personal comment). Facing this panorama, we have made some questions for later reflection, discussion and analysis on the important role of decentralization on the fishing activity: How do we decentralize local fisheries under a law that in spite of being Federal only benefits a particular region? How do we promote a decentralization that responds in adequate manner to the population demands, when the fishing sector has had little political weight? How to promote an effective decentralization of the fishing activity, when the fishermen, who expose their lives at sea are the less consulted in the deci-

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sion making of the co-management of the fishing resources? Will decentralization allow the generation of new concordance schemes between economical welfare and conservation of the fishing resource? Let us not forget that in the production relationships, the life styles and world macro-processes cannot be left out of our analysis context. For example, in Yucatan, the generation gap separates the older fishermen from the young; the youngsters are immersed in an over consumption economy that drives them, among other scenarios, to expose their lives diving for lobster, running the risk of dying or become impaired or with irreversible brain damage by not using the adequate equipment, and not knowing the most elemental rules of the activity such as recommended immersion time and depth. It is necessary to understand this in the frame of subsistence and accumulation strategies, not only for the fishermen who risk their lives, but also for the fishing licensees who have become real chieftains of the sea. In Yucatan, year by year, compressions take the lives of young fishermen in search of a “good price” for the product in dollars; the majority risks their lives to support their family, and others motivated by the over-consumption. However, for the great licensees that do not risk their lives, current fishing conditions offers them a greater capital accumulation for the purchase of more boats, land, houses, marines and hotels. The complex decentralization process of functions, power and financial resources has to consider scales and times of the fishing activity and those who practice it: fishermen, licensees, entrepreneurs, boat builders, intermediaries, administrators and investigators. Decentralization is not only a question of territorial ordinance and redefinition of administrative instances, but also of modifying power relationships between several groups of actors.

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Chenaut, V., 1986. Los pescadores de la Península de Yucatán. Ediciones de la Casa Chata. México, D. F. Delegación de Pesca, 1977. Estadísticas del sector, datos preliminares. Mérida, Yucatán. Fraga, J., 1991. Capacitación de campesinos de la costa. Para qué y para quién. En: Revista de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. No.177, Abril-Mayo-Junio de 1991. Mérida. Fraga, J., 1992. El Proceso de Emigración hacia la Costa de Yucatán. Estudio de cuatro puer- tos del Litoral Yucateco. Estudio Final de Proyecto. a m e p -c i n v e s t a v . Diciembre de 1992. Doc. de Circulación Interna. Fraga, J., 1993. El proceso de emigración hacia la costa de Yucatán y sus efectos sociocul- turales. Estudio de caso en Celestún y Sisal. Tesis de maestría en Antropología Social, Facultad de Antropología de la u a d y , Mérida, Yucatán (no publicada). Fraga, J., N. Echeverría, F. Aguilar, and J. Hirose, 2000. Evaluación social del corredor costa norte de Yucatán. Banco Mundial-c b m . Fraga, J,. and M. D. Cervera, 2003. Una aproximación al paisaje costero en el área maya. c i c y -Academia Mexicana de Ciencias. Fraga, J., 2004. Pesquerías y movimientos de población en la costa de Yucatán. c o a s t f i s h , 2004. Pesquerías Costeras en América Latina y el Caribe: Evaluando y manejando acciones. 4-8 de octubre del 2004, Mérida, Yucatán, México. Gatti, L. M., 1986. Los pescadores de México. Ediciones de la Casa Chata, México, D. F. Gavaldón, A. C., 2004. Hogares, pesca e instituciones. Estudio de caso en un puerto yucateco. Tesis de maestría en Ecología Humana, c i n v e s t a v , Mérida, Yucatán (no publicada). Hernández A., and W. Kempton,. 2003. Changes in fisheries in Mexico: Effects of increasing scientific inputs and public participation.Ocean and Coastal Management, 46: 507-526. Instituto Nacional de Ecología (i n e ), 1999. La gestión ambiental en México. México, D. F. Jentoft, S., and B.J. McCay, 1995. User participation fisheries management lessons from international experience. Marine Policy, 22(4-5):423-436. Lebrecque, M. F. and Y. Breton, 1982. “La organización de la producción de los mayas de Yucatán. México: Instituto Nacional Indigenista. Le Bail, J., 1987. Les Relations halieutiques internationales du Mexique, Études Internation- ales. Vol. x v i i i , No.1:71-82. Mexicano-Cíntora G., C. Leonce-Valencia, S. Salas and M. E. Vega-Cendejas, 2007. Recur- sos Pesqueros de Yucatán: Fichas técnicas y referencias bibliográficas. Centro de Inves- tigación y Estudios Avanzados del i p n . (c i n v e s t a v ) Unidad Mérida. 1ª. Edición. Mérida, Yucatán, México, 150 p. Morales H. 1999. El rol de las organizaciones de los pescadores artesanales en América Latina. En Realidad y perspectivas de la pesca artesanal en América Latina y el Caribe, pp. 102-107. Venezuela. Novedades de Yucatán, 1999. Naufraga la pesca; dos años de espera (nota periodística de Daniel Barquet), 20 de noviembre. Mérida, Yucatán.

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Obregón Esparza, F., 2007. Senado de la República l x legislatura. Iniciativa con proyecto de decreto que reforma diversas disposiciones de la Ley Orgánica de la Administración Pública Federal para crear la Secretaría de Pesca y Acuacultura. http://www.senado.gob. mx Ocejo, M. T., 1982. La actividad de diseño en el sector pesquero. Reporte de investigación. UAM-Azcapotzalco. México D. F. o e c d , 2006. Política agropecuaria y pesquera en México. Logros recientes, continuación de la reformas. México D. F. o e i d r u s , 2004. Resumen de resultados del padrón de embarcaciones de pesca ribereña 2003, en línea. Oficina Estatal de Información para el Desarrollo Rural Sustentable (o e i d r u s ) [Consulta: mayo de 2007]. Paré, L., and J. Fraga, 1994. La costa de Yucatán y su vulnerabilidad ambiental, Ed. i i s -u n a m , México, D. F. Quezada, D. R., 1993. Las unidades de producción pesqueras ejidales en Yucatán. Ph. D. Dep. Anthropologie, Université Laval. s a g a r p a , 2004. Datos estadísticos sobre el sector pesquero en Yucatán. Administración de pesquerías. Mérida, Yucatán. Salas, S. and R. Torres, 1997. Factors affecting management in a Mexican fishery, p. 767- 771. In: D.A. Handcock, A. Smith, A. Grant and J. P. Beumer (eds.) Developing and Sustaining World Fisheries Resources. The State of the Science and Management. c s i r o , Australia. Salas, S., Bello, J. Ríos, V. Cabrera, M. A., Rivas R. and A. Santamaría, 2005. Programa Maestro del Sistema-Producto de las pesquerías de langosta en Yucatán. c o n a p e s c a -s a g - a r p a -c i n v e s t a v , Mérida, Yucatán. Salas, S., Mexicano, G., and M. Cabrera, 2006. ¿Hacia dónde van las pesquerías en Yucatán? Tendencias, Retos y Perspectivas. c i n v e s t a v , Mérida, Yucatán. Secretaria de Pesca. 1993-1994 Anuarios Estadísticos. Delegación Yucatán. s e m a r n a t , 2006b. Política Ambiental Nacional para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Océanos y Costas de México. Estrategias para su Conservación y Uso Sustentable, México, D. F. Soberanes, F. J. L., 1994. Historia contemporánea de la legislación pesquera en México, p. 1-25. In: González, O. M. y M. A. Garita. (coordinadores). El régimen jurídico de la pesca en México. Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas. Serie “G” Estudios doctrinales. No. 150.

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192 International tourist activity and its impact on Quintana roo’s population

Bonnie Campos, Ligia Sierra and Yuri Balam

Introduction

uintana Roo is a territory of 51 thousand square kilometers, politically divided into eight municipalities: Othon P. Blanco, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Jose Maria Morelos, Benito Juarez, Isla Mujeres, Lazaro Cardenas, Cozumel and Q i n e g i Solidaridad. According to entries from the , by the fourth trimester of 2006 one million 192 thousand 338 people lived in Quintana Roo, 49.12% were women and 50.88% men. In this territory, the population growth is about 4.7% a year, representing a decrease as in the year 2005; the growth was of 5.2%, situation associated with the meteorological phenomena. The economically active population (p e a ) in Quintana Roo for the year 2006 was of almost 582 thousand 873 people, of which only 14 thousand 960 were unemployed, that is, an unemployment rate of 2.56%, which is less than the national media (3.6%). This data indicates labor stability in the State. During 2006 Quintana Roo registered an investment of 155 million dollars from foreign companies, which is equivalent of 26.6% of the investment in the Gulf of Mexico States and the Mexican Caribbean. Also, more than 2 thousand companies are of foreign investment.

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As refers to tourism, just four areas of this economy represent more than 800 million dollars. The entity generates 33% of the currencies entering Mexico through the tourist activity that in 2006 generated an income of more than 3,864 million dollars. Quintana Roo is one of the main destinies for national and international tourism, which has a flow of 10 million tourists arriving at the four cruise destinations. It counts with a great service infrastructure with more than 64 thousand hotel rooms (equivalent to 12% of all the hotel rooms in the country), that go from small inns to grand tourism hotels, as well as restaurants, car rentals, travel agencies, exchange and financial services. The following tables, with the numbers officially published by the Ministry of Tourism in Mexico, exemplifies in a clear manner how massive tourism has been the fundamental element for the development of the State and will continue to be in the future.

Table 1. Income from the main tourist destinations in the Mexican Caribbean, 2003-2004. Destination Income in millios of US Dollars 2003 2004 Cancun $2 708 913 $2 064 64 Cozumel $417 26 $454 92 Riviera Maya $1 292 010 $1 540,82 Isla Mujeres $38 99 $53 32 Chetumal $18 21 $24 87 State Total $3 803 52 $4 138 57 Exchange Rate $10.76 pesos $11.29 pesos

Destination Average expenditure per visitor in 2003 Conventional Cruise ship Tourism Tourism Cancun $611.00 ------Cozumel $538.00 $82.00 Riviera Maya $630.00 $82.00 Isla Mujeres $266.00 ------Chetumal $80.0 ------

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The State of Quintana Roo closed the year 2006 with a growth tendency for mass tourism. The affluence of tourists increased in relationship with the years 2004 and 2005, the generated income and hotel occupation also increased, as can be seen in table 2.1 It is a fact that tourist investment in Quintana Roo has generated a space expansion of massive tourism that prefers peripheral spaces to urban conglomerations. The majority of the beaches, particularly in the tropics, are part of areas with an economy based on small scale agriculture and fishing, therefore, the consequences of the accelerated expansion of tourist installations are evident: the potential exploit of natural resources, infrastructure, marketing, the interaction with the established population and the socio-cultural pressures on the population. (Hiernaux, 1989:81) It is after the 60’s, during President Luis Echeverria term and the creation of f o n a t u r (National Fund for Tourist Promotion), when massive investments begin. Cancun is a clear example that the basis for tourist evolution starts with the State initiative to build roads and airport infrastructure (Hiernaux, 1989:81). Another example is Cozumel, considered a tourist island with great international investments for the cruise tourism even though the building of the airport did not respond to tourism but to house an air base during World War II, due to its geographical situation. Quintana Roo-Cancun-Riviera Maya-Costa Maya- represent the creation of a tourist zone by State initiative related to integral planning, capital sourcing and building of infrastructure. The objects of this type of investments are: 1. Win over foreign tourists and therefore receive a greater amount of currencies.

Table 2. Hotel Occupancy and Generated Income In Quintana Roo 2004-2005. Year 2006* 2005 2004 Tourists 1 238 737 1 208 124 1 358 434 Income in millions 798.31 750.91 814.83 USD Occupation 73.6% 69.79% 76.05% *July and August calculated projection. Source: Tourism Ministry.

1 “Compared affluence to Quintana Roo” – Novedades de Quintana Roo, Cancun, Q.Roo, Tuesday July 17, 2006, page 10.

2. Contribute in decentralizing the economical activities and improve the regional structure in the peripheral spaces. The other element of importance is the migrating currents towards the new tourist centers, as will be explained in detail.

Historical background2

The migrating history of the State of Quintana Roo shows a link of events from the 40’s to this day. The growth and consolidation process generates unequal regional conditions and an unbalance in the economical development. The origin of Cancun as a tourist pole development and the 1974 definition of State, of what was the Territory of Quintana Roo, have brought significant modifications in the social and natural environments, which go from the infrastructure growth to the devastation of natural spaces justified by the need of services. The economical and social/cultural policies of the country come from the center of the Republic towards the States and municipalities. For many years, the economical policy was sustained by two criteria: 1) economical protectiveness that discouraged imports and oriented production and expenditure towards export; 2) the consolidation of the country as an independent post-revolutionary nation that had, as primary objectives, the construction of a national identity, the territorial definition and stabilized frontiers and the control of the different natural resources. Recently, at the end of the 70’s a process of economical neoliberal process started to develop, bringing a new relationship of interchange and expenditure, encouraged and privileged imports over national production and gave impulse to certain productive areas for export. The objective of the political-economical liberation thought looked at integrating international capital in order to foment and motivate the internal growth and development. Strategies were defined in several ways, from industry oriented towards international markets – represented by the great trans-nationals – to the “maquiladoras” – established in the north and south frontiers. Foreign technology was supported in the agricultural areas through financing of the “ejidos”,3 process that slowly weakened until it came to the privatization of land ownership. 2 This chapter is part of the book “Migrant Mayas in Cancun, Quintana Roo” that will be edited in 2007. 3 For national census purposes “ejido or new centre of ejido village, those that after the Agrarian Law of January 6, 1915 have “de facto” a group of land, forest or waters available for the usage of a group of peasant population, independent of Presidential resolution; land ownership; type of activity performed in them and of the municipality or municipalities where they are found” (INEGI, 2000:152). 196 197 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

On the other hand, during the 60’s, a sense of unrest and motivation arise in Mexico in order to structure a tourist-dollar scheme. Among the first work strategies was a diagnosis of tourist activity and an international, national, and regional context was established. The results showed a delay and lack of coherence in the promotion and consolidation of the tourist activity in order to make it profitable: the only national tie with the foreign market was Acapulco, in the State of Guerrero, that offered a solid infrastructure. This diagnosis brought the need to generate other tourist poles, and a search of scenarios rich in natural attractions and possibilities for international connections. Special care was taken in finding uninhabited spaces or of low demographic density, with development advantages and little or no competition or obstacles that would stop the use or embellishment of land for the projects, and where it would be possible to assume the political and economical decisions. Even though President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz approved the national tourist development program, it wasn’t until President Echeverria’s term that the project started to materialize. A great part of the indigenous population of Yucatan expelled from the henequen agro-industry, due to its decline saw, as an immediate option, its insertion in the construction industry in Cancun. This activity’s expansion, that demanded, in an increasing form, people for the lower mason’s jobs, was the main mechanism of labor liaison for the displaced population to the new tourist center. Even though since 1974 this population was basically inserted in the construction industry, with time it has been integrating itself to other more qualified areas, especially in the case of the new generations, whose first socialization happened in Cancun and where public education has covered their demands for formal education. However, not all migrants have been benefited by the growth of social infrastructure in the tourist pole. Those that did not establish their permanent residence in Cancun, and continue travelling weekly or monthly from their original villages where they continue with their old style of life, must by considered. The diverse times and types of migrations are notorious, but a qualification of the work force employed by the construction sector, that has continued growing, is noticeable. On the other hand the demand for construction pawns has decreased in the city but not in the zone due to the development of new tourist areas such as Playa del Carmen. It is important to indicate that Cancun not only attracted migrants from the rural areas; another important sector of migrants came from urban areas to cover a broad range of services, tourist as well as bureaucratic. This population came from all the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as from other parts of the country, especially from Mexico City.

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In order to be able to context the selection of the State of Quintana Roo with the purpose of turning it into a tourist pole, it is necessary to make a recount of its historical path and the characteristics that motivated the selection. During the second half of the x i x Century, the central part of the Territory of Quintana Roo was used as refuge to a great population of rebel Mayas that went to war in what is known as the “Caste War” (Falcon, 2002:203-221). The “cruzoob Mayas” or “men of the cross”, as they are actually known, were especially rebellious to foreign impositions and to the domain and exploit of their resources, especially the jungle worked by them. By the end of that century, their free areas were being threatened by the extended forestry concessions that the Federal Government started giving in order to colonize areas with low demographic density. On the other hand, the jungle resources in the South were also being disputed by the inhabitants of the British colony in what is now Belize, who established agreements with the rebels for the forestry exploitation of certain areas. In this context of conflict each group established their own territorial and domain limits. In 1892, with the Spencer-Mariscal Treaty, the British saw the doors close on the possibility of extraction of raw materials. On the other hand, the rebel capital, Santa Cruz (now Felipe Carrillo Puerto) was taken in 1902; the construction of a military fort in the middle of the cruzoob territory established a space of “negoti- ated” peace with the insurrect Mayas of the area. However, this peace did not mean total recognition of the Federal Government by the Mayas. After the military defeat of the rebel Mayas, forestry concessions to nationals and foreigners continued. Unlike other parts of the country, the Mexican Revolution 1910-1920 did not have a marked influence in Quintana Roo; land was not given to the peasants until later days. In 1915, during the Revolution, a national Agrarian Law opened the possibilities of changes in land ownership and great extensions of land were expropriated to be distributed among the peasants. Based on Article 27 of the new 1917 Constitution, which refers to land property and natural resources, between 1920 and 1960 the Agrarian Reform, took place, and its main action was the forming of “ejidos” in the villages. Even though there has been controversy on the actions of the Agrarian Reform, there is no way to deny that it was able to dismember the estates and transferred important amounts of land to the peasants. In the Mayan zone of Quintana Roo social segregation continued being a fundamental issue for the rebel Mayas. In 1945, when in dire conditions of subsistence, they requested help from President Lazaro Cardenas and, as a result to their demands

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a program of cisterns and economical aide to the meager industrialization was established. During the first decades of the x x Century the demographic growth was very slow in the Mayan areas as well as in all Quintana Roo; the migration was sporadic, therefore the extensive territory was seen as an empty space.4 However, the national policy of rearrangement of the population and exploit of natural resources originated, in 1960, a first initiative of colonization, which took place in the southern part of Quintana Roo with the object of consolidating the fragile and obscure Belize frontier and to make productive the empty lands. Some of the programs that were established to stimulate production in the context of colonization are now seen as failures, such are the cases of the rice agro-industry and the cattle program, even though the sugar cane program was established as one of the main activities of the colonizers. During those years of consolidation and of slow but sustained economical growth, the local inhabitants of the Southern region, especially those of the capital city of Chetumal, were dedicated to the commercialization of imports obtained through the port of Belize. This type of commerce, of Federal concession to the low density population Territories, gave way, against all expectations, to mono-activity and therefore to a high dependency on one activity. For many years, the merchants of Chetumal, lived around the import and sale of merchandise attractive to the people of other parts of the country. Contraband and informality developed around it, and the national economy policy, based on protec- tionism, aided the relative importance of having a gateway for imports. With the change of direction towards liberalization and the construction of a “development pole” such as Cancun, things began to change for the local inhabitants. The import goods stopped playing an important role for Chetumal because all the country was flooded with them and, with tourism the participation of the incipient construction industry led to the transformation of the State’s main activity, even though there was still a tendency to a mono-activity. Also, by the mid 60’s the policies of directed migration took place. Migrants arriving from the Northern States of the country, with diverse labor experience, were hoping to establish their residence, based on promises of finding lands and resources. The Rio Hondo area, in the South, as well as the municipality of Othon P. Blanco in the interior were the areas selected to establish this new population thus generating more centers of “ejido” population with different characteristics. 4 According to COESPO statistics, in 1910 Quintana Roo had a population of 9,109 inhabitants. By 1965 Quintana Roo had a territory of 58,843 square kilometers and 50,169 inhabitants. It is to be remembered that in 1974 when the Territory becomes a State it had 88,150 inhabitants.

This migratory current favored two conditions within the territory of Quintana Roo: a) enough population to be able to become a State with all the rights within the context of the Mexican nation; and b) a marked division between the native Mayas and the colonizers, who not only were different in their ways of life but also in their productive activities and the economical aides they received. This last condition is clearly observed in the Mexico-Belize border when watching the villages along the Chetumal-La Union road. On one side are the colonizers, mainly dedicated to sugar cane activity, with sturdy homes and on the other side are the native Mayas dedicated to the “milpa” or traditional maize farming with homes made of grass and mud. These conditions of ethnic plurality, colonization and development of economical projects marked the origin of a tourist development pole; this origin was more external than internal and basically searched for economical diversification and answer at national, regional and local levels. Actually, the tourism and what this massive activity represents to the development of the State of Quintana Roo, is something that is still defining itself and the consequences will be seen in many of the still pending social themes.

Migration and analytical focus The migrations as a displacement factor have been studied by different disciplines such as demography and sociology, as well as the anthropological perspective that look at the factors and repercussions observed in people, from the cultural impact, which is the result of the contact between different cultures, to the re-elaborations and adjustments made in environments different to their own. To explain our perspective, a text has been written about the concept of migration and its influence in the perceptive of the locals as well as of the migrants (Sierra, 2005). The collective work i o e introduces a revision of the different theoretical focuses that have generated from the migration concept. Of the two most discussed analytical trends, the authors have found the need to perform studies that include both. The collective names the first current “individualistic” as it is based on the presumption that individual’s free decisions are fundamental in migration: it is them that evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of living in one or another place; however, this current does not take into consideration the historical side of their own concepts. The second one is named “structural”, as it considers migration as a dynamic situation, integrated by two or more reference points linked by human flow. Seeing it from this view, it is not the individuals, but the system and its elements that determine migration, a process that can only be understood from a historical analysis.

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From the lines of thought of both currents, the collective proposes a four dimen- sional scheme: a) historical analysis explaining the migration forms; b) structural analysis (political economy) of the economical internationalization and messages; c) the cultural-ideological that considers the way in which reality is perceived, the resources in the hands of the doers and those elements promoted or prohibited by the dominant social order; and d) the social migratory nets, by which every individual is permanently in contact with other people from a determined position and this group of relationships establishes a net. It is from these dimensions that the implicit multidimensionality of the international migrations is issued, making emphasis in three types of links between the societies of origin and destiny: a) the tangibles, which are the economical and political relationships, information and the gifts between the migrating poles; b) the regulatory, which are the established policies of migration and tourism, the acceptance of foreigners and their value, as well as the family ties, neighborhoods, ethnic community or nationality; and c) the position of the elements of the migrating system, such as economical and political dependency. It has come to our attention the author’s exposure on the images and differences that are established between foreigners and natives, and how they consolidate in the common sense as something that has always been there and that has to always remain like that. For the authors, the migrating issue is definitely reduced to a democratic question. (i o e 1999:209-213: 2002:27-34). On the other hand, to understand at a global level the movement of the labor force, it is necessary to integrate it to the historical development of capitalism. In that sense we retake the outlines of Immanuel Wallerstein where he indicates that this world system has limits, structures, groups, members and legitimatization rules and coherence and its characteristic is that life within is greatly auto-included, its development is internal; the auto-inclusion is based on a extensive division of work with multiple cultures. It has the peculiarity of being a modern system in a world economy, having within its limits multiple political systems (Wallerstein, 1979:489- 491). To explain his vision on work distribution in the world economy, Wallerstein indicates that ethnicity of communal life in historical capitalism has encouraged certain occupational and economical roles in determined ethnic groups, and these have varied with time. The ethnicity of the world work force has generated three consequences that have influenced the functioning of the world economy. In the first place, the reproduction of the work force for each category and the mobility that has been eased and not obstructed by the ethnic. Secondly, a socialization mechanism which will aide the formation of an occupational work force within domestic units of

200 201 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o a defined ethnic. And thirdly, the consolidation of ethnicity in the occupational and economical roles, easing the distribution of global rent, redressed by the legitimacy of tradition (Wallerstein, 1988:66-68). The explosive growth of the tourist activity coincided with the decadence of the traditional economical activities of the inhabitants of central Quintana Roo. Identi- fied by several anthropologists, this decadence refers to the impoverishment of the land for agricultural production, the lack of forestry resources such as chicle and wood, including the lack of wild animals that in the past were a source of nourishment in a self contained economy, to which we have to add government restriction to fishing grounds in some Maya fishing communities. Hostettler identifies these changes basically with the opening of new roads,5 which allowed the integration of the area to the communication nets and interchange with the National State (sale of chicle, forestry products, garden products, cattle, wood), and the constant transformation of a subsistence economy usually directed “inwards” in a productive system “outwards” oriented, that is, towards the regional market. The forever increasing integration towards the National State, the economical modifications and the demographic changes increased the pressure on the natural resources, motivating an accelerated damage to the subsistence economy (Hostettler, 1996:49-50). While in other states the Agrarian Reform benefited thousands of peasants giving them land, in Quintana Roo the land that belonged to the Mayas, from the 30’s and 40’s began to be given as “ejidos” to peasants arriving from other states of the country, thus motivating the migration to the state and increasing the “mestizo” (mestizo: half caste Maya-Trans.note) population in detriment of the original owners. Each migrating process has different scenarios and special characteristics that give it its own social sense. In the different spaces of the world, the states have developed assimilation and integration policies to the style of life of the locals and, give proposals to conjugate the differences and generate styles of social understanding, where each culture is an actor in the construction of new relationships and interactions between people within the receptive society. However, this reflection sets aside the fact that dominant groups have forever existed, which is obvious in the daily life of migratory spaces or territories. The search for harmony in a multi-cultural cohabitation has not been able to exist due to the fact that inequality, fragmentation and conflict are part of the daily life between

5 For the Mayas, the opening of roads was not only a material fact, but also a symbolic allocution to opening the roads “closed since the times of slavery”, which meant a breach towards the actual “times of liberty” (Hostettler, 1996:49-50).

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the groups and people. On this subject, Ulf Hannerz indicates that a great part of diversity is not simply ancient nor in decline, but also a new diversity is generated by global ecumenism. He also presents the perspective of the world cities defined as places in themselves, which are a part of the knots in the net systems, whose organization depend on local as well as trans-national relationships. Considered as cultural markets, this type of cities has numerous expression specialists (Hannerz, 1996:205-219). It is in the urban contexts where, with greater emphasis, the plurality and the “law of the strongest” are seen. The modernizing schemes that are filtered from the global to the local societies give sense to the perceptions, interests and stereotypes of the migrants. In this modern world, the concentration of multiple services and better income, especially in the cities, makes them worthy of selection. For the migrant, the urban space is not only important but also the region or country’s criteria where he intends to dwell or from which he leaves.

Challenges of international tourism

From being a Federal Territory with only 50 000 inhabitants in 1960, dependent, ethnically homogenous, agricultural and isolated, the today State of Quintana Roo counts with approximately one million inhabitants and has transformed into a region sustained by the tertiary industry – mainly the tourist sector -, ethnically heterogeneous, and marked by deep economical contrasts which are the result of massive public work projects, hotel development, theme parks, supermarkets and foreign franchises. It is in this sense that the globalization process has found in tourism a great ally by permeating their customs, fashions, and ways to the local inhabitants which are different from their own. Therefore, while for some authors globalization represents a new era of world economy through the generalized irruption of massive world communication media, for others it is only another stage of the capitalist system development which, after the fall of the social regimes prevails in the world without obstacles. The case of Quintana Roo is, however, sui generis in the country. From 1974 to 2007; a bit more than 30 years, it had a population increase of more than 90% resulting mainly from the migratory phenomena, constituting one of the most accelerated in the world in a country in peaceful times. Massive tourism throws impressive figures for this state, still small in population. The Cancun airport holds second place in the country in aeronautical operations, it is only superseded by the overpopulated one in Mexico City, Capital of the coun-

202 203 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o try, but it is the first in Latin America in passenger numbers. This has motivated the initiative of building a new international airport in the South, in the so called Riviera Maya, close to the town of Tulum in the municipality of Solidaridad, where they plan to receive three million tourists annually in the beginning of operations. The income, occupation, migration, services and infrastructure are in general above the national average. It has the largest cruise movement in the country and it is the fastest growing one in the world. The state has a territorial expanse, with low density population, also above the national average. One of the motivating factors for national and international investment is the fact that its coastline has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, an exuberant jungle and a benign climate most of the year. It is very important to mention that Quintana Roo receives more benefits from tourism than some of the tourist destinations of the so called insular Caribbean such as Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico or Jamaica, in economical income and number of tourists as well as infrastructure measured by the number of registered hotels and rooms built, which came up to more than 60 000 by the end of 2006, re- gardless of the damages suffered by hurricanes, particularly Wilma which, in 2005 caused the greatest losses in Mexican history due to natural phenomena. In contrast, we can enumerate some of the main problems that tourism and massive migration have caused: a) Lack of attention and coverage of public services such as water systems, drainage, housing, educations, transport and adequate handling of garbage mainly in places where migration is an uncontrollable factor: first Cancun and now the municipality of Solidaridad. b) Delinquency has increased substantially, mainly in what is referred to as organized crime: drug dealing and kidnapping-black mailing gangs operating in the north of the State, specifically in the city of Cancun. c) The arrival of foreign companies operating in the tourist destinations has sky rocketed land prices and land gains generating speculation, monopolization and intermediary which are profitable to the real estate agents who are defining the local rules of offer and demand. d) Lack of social cohesion between the inhabitants of the tourist destinations, and a great competition for the better paid jobs; the population is so heterogeneous that it is possible to see groups divided according to their state, or original nationality. This has caused a feeling of resentment among the local population, in the sense that they feel robbed and left out of development and better opportunities; their rights as indigenous are not respected - the “foreigners” receive all the benefits.

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e) Social inequity is also observed in the evident contrast between the high development areas and those of high marginality: the “regions” or peripheral zones of Cancun in relation with the “super blocks” downtown and the hotel zone; the marginal areas of Playa del Carmen, such as Luis Donaldo Colosio in relation to the luxurious residential complexes like Playacar. In a greater scale, the spaces reserved to the so called “Grand Tourism” spread out in the hotel zone of Cancun and the Riviera Maya in relation to the rural and urban marginal zones. To this problem we have to add the marginality suffered by today’s Maya in relationship with other social groups of the entity, motivated by the still existing discrimination in several parts of the country.

Conclusions

In synthesis, to be able to explain the migratory processes we have to resource to some of their fundamentals. The geographical/historical will reveal, on a long term basis, the unequal modifications and conditions between the economical development and the political conditions of the continents, countries and regions. On the other hand, all the issues related to the migrant’s social perception about their possible conditions in their arrival places, not only as individuals, but also as groups that see their transfer as the ideal perspective. And lastly, the differences marked by the system in the different regions that makes them attractive to the migrants in order to establish their daily and working life. These general fundaments give sense and content to the migratory movements in time and space and generate the construction – in which both locals and migrants interfere – of social scenarios that will incur in the subsequent migratory processes. Mexico in general and particularly the state of Quintana Roo, have entered the world’s tourist market in a positive manner, and have fortified the demands of domestic tourism. Statistics clearly indicate the economical results from international tourism. Quintana Roo shows a clear vocation towards the tourist development. It is important, however, to diversify into other activities in order not to depend exclusively on tourism. As, parallel to the tourist industry, the state fortifies in other economical activities such as: agricultures, fishing, cattle and services, there will be, without any doubt, greater opportunities to fortify its economy. We are aware that tourism generates direct and indirect jobs, as well as investments, money and local and regional development as well as improving the inhabitant’s quality of life therefore, it is important to consolidate and actively participate in its planning and development.

During this last decade, the global processes are manifest in the transformation of the different regions of the country. This has modified the development model that had prevailed up to a few years ago, sustained in great infrastructure works subsi- dized by the State. It is intended, in actual times, to generate the necessary conditions for private investment according to world market demands, while the State acts only as a regulatory element of the economical activity. However, it is necessary to implement into this investment process, a strategy in accordance with the great changes at world level and the development processes of the regions involved in this course. Massive tourism has become one of the activities in which private investment has been privileged; today it is the second economical activity generator of dollars in the country, only superseded by the manufacturing industry. Tourism generates more income than the oil industry. The great social inequality existent in Quintana Roo, plus the cultural differentiation is evident in the three geographical regions in which the state is divided: the Northern region, touristic and with a per capita income above the national media; the Central zone or Maya zone, marginal to the general development and with poverty levels similar to those of the poorest states in the country; and the Southern region with a past of welfare from the sale of import products to middle men from practically all the Southeast of Mexico, and that now supports itself through the federal and state bureaucracy residing in Chetumal, the capital city. Seen from this perspective, we can affirm that tourism, as an economical activity, has allowed the development of some of the society’s stratus and of certain area of the state, but generates such extended migrating flux that makes it difficult for the government to attend to the explosive demand of services for these people searching for work. In the same manner, it is urgent to attend to the high index of delinquency that seems to prosper in the city of Cancun related to the heterogeneous population and the high level of life in certain sectors.

Bibliography

Asociación de Hoteles y Moteles de Cancún y Cozumel, 2002. Administración Portuaria Integral del estado de Quintana Roo, Cancún, Q. Roo, 2001. Colectivo i o e , 1999. Hacia una visión integral de las migraciones como fenómeno social. In: Inmigrantes, trabajadores. Cuadernos: Una visión de las migraciones desde España, Edit. Universidad de Valencia, España, 1999.

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Colectivo i o e , 2002. ¿Cómo abordar el estudio de las migraciones? Una propuesta teórico- metodológica. In: Francisco Checa (ed.) Las migraciones a debate. De las teorías a las prácticas sociales, Edit. Icaria, España. Hannerz, U., 1986 Explorando la ciudad, Edit. FCE, México.. Hienaux, N. D., (compilador), 1989. Teoría y praxis del turismo del espacio turístico. u a m - Xochimilco, México. Hostettler, U., 1996. Hablando del cambio: testimonios de la tradición oral maya del centro de Quintana Roo. In: U Hostettler (ed.), Los Mayas de Quintana Roo. Investigaciones antropológicas recientes. Arbeitsblätter Nr. 14 des Instituts für Ethnologie der Universität Bern. i n e g i 2000. Cuaderno estadístico municipal, edición 1999. Benito Juárez, Estado de Quintana Roo, Edit. i n e g i , México. Sierra Sosa, L. A., 1998. Trabajadores migrantes en tierra propia. Población maya y mercado de trabajo en Chetumal, Quintana Roo. In: Revista Secuencia, núm. 40, Edit. Instituto Mora, México, 1998. Wallerstein, I., 1979. El moderno sistema mundial. La agricultura capitalista y los orígenes de la economía-mundo europea en el siglo x v i , Edit. Siglo x x i , España, 1979. Wallerstein, I., 1988. El capitalismo histórico, Edit. Siglo x x i , España, 1988. Secretaría Estatal de Turismo, 2001. Cancún, Quintana Roo, México.

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208 Transversal territorial ecological ordinance: Experiences in Campeche and Yucatan

Jorge I. Euán Avila, Evelia Rivera Arriaga, Ma. De los A. Liceaga Correa, Ana García de Fuentes, Gerardo Palacio Aponte y Guillermo J. Villalobos

Introduction

any concepts have been recommended to develop and instrument actions that will contribute in an effective way to the improvement of life condi- Mtions in the coastal populations, and in particular those where the inhabitants see the functionality of the ecosystems threatened, on which their economical and social activities rest. Concepts such as decentralization, governance, co-management, integral management, empowerment, appropriation, transversals, among others, have been recommended by diverse international agencies (u n e p , World Bank, o e c d , u s a i d , c i d a ) as measures to favor development and conservation in the use of ecosystems. These concepts have permeated to the national governments to try to change their actions and obtain cooperation between their offices and levels of government; extending as well, decision making to the interested groups. In Mexico the main planning instruments for the sustainable use of great spaces are: the ecological ordinance and the territorial ordinance, promoted by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (s e m a r n a t ) and the Ministry of Social

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Development (s e d e s o l ) respectively. To the above we would have to include, at a lower scale, the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas, through the system of Natural Protected Areas, which constitute the first efforts in zoning the use of soil in small areas. Currently 38 ordinances have been concluded and another 18 are in the developmentstages. (www.semarnat.gob.mx./quesesssemarnat/ordenamiento- ecologico/Pages/ordenamientos.aspx) It has been discussed in the different chapters of this book the different concepts that go towards better ways of governing; in this one we talk about transversals from our experiences in the states of Campeche and Yucatan in the development of their respective Coastal Territorial Ecological Ordinance Programs. Actions conducive to a “transversal management” of the territory are emphasized, such as how to improve and/or create institutional agreements and operational instruments with an integral vision of space management. It is recognized that the effective application of the transversals in the Ecological Ordinances of the Territory (o e t ) requires the consideration, among other aspects, of the inter and intra institutional government and private relationships, groups of users, as well as between ecosystems, geographical scales and the involved disciplines.

Antecedents

The use of the concept transversal in this work is considered as the systematic, global inclusion from all the areas of values and attitudes relative to great importance themes, but not reflected sufficiently in the institutional interests (c e r e s , 2007). At present we insist in environmental education as it is fundamental to board themes such as global warming. Geography is also mentioned as a discipline that contributes to transversal with its inter-scale focus. In other interpretations of transversal, equity of gender is mentioned. Recently, the Mexican government has agreed to work in favor of equity of gender in the frame of the law the rules the National Institute for Women (i n m u j e r e s ) that establishes the transversal criteria in public policies with gender perspectives, federalism, and fortification of links with the Powers of the Union and the three orders of government (a m p y a c , 2007). In Mexico it is possible that s e m a r n a t is the pioneer in explicitly intending to adopt and promote the transversal concept in public policy. It conceives it as a process that is performed “through the concourse of different government offices, joined by a common goal, through a decentralized organizational scheme, in answer to a public problem that cannot be treated effectively or efficiently from a

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sector scope or by one governmental office or a reduced group in the government”. (s e m a r n a t :2004b, 4-5). The concept has become a priority goal of the environmental sector on public policies for sustainable development.

Transversals in the o e t

Mexican Law defines o e t as “the environmental policy instrument, whose objective is to regulate or induce the use of soil and the productive activities, in order to achieve protection to the environment, preservation and sustainable exploitation of the natural resources, from the analysis of deterioration tendencies and exploit potentials of such resources” (l g e e p a /Fraction x x i i i ). For its making we count with general methodology criteria based on the Methodology Guides for the elaboration of State Territorial Ordinance Programs (2nd Generation), made by the Geography Institute of the Autonomous National University of Mexico, in the reference terms provided by s e m a r n a t and s e c o l . Considering the concept of transversal, the transverse axle of o e t is Ecology. In effect, the o e t manifests the need to promote a sustainable development taking into account the effects of human activities on the ecosystems. As planning instrument and public policy, the o e t tries to ensure that projects, programs and State and private enterprise initiatives include an adequate environmental management to protect the natural resources and ecosystem’s services. With its adoptions, it is pretended to obtain conditions for a regional sustainable development in an integral manner, increase the added value to the natural resources, promote its conservation, protect biological and cultural diversity, harmonize the different regulations, promote participative management mechanisms and promote equity of gender, among others. To obtain transversals, many authors have suggested the need of an integral conception of the natural, social, political and legal processes; active and co-responsible participation of public offices and institutions (government) and private such as Uni- versities, investigation centers and o n g ´s, to work jointly, as well as add and make compatible the objectives that will lead to the development of activities related to each one of these dimensions; and a clear assignment of responsibilities and adequate resources, as well as indicators that will make follow up and evaluation of the proposed actions possible. On the other hand it is indispensable to institutionalize the mechanisms that will ensure the practice, coordination and monitoring of the actions, which requires con- viction from the political and technical leaders. It is also important and complementary to develop within the communities a sense of ownership of the natural resources and respect the coexistence in a common space.

Reference terms of o e t

In a general way, the reference terms of o e t consider, among others, four important elements for transversal: • Geographical: It predetermines the cartographical scale of the analysis. Part of the potential of the Geographical Information Systems (s i g ), is a fundamental tool for analysis and cartographical synthesis. Geography, by its own nature and through its working tools: cartography, remote perception and the geographical information systems, offer a better interpretation of the complexity of the processes and their space-time dimension which favors comprehension and solution of the environmental and territorial problems. • Multidisciplinary: It indicates the minimum themes to be considered through an organized listing in six great areas: natural, economical, social (demographic), sectors (actors and conflicts), governmental and legal. The multiple in- terrelationships between the physical, biological, social and economical processes that develop on the coast need an integral interpretation that will allow the ordinance to really influence in benefit of the population and of a rational use of the natural resources. The ecological problem as a transverse axle raises important analysis elements on the function of habitats, and on the manner in which man integrates and utilizes the ecosystems. • Actors: It considers fundamental the incorporation of the expert knowledge of the local sectors and actors and their conflicts. In the reference terms of the ordinance, the diverging interests of the different actors involved are presented in terms of compatibility, synergy, incompatibility or neutrality between sectors (understood as productive sectors, without being explicit). The productive sectors of the coastal zones are formed by groups whose interests can be divergent, that is, the convergence or divergence is not only between fishing and tourism or salt extraction, but between specific actors of each group, fishing cooperatives, salt producers, and tourist services, groups interested in conservation, fishing entrepreneurs, salt industry, hoteliers, etc. In the ordinance, compatibility or incompatibility and the relation with the environment are presented in terms of conflicts between actors, not only sectors. • Inter-governmental: Involves the supervision and participation of the three levels of government (Federal, state and municipal) through their Ministries and State Managements. The participation of the different levels of government in the instrumentation of the ordinance is the result of the current decentralization process, in which the different jurisdictions and responsibilities do not fully operate according to the established scheme in the decentralization

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process. In the case of the municipal level, they are responsible for the use of soil authorizations, construction permits, etc. Some of the a n p ’s could be of Federal or State jurisdiction (in a few cases municipal) but involve human settlements whose ordinance is municipal. The Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone (20 m of beach measured at high tide, 10 m border in permanent or semi permanent wetlands), as well as the territorial and patrimonial seas are of Fe- deral jurisdiction. Their ordinance competes to other institutions.

Local characteristics and learning

The case of Campeche

Transversals in the levels of government (political) in the o e t

The intention to order the Campeche territory came from two offices of the state authorities: The Ministry of Public Works (s e o p c ) and the Ministry of Ecology (s e c o l ). Both offices initiated a synergy that began in 1999 with the whole state’s territorial ordinance and at present has lead to the ecological ordinance of each of the municipalities and to perform studies in beach zones for the coastal zones of Campeche. The window of opportunity to perform ordinance action for the coastal zone was the state policy of developing beach tourist projects. The transversal paradigm in which the Campeche coastal ordinance is based, fundamentally consists in that the state’s beaches are systems we cannot place in one only context or in one only concrete sector of the political, social or economical activity; on the contrary to recognize that the beaches along with the other coastal and marine ecosystems form a dynamic group, required that the development policy adopt sustainability solutions in each and every one of their decisions and norms In this purpose, the political agendas of the two levels of government – state and municipal – have harmonized in such a way that they converge in interests and help each other in their needs. For each one of the ordinance processes in the State, to count with the same executive organism has been considered efficient and pertinent, even though changing the corresponding technical organism in order to fit directors or permanent guests from the different sectors for each case. In a similar manner, within each one of the development processes of ordinance studies, the participation of the different governmental offices as well as each of the productive sectors in public participation workshops has guaranteed that the opin-

ions, needs, opportunities, and strengths of the general population are taken into account, warranting the validity and legitimacy of the process.

Transversals of o e t ecosystems (geographical)

The ordinance of the coastal zone entrails the integral conceptualization and understanding of the elements, systems and processes that form it. In this manner, the coastal zone is understood as a binomial land-water that implies dualities in the decision making. The coastal zone extends off shore up to where the land influence ends, and continues inland up to the first watershed. In this context, the geographical transversals of the coast makes us consider all those ecosystems that influence the land and are influenced by it. This transversal also brings dimension to the social, economical and human processes in the coastal populations, between themselves and between those inland, including the most distant ones. In this manner, the geographical transversal considers the development poles and axles as well as the cities’ systems that interconnect at all levels and scales the coastal zone with other zones and regions.

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The referred Territorial Ordinance Model of the coastal zone of the state of Campeche emphasizes the need of a better exploitation of usage and activities of the coastal-marine space, in order to propitiate an optimum ecological balance of the territory and, consequently a better quality of life of the population. In this way, the ordinance considered as coastal management zone the binomial land-coastal sea, delimitating the polygon with the following criteria: 1) Limits of the natural protected areas. 2). Conservation zones suggested by this work or by another initiative: to define conservation areas the vegetation map was re-classified by degrees of conservation (conserved areas, semi-conserved, semi-altered and altered), in relation to the population structures of the vegetable communities and their decree of anthrop alteration. 3) Municipal limits. 4) Areas with development potential. 5) Limits of coastal and marine ecosystems. Taking the above into account, within the coastal management area we have, at the North the Reserve of the Peten Biosphere and at the South the Terminos Lagoon Flora and Fauna Protection Area. The central zone was delimitated with the above mentioned criteria. Equally, the sea strip was marked by the marine parts that both a n p ’s consider their rights and the central part by the exterior limit of the marine prairies. The polygon considers 1.3 million hectares of coastal zone management, of which 695 561 are terrestrial and 688 977 marine. More than 70% is protected area: Celestun, Petenes and Terminos Lagoon; together they occupy 1 005 537 has. In this area we have 518 localities (i n e g i 2000), of which only 18 have more than one thousand inhabitants; more than 400 thousand “campechanos” live in it. This corresponds to 58% of the total state population. This zone concentrates more than 3 200 kilometers of transport roads, of which 612 km are paved roads. An important factor is that 90% of the area is below 10 meters at sea level.

Transversals of o e t disciplines

The territorial ordinance is considered as a “State policy and a planning instrument that allows and adequate political-administrative organization and a space projection of the social, economical, environmental, and cultural policies of society, guaranteeing and adequate level of life for the population and environmental conservation”, that should be consistent with the ecological ordinance of the Campeche territory. For its understanding, a systemic focus is required of the relations established between the binomial nature-society and the problems that present themselves as a result of such interactions. To achieve this it is necessary to come from the same source that originates this interaction: the territory, which should be boarded from a holistic focus that will allow the articulation of productive activities with the conser-

214 215 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o vation of the existing resources; this antique incongruence between development and conservation must find in the ecological ordinance of the territory a balance point. To obtain a holistic perceptive of the territory and its space structures and the dynamics that make its function possible, will allow society as a whole, to make a rational use of it and of the resources than live in it, in such a way that quality of life improvement will not only be a rhetorical discourse but a real axle that will orient and articulate a coastal ordinance policy under the Ecological Ordinance of the Gulf of Mexico. In terms accepted by the proposed methodology of s e m a r n a t , i n e and s e d e s o l , regionalization is a scientific analysis process through which the characterization, systematization and taxonomic classification is obtained of the regional units, which consists in determining the territorial division system of individuals, any type of spaces (administrative, economical, natural and others). In this manner, one of the basic premises to install a territorial ordinance policy is the definition of adequate space units to be used as axles to “evaluate the environmental offer and social demand, on one side, and its management for sector and space planning effects”. From the regionalization of the ordinance area, the environmental problem presented, the potential natural resources and the tendency of similar behaviors, areas with similar resource management patterns were identified; zones that due to their characteristics and current state should be conserved, as they are areas of high ecological interest and should be protected; areas that should be less exploited; and areas where the under utilized resources can be exploited. From the above mentioned criteria, 575 Natural Administrative Units (u a n ) were obtained as a start of the territorial regionalization for the construction of the Model of Territorial Ordinance of the Coastal Zone of Campeche. These u a n were formed with municipalities with different types of properties emphasizing the demographic factor. Only 119 u a n were considered, as they have population; of these only 64 were taken for the model because they have more than 12 population indicators, infrastructure (houses and roads) and services. Each one of these u a n was analyzed from the following indexes that combined helped to build the Coastal Ordinance Model: • Economical Potential. It provides a panorama of the capability of each u a n , the inhabitants’ employability; considering as well, their access to health services, the percentage of p e a , and land usage. • Infrastructure and services. It takes into account the level, type and distribution of public services and combines with the road infrastructure index. • Public investment per capita and per u a n . It considers the presence of politics, administration and management programs, including those of the micro-

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regions, and is obtained by dividing the investment between the total populations of the u a n . • Pressure. It combines the economical potential index with the infrastructure and service index and the per capita per u a n public investment to determine the threats to which each unit is subject to. • Susceptibility to hurricanes. It determines the exposure degree of a population to catastrophic events, and it is obtained with the combination of the morphological composition of the terrain, soil flood and closeness to the sea. • Natural. Its measure to natural vegetation coverage vs. the coverage in the transformed areas in each u a n . • Natural fragility. This index measures the quality of the natural resources considering the geomorphology, geology, type of soil, hydraulic regimen, vegetation cover and soil usage. • Vulnerability. This index measures the existing conflict degree or that could arise in each u a n , and is calculated considering the availability of the natural resources in relation with the environmental fragility and the anthrop usage pressure. These indicators allow – from multiple disciplines- the analysis of the territory, determine the contexts in which the coastal- marine zone of Campeche finds itself, and establish the tendencies each u a n will have to follow, depending on the behavior of each one of these indicators. This helps build scenarios to design the most adequate public policies for each case.

Transversal of groups or o e t interest

One of the premises or territorial ordinance is to consider each one of the user groups and actors within the strip of coastal management, and in this manner create the adequate spaces for dialogue and information interchange. The needs, projects, ideas and fears find communication channels between one and the others, knowing that there will be respect, that their interventions will be taken into account and that they are themselves who are going to build the design for the ordinance model. Public participation in these processes is determinant for its validity, as when convoking all those interested and involved in the coastal zone, it is actually inviting all the sectors, all the governmental levels and all the organized groups and general public to become an active and legitimate part of the decision making. The participation of each one of the groups also helps the ordinance model to be representative for the whole state without any kind of deviations.

The ordinance model of the coastal zone of Campeche considered the establishment of a total of 28 public participation workshops, having 7 in each one of the state coastal municipalities; each workshop was about each one of the specific themes considered in the study: environment, urban/rural development, economy, legislation and norms, and society and culture. The attendance to the workshops was formed by governmental authorities, municipal, state and Federal, o n g ´s, producers organizations, civil organization, as well as groups of peasants, indigenous, women, students, investigators and teachers at different levels. A key to the transverse public participation is the access to complete, timely and pertinent information of the process; all this will help the community make good decisions. Public participation in the ordinance model is the amalgamation of the process itself. On one side it helps the community to fortify its capabilities to organize and make consensual decisions. And on the other, it helps to concrete this process in a transverse manner in order that the community appropriates it. This appropriation is the key to a successful and lasting implementation. In all, the tendency is of an empowered community where decisions are taken within a democratic process and from the base of the community, taking as reference the ordinance model to plan development strategies.

Case: Yucatan

Transversals of Government levels in the o e t (politics)

In Yucatan, the development of the ordinance program was considered as part of the life cycle of a project with the formulation, expedition, execution and evaluation phases. From the beginning of the formulation an interest was observed from the Federal and state authorities in cooperating in the development of the project. The Federal delegation of s e m a r n a t and State Ministry of Ecology organized themselves to constitute the Technical and Executive Ordinance Organisms. The Minister of Ecology chairs the Technical Organism and the Executive is presided by the State Governor. Both offices were organized to convoke and make meetings as well as taking minutes of the meetings. Its role was fundamental in identifying the executor group that in this case would be formed by five local institutions, in order to bring the executor group close to the a n p ’s administrators and to the coastal municipalities’ Mayors, who participated in the identification of future projects through workshops. This transverse labor will surely become more important in the subsequent phase of the ordinance.

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Transversal of o e t ecosystems (geographical)

The reference terms take little consideration of the real state of territorial knowledge in the region, and on the other hand they only consider the ordinance of the terrestrial part.1 In face of this situation and considering a systemic focus, the decision was taken to consider two context areas from the coastline: a 10 km offshore buffer and a land buffer of 20 km in order to include the coastal municipalities and part of their adjacent municipalities. In this manner the coastal territory ordinance will take into account its environment. It is important to mention the coincidences between the criteria we established and those presented in the recent Environmental Policy proposal (Alvarez et al., 2006), as well as the local particularities that oblige the adaptation of these criteria.2 During the development of the work it was indispensable to include variables that were not foreseen in the reference terms. These new variables are related with the coastal character of the ordinance and with local historical social processes. Variables were included that originated from the following themes, among others: types of coast, beach characteristics, tourist modals, particularly those related to alternative tourism and ecotourism; characteristics of marine, lagoon and subterranean water from different indicators (salinity, temperature, conductivity), as well as direct indicators of contamination in residues and water and indirect indicators from fish and other species’ health; marine biodiversity not only terrestrial; use of Federal space (particularly in coastal lagoons and beaches), and other variables related to the natural activities of the coast such as catch and fishing fleet inventories, aquaculture and salt mining. The diagnosis of the themes required, in several cases, to include a vision at state and peninsular level, and also national and global in order to obtain an interpretation of the problems that included the external factors that affect the coast, considered an open system.

1 There are marine ordinances that to this day are limited to the ordinance of fishing activities, and the sector limits in places of action implied that in the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) the ecological ordinance of the coastal territory would circumscribe to the terrestrial space of the coastline municipalities. 2 In the National Environmental Policy for Oceans and Coasts proposal made by the General Direction of Environmental Policy of SEMARNART on April, 2006, it is indicated that the coastal zone is the geographical space of mutual interaction between the marine and terrestrial media, and should include both. In relation to particularities, for example, the limits of coastal plains are established (200 m) and continental platform (-200 m) that in zones like the Yucatan Peninsular imply embracing very big territories which correspond to another scale of analysis.

The guiding criteria to establish the Management Units were: a) the limits of natural landscapes considering processes that rule their functioning, for example, the sand accumulation that forms barrier islands and wave, current and wind erosion that have a close relation with the free flow of sediments and the fixation of dunes through vegetation; b) the geographical location of the different productive and social geo-systems, which implies defining the areas of affectation; c) the analysis on how these geo-systems utilize and interact with the natural processes. In this manner it is possible to evidence the specific usage modals that should be avoided. Returning to the example, the water breakers stop the free flow of sand, generating accumulation in the Eastern side and serious erosion on the Western part due to the direction of currents, waves and predominant winds: vegetation affixes the dunes and these protect the interior part of the bars.

Transversals in o e t disciplines

The commitment of the academic sector in the making of this ordinance made the specialists of the different disciplines analyze and express their results using Carto- graphy as common language. The resulting maps express in a reliable manner the disciplinary knowledge of the author or group of authors. Further on, these tools allowed the coordinating group to build integration maps and synthesis from the joint analysis of the monothematic maps. From their own discipline’s criteria, each specialist or group of specialists used the cartographic language as a tool for their information analysis of territorial behavior and for the final expression of their results in one or several maps. This has to do with Galafassi’s (2002) approach, who indicates: “The society- nature articulation cannot be thought of as formed by lineal relations that are established in a simple and direct manner between similar rationality phenomena. Natural processes are formed based on a series of principles of the physical and biological, the cultural and social processes are defined and take significance from specific conditions and factors but formed on and in conjunction with the physical and biological from various articulation processes”. The importance here is that we started by conceptualizing the maps as texts, that is, from an inferential communication model and not Saussurean (Lois, 2000).3 This implies that the marks and codes are not external or simply shared available tools for the investigator to express his reasoning. The title, legend and symbols guide the reader, they mark a path that will allow the understanding of what the author expresses without the need to dominate the discipline and, what is most important, allows

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the re-codification of this information, interpret it from its own context, confronting it with the results of the investigation in another discipline (Lois, 2000). Maps, as disciplinary text allowed the interchange of knowledge between the participants in a sequential process from the fields of knowledge to transit into the difficult field of interaction between the social, physical and biological disciplines. These processes helped share the work group’s knowledge; allowed the validation and co-validation of the information to eliminate contradictions, making clear that contradiction between two maps does not necessarily mean errors in one or the other, simply shows results obtained from focuses and points of view that when explained, their complementary character is discovered. For example, the analysis of the state of the vegetation from the biological point of view and the use of soil, brought the establishment of complementary categories; firstly, the regenerating vegetation in areas of bush fire and secondly, regenerating vegetation in extensive cattle zone; processes in both focuses can be very different.

Transversals of groups or o e t interests

The organization of the fishermen (fishing social sector) includes, according to what was indicated by Salas et al., (2006) the Center and East Federations, as well as the Fishermen Union. Constituted mainly by cooperative societies and independent fishermen, this sector is mainly in charge of the catch and sometimes of the storage before sale; its participation is mainly extractive. The private sector includes entrepreneurs that, apart from controlling the process and distribution of the product for its sale, they participate and control part of the catching labors. (Salas et al., 2006). Other organized social groups go for ecotourism all along the coast; a federation is currently forming that includes 20 groups dedicated to sports fishing, bird watching and visits to the water springs, mangroves and “petenes”. Another group of actors is the one formed with “ejido” peasants, who were the original owners of the land they are slowly selling, especially those located in the

3 The inferential model proposed by Paul Grice and Davis Lewis pose that communication is obtained by producing and interpreting evidence, en contraposition to the lineal communication where it is external from the subject and is limited to a process of codifying and decoding the message transmitted directly or through transmission and reception mechanisms); the central proposal is that decoding does not allow interpretation, since the language see as exterior code only allows one interpretation (Lois, 2000).

220 221 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o sand barrier islands, where the urbanization and tourist use is developing. In other cases the “ejido” peasants are the owners of the land that has cattle and agriculture in the coast. The diverse groups of women constituted all along the coast, form a group of actors with increasing participation through productive and ecological projects with which they pretend to contribute to the family income and participate in the environmental protection, for example, through reforesting activities. The above mentioned is linked as well with the fortification of gender equity and foment environmental education.

Conclusions and recommendations

The environmental bias of the ecological ordinance should not ignore that territorial ordinance is a space projection of policies; environmental as well as social, cultural and economical of a society in order to obtain an effective application. In Campeche as well as in Yucatan development styles still prevail in which transverse agendas between offices and between governmental levels is still an aspiration. The coastal territorial ordinance model in each entity evidences the advances and limitation of this transversals, as well as the imperative needs to impulse it. To include the transverse focus in its different concepts in an analysis of the coastal territorial ordinance models signifies a differential consideration of the needs and potentials of each sector and of each level of government, as well as of each actor and user in the planning of the use of resources and the coastal spaces, as well as the occupation of such spaces. Even though in their development both cases boarded some of the transverse aspects, in a short term they will face the challenge of its instrumentation and follow up. As has been mentioned, to perform the actions that will lead to the transverse territorial management requires of a series of actions among which will be necessary to revise the arrangements and instruments for the coordination of multiple aspects. It is possible that both ordinances be instrumented under the current government structures, which even though they see the need, the ordinances do not establish the necessary frame to instrument it and give it follow up, however, the authorities recognize the changing nature of the program and the role of the organisms or technical councils for its constant actualization. Within the design of the territorial ordinance models and their instrumentation it is necessary to consider the relationships between the different sectors and the re-

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lationships between the actors and users within each sector. In many cases conflicts arise within the sectors in front of the diversity of usage and power models. To establish usage criteria according to the natural sustainability and social welfare, it is important to fully understand the fragility degrees and the processes that rule the functioning of each natural landscape, as well as the manner in which the different productive geo-systems are implanted in them. The limitation of the Envi- ronmental Management Units should be based on the prior knowledge, and usage criteria should be applied respecting the principles of hierarchy, equity and complementary. Since the territories subject to ordinance are not closed systems, it is fundamental that, on one side, a clearly defined hierarchical structure is established at general level for the ordinance objectives at different scales and, on the other, that in regional ordinances, such as the ones presented here, the local impact of the processes located outside their territorial limits be considered, as well as the impacts that the implementation could cause outside their borders. Ensuring a broad regional representation, the Organisms or Technical Councils could become an instrument that apart from favoring transversals they could transcend the six year Presidential periods and function as a permanent Committee under the direction of the current Minister, in order to follow up the ordinance process. Finally, considering the development cycle of the ordinance it is fundamental to establish a Monitoring Center that will bring together the fulfillment verification of criteria and policies within each management unit. The instruments could include Local Forums of Public Participation, constant actualization of the Environmental Log and the creation of a coastal data center with s i g capacities and remote perception.

Bibliography

Alberto, J. A., 2005. La geografía y su contribución a la transversalidad: geografía y edu- cación ambiental, Revista Digital del Instituto de Geografía, Geografía 2, Instituto de Geografía (i g u n n e ), Facultad de Humanidades. u n n e , Argentina. Álvarez, P., G. A. Pérez, R. Rosado and J. C. Aguilar (Coordinadores y editores), 2006. Política Ambiental Nacional para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Océanos y Costas: Estrate- gias para su Conservación y Uso Sustentable. Dirección General de Política Ambiental, Integración Regional y Sectorial. s e m a r n a t . 86 p.

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a m p y a c . 2007. Anuncian nueva ley para proteger a las mujeres de la violencia (en línea). Asociación de Municipios por Yucatán, a.c. [Consulta: 06/06/07], http://www.ampyac. org.mx c e r e s , 2007. Transversalidad (en línea). c e r e s (Creando Empleos para Resolver la Exclusión Social). Iniciativa Comunitaria e q u a l 2004-2007, Andalucía. [Consulta: 06/06/2007]. http://www.ceresjerez.es/formac-transversal.html Galafassi, G., 2002. Racionalidad moderna y problemática ambiental: Una interpretación a la luz de la articulación sociedad-naturaleza. In: G. Galafassi y A. Zarrilli. Ambiente, sociedad y naturaleza: Entre la teoría social y la historia. Bernal (Bs. Aires). u n Quilmes Ediciones, 13-62p. Lois, C. M. 2000. La elocuencia de los mapas: un enfoque semiológico para el análisis de cartografías. Doc. Anál. Geogr. 36. 93-109. Palacio-Prieto J. L., M. T. Sánchez-Salazar, L, F Puebla-Gutiérrez, and Y. García-Moctezu- ma, 2001. Términos de referencia generales para la elaboración del programa estatal de ordenamiento territorial (primera parte: Fases I y II). Convenio específico de colabo- ración Secretaria de Desarrollo Social – s e d e s o l / u n a m - Instituto de Geografía. 111 p. Paré L. and J. Fraga, 1994, La costa de Yucatán. Desarrollo y vulnerabilidad ambiental, Insti- tuto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Rivera-Arriaga, E., G. Villalobos Zapata, R. León, O. López Chan, M. Arjona, J. Paredes, T. Saavedra, G. Palacio Aponte, G. Borges, M. González, J. Ramos Miranda, D. Flores Hernández, and I. Espejel, 2006. Estudio de zonas con litoral para el Estado de Campeche, Proyecto Sedesol-Gob. Edo. Campeche, 658 p. Salas, S., G. Mexicano-Cíntora, and M. A. Cabrera, 2006. ¿Hacia dónde van las pesquerías en Yucatán? Tendencias, Retos y Perspectivas, c i n v e s t a v , Unidad Mérida, Mérida, Yuca- tán, México.

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Part 4

Coastal Municipalities: Challenges in the implementation of public policies in a changing reality

224 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

226 Decentralization, regionalization and atomization in Rio Lagartos, Las Coloradas and El Cuyo: communities’ practices and policies in Eastern Yucatan

Sabrina Doyon, Andréanne Guindon and Catherine Leblanc

Introduction

he Mexican coastal communities, especially those in Yucatan, face important changes since a little more than ten years, mainly in the socio-economical Tplane. Their life style is confronted by transformations linked to the globalization process, neoliberalism deployment, national political changes (Labrecque 2000, 2002). The diversity of actors that inhabit the coasts are manifest now more than ever in this context and give way to new challenges. Decentralization becomes, in this context, a catalyst of the acting processes, as it joins the recent political transformation in Mexico, the actualization of the neo- liberal reforms and the dislocation of the social sector in the country. However, even though decentralization represents a strong tendency in Mexico, the fact that its existence takes multiple forms makes it vague and difficult to grasp. In this context, the coastal communities’ population is disoriented by the web of laws and ministerial reforms and the creation of committees that transform the preceding administrative order that even though their object is to improve government, in many cases they

227 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o bring bureaucratic distortions and the absence of a central State to face the responsibilities they have on a population that has many challenges in their daily survival. Therefore, it is not an easy task to ask what decentralization means to the local populations and which are the impacts and implication in their daily lives. This is something that is not thought of because such populations do not feel affected or do not worry, or are not interested in the political domain, on the contrary, their politicization is important and their interested is clearly marked in reference to municipal politics, but it does not seem pertinent to ask them to pronounce themselves in reference to the decentralization concept, which is vague even for the scientist that work on it. In this chapter we will endeavor to present the decentralization as it happened in the Eastern region of Yucatan, examining, in a specific manner, how it articulated the regionalization process; we will present as well the worries of the actors of the communities of Rio Lagartos, Las Coloradas and El Cuyo. We consider this sub-zone as a region due to the fact that its economical development presents several similarities and is as well the see of the Fishing Cooperatives Federation of the East. We consider, as well, that the establishment of the Reserve of the Ria Lagartos Biosphere has defined a new administrative space that represents another integration factor for these communities, even though, as we will see, the social actors are not totally homogeneous. Based on field investigations performed in the area since 2003 and a more intensive poll performed in 2006, this chapter seeks to illustrate the complexity of the decentralization process due to, among other reasons, its articulation with the regionalization of an area and the socio-economical and environmental challenges the population have to live with. We argue that a decentralization process that is not performed in collaboration with the local actors can increase their heterogeneity, as well as the difference in interests, giving way to a socio-economical atomization, which could be critical for a region like the East of the state of Yucatan. In the following pages we will reflect, firstly on the decentralization and regionalization notions. Then we will concentrate on the case of the Eastern region, and finally board the case of the three selected communities.

Decentralization and regionalization in the Eastern Coast In this work we have seen that decentralization is an ambiguous term that refers to several dimension and phenomena of the administrations and the promoters that defend it (Ribot et al., 2006). It refers us mainly to the notions of good government, de-

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mocratization, and localized management in benefit of the local population, allowing certain improvement in the socio-economical conditions and certain administrative efficiency (Batterbury and Fernando, 2006). As indicted by Breton and Blais (Chapter l), decentralization faces complex circumstances in the coastal regions. These circumstances are also found in the Eastern region of the Yucatan coast and it is fundamentally expressed through two axles: fishing administration and conservation of natural resources. Examining decentralization will throw light on these circumstances with the help of notions such as region and regionalization. Our following argument is that to understand what decentralization process means for the local population it is important to situate the process in the bigger context of the regions and the regionalization process. Region is a notion that varies according to the authors (Appadurai, 1999) and is often categorized in a vague manner. How- ever, we can say it is defined by cultural and social heterogeneity of the inhabitants and because it is marked by historical processes where situations of power have developed (Van Young, 1992). As we will see, it is common that the administrative definitions offered by the political structures and by the local understanding of the region differ between themselves. In Mexico in general – and the state of Yucatan is not the exception – regionalization has been tributary of the Central State formation in the x x century, by integrating the regions according to their particularities in order to increase its power (Robert, 1992). Recently, the Mexican regions have been marked by the neo-liberal transformations that the country is going through, in which decentralization process is an important element (Joseph and Jugent, 2002). In order to understand decentralization and its implications for the local population and for the management of natural resources it is important to situate it in the regionalization process. In this context, decentralization occurs according to different axles. The first one is related to the administration of coastal resources, which in the years 1970-80 has been marked by increasing State administrative interventions and, consequently, bureaucracy. The region under study passed from a relative disinterest status of the State in benefit of the private enterprise (among other things, with salt and wood production in the towns of Las Coloradas and El Cuyo) to a status of fishing region in which the State was strongly involved. However, since approximately a decade ago it is possible to observe a progressive retreat by the State in the region’s fishing activities; this retreat is marked by the aquaculture development, less financial and human resources support to the predominant social sector of the region and by the reorientation of interests towards industrial and high seas fishing, mainly in the Northern coast of the Pacific.

These initiatives that represent part of decentralization in the region create a situation that is perceived as abandonment of State responsibilities towards the affected population and not as a properly ordered transition of state and national administration in benefit of better management of natural resources and greater consideration of local perspectives. In this context it is possible to observe atomization of the actors, who try to defend, each one in the best manner they know, their interests and resource management in front of a diminished administration and the numerous transformation of the fishing sector. Environmental conservation is another of the axles that allows us to board the decentralization challenges in the local management of natural resources and regionalization process. As is mentioned by Breton and Blais conservation has been constantly promoted more by international agents than by local population. In a neo- liberal perspective these sustainable development initiatives allow the restructure of the environmental management mechanisms and their local populations; they generally inscribe within decentralization processes while new administrative units such as natural reserves and international agencies take over the place of the State in the environmental administration and the inhabitants that occupy it. (Fisher, 1997). The Reserve of Ria Lagartos Biosphere is an example of these type of initiatives in which the inhabitants were only lately involved in the management process. Fraga (2006) has shown how the Rio Lagartos’ residents had difficulties in understanding and justifying the application of the Reserve’s rules in 1990; on our side we can affirm that this situation persists in the context of Las Coloradas and El Cuyo. Inde- pendently of the fact that it employs a dozen people from the selected communities thanks to contract agreements, the Reserve and its principles are not fully understood by the population. The Reserve does not take the population to a social emancipation, or to an income increase, or to a better socio-economic situation or even auto- determination of the territory or its resources. As we will later see, the Reserve was created in the 70’s and began to integrate the population into the initiatives in the 90’s. However, the participation process is still largely in the top-down style; the inhabitants feel little commitment and interest of the Reserve they inhabit, while it has become a joining point between the state and municipal administration and the population through temporary job programs among others. The Reserve also represents one of the elements of the decentralization strategy of the State. A group of local and international o n g ´s are added as well, with actions at local level but whose objectives are not always well defined in relation to the population they are supposed take care of. Anyway, the inhabitants are not yet integrated to the administrative process that transforms their fishing region into a

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conservation region, and only try to benefit from the financial resources that sometimes filter from these conservation measures, delegating in the State all the initiative for resource management. We shall now see, in a more detailed manner how the regionalization process in which decentralization is inserted has articulated in the Eastern region of the state.

Coastal development in Yucatan

The development of the coastal region can be divided into three stages since the beginning of the x x century (Fraga 1999). The first stage represents a process initiated by the State and its administrators, to which the local populations had to accept without any power of decision. Up to 1940-50, this process was slow and restrictive. The communities were isolated from the urban centers of Merida and Tizimin and the inhabitants had to travel by sea. The economy was mainly located in the interior zone, and the communities were used as a stop over for the transportation of the henequen, forestry and chicle production. El Cuyo port was an access for the forestry concession owners given by the government to foreign companies at the beginning of the x x century. The towns lacked a good infrastructure and minimum commodities; the majority of the inhabitants were Mayas that had been displaced during the Caste War, and others were national and international immigrants, for example those that had left Cuba in search of a better life. Agriculture, mainly maize cropping, was the basic activity complimented by hunting and lagoon fishing. There was also salt extraction in natural or artificial evaporation reservoirs, which were built by the inhabitants. The few possibilities of commercializing the production made this a subsistence economy. During the 50’s, the coastal zone was gradually transformed due to migration from the henequen zone towards the interior. Coastal fishing was developed, especially in the Progreso sector. The increasing investments from the Capital’s entrepreneurs originated a speculation process of the lands close to the accesses to Merida. Fishing production that was, at that moment of 1 000 per year, was stimulated by motors and new product conservation methods (ice and cold stores). In two decades the catch volume of the small boats reached 20 000 tons per year. The second phase of the coastal region development started in the 60’s and was closely linked to the henequen crisis (Breton and Labrecque, 1982). In face of the decline of the henequen industry the government established an economical diversification program that involved transferring the producers to other activities, mainly fishing. Port infrastructure and shelter ports were built for the marsh boats; credit

230 231 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o availability was increased and new roads were built between the capital and the coastal communities. During this period there was a modernization of the towns with the arrival of electricity and water ducts. The number of fishermen was tripled and the boats doubled (Fraga, 1999). In those days, the main species were snapper, octopus, shark, lobster, pompano, and shrimp. During the 70’s and 80’s migration had its boom due to problems in henequen production, which were lessened with funds from the rural bank (Banrural). As well as the already existing cooperatives in these communities, we witnessed during this period the creation of numerous “ejido” fishing production units, and societies of social solidarity (derived from p r o n a s o l assistance in 1989 and constituted by fishermen from weak cooperatives), whose purpose was to integrate the new immigrants to the coastal zones. The first cooperatives were successful, but the new units did not have the same luck; in fact, were depleted due to lack of training and the absence of administrative, technical and financial support, even though in the beginning, and in brief seasons, they had access to great amount of money. As is underlined by Fraga (1999) for many small farmers and henequen producers the possibility to insert into these organizations and be supported by the State represented a short term economical strategy. However, after the failure of these initiatives, these new fishermen became “independent” or “free” to be later hired by private licensees; situation that once more modified the socio-economical organization of the coast. In a parallel manner it is possible to observe the increase in cattle activities, which have generated considerable income to the involved, creating a situation that has also increased the economical differences among the coastal population. In fact, the fishermen that were able to save some money bought little ranches south of the coastal zone, where livestock farming is feasible. Even though this provides a satisfactory income to the owners, it is also true that it employs few people and implies the expulsion of some inhabitants. Livestock farming requires big paddocks, therefore the cattlemen have to cut the bush and transform in this way zones that were typically agricultural.1 On one side the forestry activities have practically disappeared from the region, eliminating many jobs. On the other, the “ejido” members have turned their plots into paddocks, consequently isolating the lands used for the “milpa” (maize cropping). At the same time the farmers face a decrease in credits, low prices for their maize and few alternatives in an unstable market. Those who cannot continue cropping their “milpa” or integrate into livestock farming either as owner or employees, have no other alternative than migrate, generally to the coast. 1 Livestock farming occupies 52% of the region’s surface. Between 1985 and 1990 this activity destroyed 33% of regional surface. However, this increase in land occupation did not correspond to productivity, as cattle have diminished (Pare and Fraga, 1994).

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Finally, the third stage of this coastal regionalization process begins at the start of the 90’s and is marked by the reduction of coastal resources, especially in the fishing production. At the same time the necessary work increases in terms of time and distance in order to obtain the regular volumes of catch. As well, with the modification of the Constitutional Article 27 in 1992, the species that were traditionally reserved for the cooperatives were left available to other types of organizations and for the private producers; which has negatively impacted the cooperatives that, according to certain informants, also loose efficiency. We observe a control increase by the private producers who exploit a great share of the production and commercialization, while the cooperatives and associations of the social sector suffer difficulties. Diverse conflicts constantly emerge among the fishing communities, as some of them fish in waters that “traditionally” do not belong to them. This situation is evident in the study area, where local fishermen mention that currently people coming from Dzilam, Progreso and even Campeche exploit the zones that previously were exploited by the cooperatives of the region, deteriorating the environment as their fishing equipment is more sophisticated. These conditions have prompted the San Felipe communities to promote the creation of a marine reserve (Doyon and Fraga, 2005). In the case of the communities referred to in this chapter, we will see that they have developed other strategies, such as tourism. In fact, the Yucatan coastal zone faces an intensified environmental deterioration in a process that has been under way for several decades. It happens mainly in the destruction of mangroves, estuaries, and lagoon and marsh ecosystems due to urban expansion, salt production and road building that stop water circulation towards wetlands. However, contrary to what prevails in other Mexican states, in the Yucatan coastal zones there are several environmental conservation initiatives. Among others, there are two Federal reserves (Rio Lagartos2 and Celestun) and two state reserves (El Palmar and Las Bocas de Dzilam) in the coastal zone. These initiatives appeared in the 80’s and have been encouraged by numerous international organizations, for example, Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited and p n u d ; actually, 10 are active in the region (Faust et al., 2007: 197). These conservation initiatives are a part of a broader environmental management process, which is inscribed into diverse national and international policies without lacking links to the development of Mexican neo- liberalism.

2 For more detail on the Ria Lagartos Reserve, see Fraga 1999 and 2006.

We then see through this brief exploration of the past of the coastal regionalization, that in the beginning the coastal zone was considered simply as an extension of the internal regions of the state that counted with specific modals for the exploitation of natural resources. Later, especially after the henequen crisis, the State changed its perspective regarding the coast and revalued the fishing productions. Other activities were neglected in benefit of fishing under the supposition that it would allow the State to reorient the economy. Finally the decrease in catch and deterioration of the environment are found in the last stage of regionalization in which the State develops conservation policies and practices. These conservation initiatives that could be linked to the fishing administration changes, transformed the local activities and traditional practices of the population of these regions. Up to this day, and in spite of their own interests, the local population has been part of these coastal region transformations. However, it is important to emphasize that the perception and experience of the coastal communities’ inhabitants in relation to their own regions do not necessarily correspond to the administrative definitions of the State. In fact, as is possible to verify in the town of Rio Lagartos, Las Coloradas and El Cuyo, their inhabitants have not assimilated the coast as a conservation area. In this sense, several individuals are not informed, at least at first hand, that they inhabit in a biosphere reserve and do not recognize or have any interest in the activities performed by the reserve. They often consider these initiatives unjust, and many times they see them as linked to certain corruption practices. But, above all, the reserve and its principles do not correspond to their reality, their worries and daily life. The definition of the coastal region, according to these localities that are very different from each other, gravitates around cooperative fishing, tourism and salt production. Following, we will see how this situation is articulated with decentralization.

Eastern coastal communities: heterogeneity and atomization In first place we will present the challenges linked to decentralization through a brief presentation of the three selected communities and later the three problems they have to front: fishing, tourism and conservation of the Ria Lagartos reserve. We shall see that the communities face similar difficulties, even though relatively different amongst them in function of their social actors and their socio-economical and political interests. The town of Rio Lagartos has a little more than 2 000 inhabitants. It is the municipal head of the Rio Lagartos municipality, which includes Las Coloradas town of which we will talk later. The town has a fishing vocation and employs around

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400 fishermen divided into two cooperatives. Up to 10 years ago, fishing ensured a decent income, according to the fishermen, but since then they are unsatisfied with the income fishing provides them, as very often they can barely pay the operational costs. The species they capture are those of scales, lobster and octopus. Between 20 and 30 families live on the fishing of “maxquil” which is used as bait in octopus fishing. The town’s cooperatives have the licenses for these species, which they negotiate through the East Fishermen’s Federation, in which are also included the cooperative of El Cuyo and San Felipe. Even though fishing is the most practiced activity of the inhabitants of Rio Lagartos, it is also possible to find about thirty people that work in the “maquiladoras” (clothes factories) of Tizimin and Panaba, as well as 33 fishermen that have regrouped in the creation of the tourism cooperatives that were constituted 10 years ago and integrated into an association 2 years ago. They offer diverse activities: sport fishing, bird, crocodile and turtle watching; the “Mayan bath”; walking tours; and “cenote” swimming. From way before, there is another group dedicated to tourism and offers, apart from all these activities, food and shelter service (restaurants). These cooperatives are authorized by s e m a r n a p through a license payment. Since 2005 they should also obtain authorization from the Reserve and pay the corresponding rights fee, as the place is offered by the promoters as part of a service to tourists. The Reserve administrators have an employee located in a kiosk close to where the tourists embark, which allows the administration to be current with the tourist activities that are performed in the Reserve and in town. Another less numerous group is also dedicated to livestock activities when fishing is low. After all, these activities are complementary to fishing, although no less important as in the context of diminishing catches their future increase seems inevitable. The town Las Coloradas, which belongs to the municipality of Rio Lagartos, is located 20 km east of the Rio Lagartos town and it is inhabited by around 1 000 people. This locality was considered, for a long time, as a ranch, whose owners were the Roche family, who owned the salt industry that is located there. This family founded the company in 1946 with artisan production that employed many people from all over the state of Yucatan. In this manner, the town was formed by inhabitants from diverse regions, who migrated in search of work during difficult periods, since they could not be employed by the henequen industry. Salt extraction in those days was an arduous job, and work conditions were practically slavery. The owners of the company lodged the employees in dorms during the validity of their contracts, which went from weeks to months. As years went by, the company built houses for the establishment of some of the employees and later built dwellings for all its em-

234 235 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ployees, but the company was the owner of the land and houses and it was also the company who provided the town with water and electricity. The locality was then structural and financially independent from the other towns in the coast and from Rio Lagartos in particular. After several struggles from the employees who formed a Union in 1978, work condition changed in 1980. In this process the locality was annexed to Rio Lagartos and workers were able to purchase their dwellings and become owners but not of the land. However, the company maintained exclusive relations and domain in the town as it issued coupons to the workers exchangeable in their store and in the casino that also belonged to them. The relationships between Las Coloradas and Rio Lagartos are tense as the inhabitants of Las Coloradas consider they are treated as second class citizens by the Ria Lagartos administration. They believe they do not receive the same services, as they have stopped receiving the contributions from the salt company. Even though the company does not perform the functions that correspond to the municipality, it still has a say in the life of the community; it contributed to the building of a school and the commissar’s office and inaugurated a new church in 2006. The company is still the owner of the lands and no one can buy land; the town cannot grow and does not have the right to build (for tourism, among other purposes) or perform any other initiative in the town’s land. The inhabitants have to ask authorization from the company for any activity they wish to perform. On the other hand, the functioning of the salt company, which is the main economical motor of the region, generates important negative consequences to the environment. In spite of that, the company has been able to continue its activities and even grow within the frame of the Biosphere’s Reserve that occupies 8 000 hectares. The salt company is then the major employer of the town’s inhabitants as it gives work to 300 people, all men. The workers generally consider satisfactory the job as it ensures a good monthly income and offers them the possibility of acquiring, on credit, their electro-domestic equipment; they also get insurance and retirement pension. Therefore, jobs in the salt company are in great demand and several people are on the waiting list. To become an employee of the company it is necessary to be the son of a current or retired employee, but this does not exclude the possibility of having to wait several years before obtaining the job, since the work in the company is very restricted. It is for this reason that every year, many people decide to dedicate to fishing instead of trying to get a job in the company. Therefore, a very significant number of close to 100 people chose fishing by the end of the 80’s. As after hurricane Gilbert the owner temporarily closed the company due to damages, the workers are in fear that something similar might happen again and will condemn them to unemployment for undetermined time . The company, as well, is constantly reinforcing

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the metal fences to avoid their destruction from water and wind and to prevent sea water from entering and contaminating the production. The salt is destined for industrial uses in Mexico City; this company, by the way, is the second important salt company in the country after “Guerrero Negro” in South Baja California. Currently, in the community there are three fishing cooperatives that dedicate to scale fishing and octopus. These cooperatives are relatively small (they hold 20 to 30 partners) and have little resources, and register as well, economical problems that have marked their evolution and mortgaged their financial situation. One of the main problems of these fishermen is that they are not part of the East Fishermen Federation; the reasons for this situation, as were mentioned by the fishermen, are numerous but they regroup in two main reasons: 1) lack of internal organization in Las Coloradas between the fishermen and the cooperatives; and 2) problems with the Federation that does not accept their entry in order to keep their dominance on the lobster catch. Therefore, they are not allowed to catch this species that provides the greatest income to the fishermen and ensures them, in general, the year’s salary. Equally, the cooperatives of El Cuyo and Rio Lagartos do not recognize the fishing territory of Las Coloradas as such, as fishermen from other communities, after over-tilling their resources now come to their territory depriving them of their catch. Several conflicts, sometimes violent, have emerged, especially with the fishermen from Rio Lagartos, and tensions are still evident. In what refers to lagoon fishing, it is barely practiced by the fishermen. In the first place because they cannot build a pier close to the salt works that face the lagoon and, this is the second cause, the transport costs are prohibitive. However, it is possible to find numerous people that apart from working in the salt company fish in the pier that links Rio Lagartos with Las Coloradas (this pier was built by the salt company, as before it was only possible to get to Las Colorados through the town of El Cuyo during the dry season or by sea). About thirty people from Las Coloradas also work in the “maquiladoras”. Contrary to what occurs in Rio Lagartos and El Cuyo, tourism is not developed in Las Coloradas, as impediments related to land ownership does not allow them to build installations to receive tourism. One family own cabins to lodge tourists, but are empty most of the time. The inhabitants of Las Coloradas affirm, as well, that they do not have the opportunity of receiving tourists because they are captured by the companies in Rio Lagartos that do not want to loose clientele. The locals are disappointed on this situation as they affirm that the natural attraction that tourist visit, such as salt baths or flamingos are located in Las Coloradas and the benefits of this activity could also come to them. Lastly we will add that some people have been able to purchase plots in the nearby “ejidos”, mainly in Loche and Tizimin, where they practice, on a small scale, subsistence agriculture and have a few livestock, but

236 237 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o this activity is marginal, since they are very few who have been able to get enough capital for these purchases. A group of women have also developed a little project of urban biological agriculture; however as the project, financed by p n u d demanded that the project was on a land where all the women could work together, the problem of property led to each woman develop separately and on their own land their little crop. The town of El Cuyo is located 34 kilometers from Las Coloradas on the coast, but it can only be reached by land, as the coastal route has no maintenance and is impassable since the construction of the bridge that links Las Coloradas with Rio Lagartos. Yesteryear El Cuyo town was a cargo port for the forestry foreign companies that had in land forestry concessions. These activities recently stopped and the town of 1 700 inhabitants is dedicated mainly to fishing. It has two cooperatives that count with 88 boats and employ around 130 fishermen. There are six licensees, as well, that have 277 boats and employ, according to our numbers, more than 500 fishermen. There they catch octopus, lobster and scale. The El Cuyo cooperatives are part of the fishing Federation and their interests are defended by this organization. Some people are also dedicated to agriculture in ranches located outside the town. 38 people still have “milpas” (maize plots). El Cuyo town is also dedicated to tourism: two hotels and two cabin services that mainly work in the high season. Currently, around 30 people are trying to form some eco-tourism cooperatives. The practiced activities are less numerous than those performed in Rio Lagartos: bird watching and sport fishing. In El Cuyo we find dwellers that are originally from the region and the state, even though since about 20 years ago it is also possible to find people from other states of the Republic, mainly from Chiapas and Veracruz, diverse conflicts in their place of origin are at the base of these migrations. These migrants mainly work as employees of the licensees or in agriculture and do not mingle with the other inhabitants of the town. There are about 40 summer homes in El Cuyo belonging to people from other parts of the state, mainly Valladolid and Tizimin. Some of these homes belong to foreigners that rent them to tourists. All these homes are located on the beach front, which gives way to different risks and opportunities in reference to land ownership. The inhabitant perceive this situation in different ways: some see the advantages linked to increased dynamics of the local economy, but others are suspicious due to the increase of value of the properties and the fact that the foreigners are those who occupy that area, as they consider that people in the community should occupy it and utilize it to start tourist activities. Given its proximity to the state of Quintana Roo and Holbox Island, the town also has visits of international tourists, especially since three years ago. Just like the town of Rio Lagartos, El Cuyo has different restaurants for the tourists and visitors, different from Las Coloradas

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that is not organized to receive tourists and where it is only possible to find one bar and one snack place. El Cuyo is part of, and the only coastal town of the Tizimin municipality. The fact that its demographic weight is relatively insignificant has in impact on the economical development and the promotion of the town in the interior of the municipality. El Cuyo is of relative importance for Tizimin especially in what refers to its tourist potential.

Decentralization challenges: final discussion These communities share some common elements. In principle, they feel totally abandoned by the political power and isolated from the rest of the state on the social, economical and physical levels. In what refers to El Cuyo and Las Coloradas, the fact that they are annexed to a municipality does not make them feel included except during electoral periods, in benefit of those who make political decisions in the municipality. Consequently, they do not perceive that the efforts made in favor of the economical development of the municipality are distributed evenly between the localities and the municipal head. In what refers to Rio Lagartos, the situation is different since it is a municipal head, but the inhabitants equally feel that a greater interest from the state government towards their community would have clearer effects in its development. The three towns are located in a region designated for livestock, even when their activities are mainly fishing, which allows us to verify a fracture between their interests and those of the state. As well, the three localities are located quite far from Merida, the capital city, and they consider that they do not actively participate in the political decisions, and that they do not receive many economical benefits or development actions. In fact, just after the hurricane Isidoro, a certain improvement in the quality of life of these communities could be observed, as then they were able to benefit from the casualty emergency governmental programs, particularly in the building of small concrete homes for the affected families (houses from the National Disaster Fund – f o n d e n ). The physical isolation is linked to this situation that could also be linked to the environmental precariousness of the region. As the towns are built between the lagoon and the sea, the inhabitants are conscious that a particularly violent hurricane could reduce to nothing their town and ways of life. The informants have told us many times that they feel as though they were living on an island that every season runs the risk of flooding and disappearing. The impotence feeling is increased by the important migration these communities suffer. Statistics indicate that in 2002, 30 000 people migrated from Yucatan, but this data are not available at community level. Any way, according to our observations, at least one member of each one of the families is working in the tourist centers of

Quintana Roo, mainly in Playa del Carmen and Cancun. These precarious jobs allows them to send some money to their families and ensure a little income during difficult times, particularly when the fishing is low. This situation makes the towns loose their population, especially young males that migrate to work and also causes numerous social problems that are difficult to front to at a distance, such as alcoholism, drug addiction and minor delinquency that is practiced by individuals lost in the big touristic cities. Another shared characteristic is chauvinism, as each one overes- timates its life space in relation to the other coastal tows where there are more problems and more conflicts, contrasting with the quiet environment that they perceive in their own town. Each one feels is different from the others and does not associate with the others as of the same identity. They share among themselves the fact that they are different. Of course, these towns are different even though they share a way of life linked to fishing and the problems they face are different and also the interests they represent. Even though the challenges linked to decentralization are linked to these differences and to the perception of the towns, it is possible to relate the consequences of decentralization to three problems: fishing, tourism and the reserve. The fishing issue is a problem for the three communities, which however, live it in different manners. The catch decreases for each one of the groups and the individuals face difficult life options: Invest in another activity? But which?, migrate? In the decentralization process the fishing cooperatives are no longer favored by the State that invests less in them in favor of aquaculture, which is not developed in the area. The advantages from loans for equipment purchase and those for the regrouping of cooperatives are not as clear as before, which produces certain atomization. The fishermen say that they can count with advantageous loans for the purchase of ecological motors, but cannot replace the parts easily; they also complain of long waiting lines for interviews with the fishing representatives that before were frequent and habitual. The Federation defends the interests of the fishermen from Rio Lagartos and El Cuyo, but leaves aside a hundred fishermen from Las Coloradas that lack representation. Fishing alternatives are few and certain social disorganization has arisen at local level. The differences between Rio Lagartos and El Cuyo in the fishing field act in such a way that the interests of both communities also diverge; El Cuyo has more economical stimulation from the licensees even though the cooperatives have more social power. In this context, articulated through the public policies, decentralization is not favorable for the fishermen or the communities who are used of having the State support and lack other means to face the decline of their economical activity. Each one tries to get the best out of the situation in the search of economical alternatives, which also implies certain social atomization.

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The tourist development issue arises in front of the diminishing catch. However, in a decentralization context, the local inhabitants have difficulties in making valid their interests and obtain the necessary support for the development of their projects. The State seems to be little interested, open or favorable to this type of small scale tourist initiatives which is beneficial to the tourist centers in Quintana Roo. This makes difficult the start of this type of activities, even though at this moment, they constitute one of the few alternatives to fishing. Precisely in the case of tourism and fishing it is possible to verify certain group atomization in the midst of these communities, as well as among other eastern communities: each one tries to ensure their own interests instead of thinking about local regional strategies that would probably benefit the majority in the decentralization context. The possibilities of the communities working the coastal land to build infrastructure and tourist centers, vanish even more by the fact that those lands are Federal zone – as all the coasts of Mexico. The Reserve of the Biosphere as well, which is oriented towards the environmental protection and conservation of those lands, makes clearer the impossibility of tourist development, including ecotourism in those zones for the benefit of the local population. The economical difficulties that those towns live drive them to atomization more than towards regrouping, in a way that decentralization mechanisms are of no use in this case, except in benefit of the small group that makes decisions. The policy of “every one for its own benefit” seems to be, at the moment, more profitable in the eyes of the local actors. The referred towns are also similar in regard to their position in and in relation to the Reserve of the Biosphere. In each one of them it is possible to find Reserve posts in which controls of flora and fauna are made, as well as different investigations. However, the town inhabitants participate very little in these investigations; sometimes they are invited to perform small works or to attend training meetings. It is also possible to find in the three towns tens of people employed by contract in the Reserve, who are in charge of vigilance, license distribution, or observation of the turtles and pink flamingos nests; however, they are precarious jobs, which are not ensured from one year to the other and, therefore do not constitute a source of employment or support for the local inhabitants. The Reserve does not make projects together with the population and does not invest in sustainable development projects for the community where the inhabitants could participate. As well, in general, the Reserve’s regular employees come from Merida to work, stay for short periods of time and do not stay in the town in a permanent manner. The students that work and make their investigation projects live relatively far from the town and do not share their daily life. It is possible to find people that perform volunteer work and come

240 241 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o from other states and other countries to protect the natural resources, especially the turtles. The inhabitants do not participate in the Reserve and do not identify with it, not even when the State tries to create a social and economical catalyst in the region, as well as a decentralization tool through small projects that pass through the Reserve and s e m a r n a p , as is the case of temporary jobs offered in the critical fishing period. This administrative regionalization of the coast through the Reserve is not adequate for its inhabitants and even though at present there are few conflicts between the inhabitants and the Reserve around the restrictions established in the utilization of the natural resources, several people still ask why they should accept them as they consider they are not applicable to their case. The principles of “closeness in management”, that imply sharing decision power and economical power, are not in this regional order and therefore do not register positive effects in the local populations. This situation carries even more suspicion for the inhabitants as they think the Reserve does not work as it should: for and with the population. In this manner, it is possible to verify that the eastern coastal communities share the same marginality and live similar challenges in the economical, social and political planes. These challenges are exacerbated by the policies and diverse decentralization initiatives developed in the region since almost ten years ago. The isolation and precariousness lived by the coastal populations implies, according to our observation, an increase in individualism and social fragmentation. The fact that decision power and responsibility of the local actors are not exploited carries, among other consequences, the multiplication of individual efforts and increase in competition for the resources between the actors and between the communities, which translates, even though not in an exclusive manner, in diverse socio-economic orientations taken by the communities to ensure their subsistence. This differentiation in the midst of a same regionalization process is, therefore, an important factor that influences decentralization and is not privative of the eastern region. Thus, the administrators, of the state as well as of other organizations (it is important to emphasize that the role of the o n g ´s, whose presence is practically invisible in the towns, could be greater in the region) that follow the decentralization precepts, will have to concentrate their efforts in order to ensure that this process could favor, in great manner, regional cohesion and, at the same time, contribute to the reduction of the difficulties faced by the communities and their inhabitants.

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Appadurai A., 1999. Mondialisation, recherche, imagination, Revue internationale des Sci- ences Sociales-r i s s , Vol.51, No. 2: 257-267. Batterbury S.P.J. y J.L. Fernando, 2006. Rescaling Governance and the Impact of Political and Environmental Decentralization: An Introduction. World Development, 34(11): 1851- 1863. Breton Y. and M. F. Labrecque, 1981. L’agriculture, la pêche et l’artisanat au Yucatan. Prolé- tarisation de la paysannerie maya au Mexique. Québec, Presses de l’Université Laval. Doyon S., and J. Fraga, 2005. Desarrollar una área marina protegida: Iniciativa local, retos institucionales y transformaciones sociales en México. In: J. Pascual Fernández y D. Florido del Corral (dir.), ¿Protegiendo los recursos? Áreas protegidas, poblaciones locales y sostenibilidad, Actes du colloque a s a n a . Fisher W. F., 1997. Doing Good? The Politics and Anti-politics of n g o Practices. Annual Review of Anthropology 26: 439-64. Fraga J., 2006. Local perspectives in conservation politics: the case of the Ria Lagartos Bio- sphere Reserve, Yucatan, Mexico. Landscape and Urban Planning, 74: 285-295. Fraga J., 1999. Política ambiental y relaciones de género en una área natural protegida: La relación global/local en Río Lagartos, México, Thèse, Faculté des sciences socials, Uni- versité Laval, 432 pages. Joseph M. G. and Nugent D., 2002. Aspectos cotidianos de la formación del Estado. La revo- lución y la negociación del mando en el México moderno. México, Era. Labrecque M. F., 2000. L’anthropologie du développement au temps de la mondialisation. Anthropologie et Sociétés, 24(1): 57-78. Labrecque M. F., 2002. Développement, lutte à la pauvreté et participation au Mexique : le cas du Yucatan rural. Anthropologica, x l i v : 171-183. Paré L. and J. Fraga., 1994. La Costa de Yucatan: Desarrollo y Vulnerabilidad Ambiental. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Ribot J. C., A. Agrawal, and A.M. Larson, 2006. Recentralizing While Decentralizing: How National Governments Reappropriate Forest Resources. World Development, 34(11): 1864 – 1886 Roberts B., 1992. The Place of Regions in Mexico, p. 227-245, In: E. Van Young. Mexico’s Regions – Comparative History and Development. San Diego: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California. Van Young, E., 1992. Introduction. Are Regions Good to Think?p. 1-36. In: Mexico‘s Re- gions. Comparative History and Development, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, San Diego.

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244 Municipal organization, community’s participation and decentralization of public policies in coastal areas of the State of Yucatan. The Chabihau micro basin case

Eduardo Batlori, Teresa Munguia, Teresa Castillo and Federico Dickinson

Introduction

ccording to Article 27 of the Political Constitution of the Mexican United States, the State is the owner and custodian of the natural resources but, at Athe same time, it is also the promoter and rector of the development of the country, independently of what is understood as development, its material base is on the natural resources, in the available environmental services and the ecological attributes of the national territory. This double role of the State in regard to the environment faces a dilemma that should be solved in the design and instrumentation of a concrete development model. Since 1991 the first conservation actions and coastal ecosystems management were started in the State of Yucatan, promoted by the patronage of the “El Palmar” State Reserve in its restoration zone, but it wasn’t until 1996 when the state government and the Federal authorities, recognizing the serious deterioration process the coastal wetlands of Yucatan presented, that they started the first coordinated actions

245 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o that allowed the development of an environmental restoration program in the coastal zone through a rural planning committee that included investigation centers, universities, users of the natural resources and authorities from diverse sectors (National Water Commission, 2003). In this manner, utilizing the restoration, conservation and exploitation concepts, since 1997 works of hydraulic rehabilitation were developed in the coastal zone, such as bridges and drains in coastal roads, dredging of water springs, and drainage canals, reforestation with mangrove species and garbage collection in flooding areas. These works brought improvement to the natural capital, understood as the ecosystems or landscapes from which the human being obtains forage, fishing, etc., products and environmental services that allows obtaining economical income at very low production costs, as is the case of the common use resources (Clewell and Aronson, 2005). This Restoration Committee, together with another plural organism created in 1998, the State Council of Ecological Consultancy was nominated to receive the incipient Federal decentralization processes that started negotiation since 2001. How- ever, in 2001 there was also a change in the state government administration, as well as environmental priorities and valuation of the environmental services of the wetlands, closing the Restoration Committee and the organization that had been created. A great part of the plural and participative activity was stopped, including the State Council of Ecological Consultancy and the patronage of the El Palmar State Reserve and a Federal level beach restitution program was started in those beaches with erosion problems, through an Advisory Council that was quickly dissolved. Since 2003, the state governmental activity manifests a regression in the environmental theme, with normative discourses, directed to the ecological ordinance of the coastal territory with strong participation of the different academic institutions, governmental and non-governmental investigation groups, but with little participation from the community and entrepreneur’s groups. Due to the relevance that the conservation discourses and those about sustainable development have acquired, and due to the manner that these environmental discourses have been assumed in our country, it is important to discuss the manner of conceiving and operate conservation and exploitation projects. Arising from centralized hierarchical structures, oriented towards inspection and vigilance and based on judicial, administrative, financial, scientific and political determinations that leave reduced spaces for maneuver and negotiation. This governmental proposal is based on sector management (Manuel Navarrete et al., 2004), in other words, it is focused on one only sector or theme, even though it takes into account impacts and interdependence with others, such as fishing, roads, protected areas, territorial ordinance and municipal fortification. However, the rural communities and in particular the coastal communities of this micro-basin push

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towards integrated management (Fraga, 1996, 2001; Quezada and Breton, 1996), which is focused in guiding the necessary changes for human quality of life and environmental improvement (Toledo, 1980; Toledo et al., 2003), which include in this case, coastal basins and marine areas of variable extension. It wasn’t until 2004 when some of the first decentralization actions were concreted at Federal (s e m a r n a t ) and state (Ministry of Ecology) levels, particularly mangrove reforestation, rehabilitation of water springs and hunting in natural protected areas or areas subject to the current development processes. However, the main decentralization process at municipal level and in particular of the coastal municipalities is the one that refers to concession rights on the Federal Marine-Land Zones and the land taken from the sea, which is competence of s e m a r n a t under the Federal Zone Municipal Committee: source of benefit for some large coastal municipalities such as Dzilam de Bravo. It is important to mention that in some of these municipalities the administrative figure of the Ecology Direction is present, but in not one of these is there a Council or Committee where decentralization processes could be concreted in environmental restoration, conservation and exploit. Now, in terms of natural resources exploit, when the international agreements of Agenda 21 were published, Mexico agreed to environmental commitments and one of them was the creation of the Rural Sustainable Development Law (l d r s ),1 ruler of Fraction x x of Article 27 of the Political Constitution of the Mexican United States. This Law guarantees the rectory of the State and its role in promoting equity according to the terms of Constitutional Article 25 and promotes co-responsibility within the federalism frame and decentralization through the creation of the c m d r s , which have been recently constituted in all the coastal municipalities of the State of Yucatan. In its second article the l d s r establishes that “those subject to the Law are the ejidos, communities, and organizations or associations at national, state, regional, district (sic), municipal level, or communities of rural area producers that may be constituted or are constituted in accordance to the current laws and in general, any person, who in an individual or collective manner performs activities in the rural environment”. The point to emphasize of this law is that through the signing of agreements between the three government orders will help its concurrence and will promote co-responsibility with the local communities and arranges that programs

1 This law understands rural development as “integral improvement of the population’s welfare and of the economical activities performed in the territory outside of the urban nuclei, ensuring the permanent conservation of the natural resources, biodiversity and the environmental services of such territory” (Chamber of Deputies, 2001).

246 247 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o and actions will recognize the heterogeneity of the actors subject to this Law, the availability and quality of social, economical, cultural and environmental resources, the different types of producers in relation to the “size of their production units or production goods, as well as their production capacity for commercial surplus (sic) or self consumption” (d f o , 2001). It adds that “the agricultural nuclei, indigenous population and owners can perform actions admitted in the terms of this current law, of the General Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection Law, Wildlife General Law and all norms applicable to the use, extraction, exploit and appropriation of biodiversity and genetic resources”, such as the Fishing Law. In this work we propose that the c m d r s are the adequate regional organization and territorial planning instances to concrete decentralization actions in environmental and productive matters at local level, and contribute to the food security of the population through biodiversity restoration and conservation actions, increase of the biological production (particularly the natural capital) and protection to the coastal sandbar, for which they must count with the support of communal participation. The proposal is exemplified with the study of the Chabihau micro basin, where its environmental and socio-economic context is described, followed by a revision of the organization and operation of the c m d r s in terms of law and real function in the micro basin municipalities. The document ends with a proposal to fortify the cmidrs for them to assume decentralization processes.

Micro-regional context

Environmental

We understand micro-basin as the coastal topographic depression that is temporarily or permanently flooded, with or without tidal influence and fed by rain and emergence of water springs (Figure 1). Four locations are found in this micro basin: San Crisanto, Chabihau, Santa Clara and Dzilam Bravo with 34 km of marine front, over a sandbar with beaches and sand dunes of approximately 1,020 ha, of which more than 60% show severe deterioration. This sandbar protects an area of 18 149 hectares of wetlands, 1 149 correspond to 2 coastal lagoons; 10 340 to mangrove marshes with diverse degrees of disturbance; and 6 600 to savannas and floodable jungle. The direct hydraulic recharge area, south of the Chabihau micro basin is characterized by the presence of low deciduous jungle with cactus and with different levels of disturbance up to the limits with the urban zones of the municipal heads located at an average of 14 km from the beach, in a catchment area of 30,600 ha. The micro basin

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Dzilam de Bravo 2367260,43 Santa Clara N272995,23 E Chabihau San Crisanto

Figure 1. Location of the Chabihau micro basin in the State of Yucatan. has a hot dry climate (Garcia 1988) with an average yearly temperature of 26ªC; annual rainfall is of 600 mm, while evaporation exceeds 1 800 mm per year. The rainy season starts in May; June and September have the strongest rainfall, with dog days in July and August, rainfall starts decreasing in October; February, March and April are the less humid with the presence of strong cold northern winds. The micro basin accumulates a volume of 24.8 million cubic meters of water with an average depth of 0.30 m during the end of the rainy season, with salinities that go from 5 salinity potential units (ups) in Santa Clara to less than 50 ups in San Crisanto, while towards Dzilam de Bravo the salinity is marine type, with 35 ups. In certain dry years, the marsh is observed with little humidity, with salinities superior to 120 ups, and is only flooded where there are water springs or in areas close to the Chabihau bridges (Batlori and Febles, 2007). The atmospheric phenomena have great influence in the region in general, and particularly in the coastal municipalities of the micro basin. Hurricane Gilbert, 1998, opened several entrances connecting the sea with the marshes, modifying the hydrological regimen of lagoons and marshes. At the request of the Chabihau and Santa Clara communities, in 1992 and 1997, the state government and semarnat built two gates that permanently connect the sea with the marshes and lagoons. After fourteen years, in 2002, hurricane Isidoro impacted again the micro basin, increasing communications with the sea, where the state government and semarnat built two bridges allowing the pass of sea water in Chabihau and Santa Clara in the locality of Providencia. The micro basin shows health problems because there are no residue treatment systems and the practices of open air defecation and the intensive use of pesticides in the agricultural high lands (Rendis, 2003) are predominant. The four communi-

248 249 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ties settled on the micro basin make use of the different resources of the jungle or marshes either as part of their daily diet or for other activities such as: shrimp, blue crab, yellow fin mojarra, red drum, conch fishing or deer hunting as protein source, materials such as firewood and palm leaves. Even though these resources arean important part of the sustenance of a population in extreme poverty that in some localities it exceeds by 50% of the population, (Dickinson, 1996; Batlori, 2003) those who use them are considered environmental delinquents by violating the judicial norms that regulate the access to those resources, such as the Fishing Laws, General Wildlife Law, General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protec- tion, among others.

Socio-economic

The total population of the four municipalities was in 2000 of 16 397 people (Tables 1 and 2), close to half (48%) was concentrated in the municipal head, Dzidzantun. The proportion of economically active population (p e a ) in the micro basin was in 2000, similar to the whole of the state of Yucatan with a clear male dominance, the most important group was that of agricultural workers, followed by the artisans and laborers and businessmen and clerks. However, in the coastal localities of the municipalities, the proportion of economically active population (p e a ) was superior to that of the municipalities’ heads of the micro basin (Table 3), with a clear predominance of the fishing activity, except for Dzilam de Bravo, followed by commerce and services and paid jobs, which means that these four coastal municipalities depended strongly on their natural capital, that is, the natural resources of the micro basin. Sea fishing is the main productive activity of the coastal communities, oriented towards the catch of scale fish and octopus, species that are of low profitability due to over exploitation and the difficulties in obtaining the licenses and climate phenomena such as northerly winds, hurricanes and tropical storms that occur from September to January: the season when the fishermen are unemployed. As of the occupational analysis of p e a , and the demographic characteristics of the different communities, it is possible to notice that the fishing activity and in particular artisan fishing as a source of jobs in the micro region, is most important in the smaller communities: San Crisanto, Chabihau and Santa Clara, which therefore, makes them vulnerable to the cyclic variations of this productive activity. The employment of the p e a is strongly influenced by the economical activity of the nearby municipalities dedicated to agriculture, through the regional work markets and the behavior of

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Table 1. Population of the Chabihau micro basin, by municipality and sex in 2002. Total % * Men % Women % Population Yucatan 1 658 210 61 818 205 49 840 005 51 Dzidzantun 7 877 57 4 032 51 3 845 49 Dzilam de Bravo 2 414 58 1 251 52 1 163 48 Sinanche 3 039 54 1 587 52 1 452 48 Yobain 2 067 56 1 073 52 994 48 Total 16 397 7 943 48 7 454 52 * Percentage of people below 30 years of age. Source: XII General Population and Housing Census, 2000, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica e Informatica (INEGI), Aguascalientes, Mexico, 2001.

Table 2. Economically active people in the Chabihau micro basin, by municipality and sex Total PEA % PT PEA M % M PEA W % W Yucatan 623 033 38 431 041 69 191 992 31 Dzidzantun 2 812 36 2 162 77 650 23 Dzilam de 923 38 734 80 189 20 Bravo Sinanche 1 185 39 965 81 220 19 Yobain 747 36 616 82 131 18 Total for 5 667 4 477 79 1 190 21 micro basin PEA – Economically active population; PT – Total Population; M –Men; W- Women; Source: XII General Population and Housing Census 2000, Instituto Nacional de Estadis- tica, Geografia e Informatica (i n e g i ), Aguascalientes, Mexico, 2001.

Table3. Economically active population (p e a ) in the coastal localities of the Chabihau micro basin, 2000. Economically Active Population (%) Micro Basin Population Locality Total Fishermen Commerce Jobs and services San Crisanto 558 60 55 30 15 Chabihau 338 59 69 17.7 13.3 Santa Clara 44 60 12 28 Dzilam de Bravo 2 414 38 39 41 20 Source: Centro Daar, A.C., Socio-economical development program of the Chabihau micro basin for natural resources management. Technical report: Ministry of Social De- velopment (SEDESOL), Merida, Mexico (2000); R. Vallejo, E. Batlori, R. Santos and P. Vallacis, General Aspects of the economical structure of the Chabihau locality, Yucatan, Revista de la Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan 228 (2004) p.22-40. octopus price in the international market; this is the economical factor that guides the majority of the productive human resources in the communities’ economy. Shrimp and conch fishing in the lagoon, has the double object of complementing the locals’ diet and diversifying the source of local income, contributes to a greater level of occupation of the community’s p e a , particularly in Chabihau, during the season when the fishing fleet is not utilized (Batlori, 2003; Palomo, 2005; George and Batlori, 2006). The income-expense analysis of the homes in the micro basin indicates that the exploitation of the lagoon ecosystem’s resources generates positive effects on the quality of life of the inhabitant of Chabihau and Santa Clara, lessening the negative effects of artisan fishing, with particular benefit to the most unprotected homes (Cen- tro Daar, 2000; Batlori, 2003a). Based on the socio-demographic profile of these communities, the jobs are very important as they represent an opportunity for those fishermen unable to continue with the activity, either because of age or physical condition, or climate changes or negative variations of the fish products. These jobs in the micro basin are important for Santa Clara and San Crisanto. Salt extraction is an activity performed in the four ports, offers temporary jobs, but is not an important source of income neither in Dzilam de Bravo or Santa Clara, as the activity is directed towards very particular organized groups; as well as the lack of economical support to rehabilitate more salt ponds does not allow the extension of the economical spill to the rest of the population. The opposite happens in Chabihau, where the activity is controlled by a Women’s Agro-industrial Salt Unit (u a i m ) and by the

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“ejido” through the Salt Society of Chabihau and San Crisanto; both offer numerous jobs to the general population during cropping season (Vallejo et al., 2004). Tourism is a source of temporary jobs in the coastal zone, especially when it directed towards sand and sea during Holy Week and Summer, when a good section of the four ports inhabitants take the opportunity of selling different products especially from coconut and fish, as well as food and domestic services for the tourists. Another type of job is house-keeping for the summer dwellers, such as, gardening, plumbing and masonry work (Centro Daar, 2000; Vallejo et al., 2004). Ecotourism has recently appeared in San Crisanto and Dzilam de Bravo as an alternative to fishing, economical activity, and generating strong expectation within the local groups. The four localities register differences in the use of the natural resources; with urbanization increase the ways of organization become more complex and oriented towards the tertiary sector of the economy, as in Dzilam de Bravo where the population has more and better services. In Santa Clara there are no productive groups that exploit the natural resources and are at disadvantage to front those who arrive from other places, for example, from the municipal head, Dzidzantun. In San Crisanto, the “ejido” is the administrator of most of the ecosystems and their resources, which restricts the access to those who are not “ejidatarios”. The incidence of external agents such as c i n v e s t a v , and the Central America Biological Corridor, among others, has significantly marked the four communities, but in the case of Chabihau it has been determinant (Fraga, 2001). We consider that there are four critical activities in the micro basin from the socio- economical point of view, that require a detailed evaluation for their development: 1) the fishing potential and aquaculture in marshes and lagoons and its industry; 2) technical salt extraction; 3) tourism and eco-tourism potential and the web of services it generates; and 4) the rational and sustainable use of environmental services and natural resources of flora and fauna for social subsistence.

Municipal Councils for sustainable rural development. Organization and operation

According to the Federation’s principles, the l d r s establishes the integration of the Municipal Councils for Sustainable Rural Development (c m d r s ), the members should include the mayors, who should be responsible to chair the meetings; the representatives of governmental offices and participant entities;2 designated officials from the Federal entities and representatives of the different municipal organizations. The c m d r s should be spaces of inclusive participation and decision making for the sustainable rural development of the municipalities, therefore requiring: inter-

252 253 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o institutional coordination between the different levels of government; age, sex and sector representation of the municipal population, information flow and decentralization not only of officials but also of attributions towards the municipalities (Mur- guia, 2007).3 The operative reality of the c m d r s is very particular in each one of the municipalities where it has been constituted, as social, environmental, cultural, gender and political conditions mark not only the type of organization, but also the structure and action towards sustainable development. Murguia (2007) made and analysis for the Chabihau micro basin in which the complexity in the consolidation as well as the start of functions of the c m d r s is reflected (Table 4). The corresponding four municipalities’ councils have also expressed their worries on the development and ecological conservation work. Munguia (2007) shows the perception of ecological damage expressed in the different levels of ecological, social, productive and human/cultural levels, through the priorities made by the councils on the environmental problem, considering “5” the most important rank, as the number diminishes the relevance of the damage is also diminished (Figure 2).

2 The LDRS establishes the creation of the Inter-Ministerial Commission for Sustainable Rural Development, formed by the Ministers of: a) Ministry of Agriculture, Husbandry, Rural Development, Fishing and Food; b) Ministry of Economy: c) Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources; d) Ministry of Internal Revenue; e) Ministry of Communications and Transport; f) Ministry of Health; g). Ministry of Social Development; h). Ministry of Agrarian Reform; i) Ministry of Public Education; and others that could be considered necessary, according to the themes in discussion. This inter-ministerial commission will submit to the President new agricultural and sustainable rural development programs through the Special Concurrent Programs, which will have all the public policies oriented towards job generation and diversification, guaranteeing welfare to the peasant population and their participation and incorporation in the national development, giving priority to the areas of high or very high marginality and to the economically and socially weak populations. The Law states that “these programs will be performed according to preservation, restoration, sustainable exploitation of the natural resources and biodiversity criteria, as well as prevention and mitigation of environmental impact and could act in the promotion of diverse activities related to health, economy, culture, education, feeding, environment and natural resources, among other. 3 In the specific case of Yucatan, for the implementation of the LDRS the following instances were created: State Council for Sustainable Rural Development, Commission for Rural Development, Direction of Support to Rural Development, Trust Fund of Promotion of the Alliance for the Field of the State of Yucatan, Department of Municipalities, The District and Municipal Councils (CMDRS) and the Quality Center for Rural Development. Coordination actions have been developed between the SAGARPA and the Ministry of Rural Development and Fishing (SDRYP). This Ministry created the Department of Municipalities of the Planning General Directive in the SDRYP to coordinate the operative activities of the CMDRS.

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Table 4. Installation of c m d r s and their function in the Chabihau Micro basin. Municipality Variable Sinanche Yobain Dzidzantun Dzilam de Bravo Representative- Little, with major Little, it concen- Strong division Little decreased ness influence from trates only on due to strong with time. Tired- San Crisanto, producers. presence of coun- ness of Council dominance of cils from different due to lack of analysis and parties support from the reflection, municipality. Attributions Clarity in regard Are ignorant of Need to evaluate Leadership from to participation the functions and the municipal- the Director of level responsibilities; ity to decide on Rural Develop- however they projects. Strong ment. Councils agree to assume insecurity on the committed with them. exercise of at- their municipal- tributions. ity. Rules Relative knowl- Ignorance. Ignorance Knowledge. edge. Objective of the Little clarity Little clarity Clarity Clarity Rural Sustainable Development Plan Professionalism Interest and Will Through media- tion it has been possible to achieve a good level of analysis

Only in the municipality of Dzidzantun in the micro basin, the environmental deterioration is consequent to problems in the ecosystem, health, and productivity and cultural, while in Sinanche the problems are concentrated in two aspects: health and ecosystem, Yobain considers the problem in health and productivity. Of the four municipalities, only Sinanche does not express its perception on environmental deterioration. Even though some of the actions the c m d r s currently impulse have to do with protection, restoration and conservation of the natural resources, that is, the natural capital, and with the decrease of contaminating residues such as fertilizers, chemi- cals, pesticides and herbicides, it is important to note that the sector programs man-

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Figure 2. Council’s perception on social and environmental damages. aged for the municipalities are pre-designed and highly homogenized and therefore cannot invest resources in specific demands that thec m d r s have for conservation. Some of the councils do not represent all the sectors of the population and even when several sectors are duly represented, in reality; it is difficult for some of them to assume the c m d r s as their own. It is important to mention that the documents that were checked reflect a scarce or null focus on gender, and therefore we recommend the training of the c m d r s in this area, as well as reconsider the proposals by gender in the diagnostic, planning and construction of political agenda’s processes, in such a way that the women should be included as active participants with voice and vote (Munguía, 2007). Another problem is the opening of inter-governmental discussion spaces, a complex challenge, even though diverse local and regional actors have had the will to converge and search for institutional synergy, the power struggles between some government offices lessens the possibilities to start concurrent budgetary actions and exercises, as well as generating problems due to their operation norms and administrative lag; this prevents having the resources on time and form (Murguia, 2007). It is important to mention that there is still no special concurrent program in the micro basin, even still, there is no established form or reference terms to develop this type of program; this situation indicates not only the difficulty the institutions have assuming the commitment of funds concurrence, but also of not being responsible with the Federation. In 2005, the only fund managed directly by the c m d r s was from the Alliance for the Countryside Program and it was only given to Dzilam de Bravo (Table 5); the other sector’s programs were operated directly by the governmental offices and refer to assistance programs; agricultural input support; temporary jobs;

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Table 5. List of official contributions in the Chabihau micro basin’s municipalities by government offices, 2005 Municipality Government Program Benefit/ Investment office investment per Capita Sinanche SAGARPA Procampo, Progan, 149/$111 966.00 $751.44 SEDESOL Snidrus, Temporary SDRYP job Program Support to Peasant Women Yobain SAGARPA, Procompo, Progran, 124/$20 00.00 $161.29 SRA Snidurs, Productive Programs and Sup- port to Women. Credits, Commerce SEDEINCO and Services. Dzidzantun SAGARPA Snidrus Interac- 1 028/$922 517.00 $897.39 INJUVY tive Centers and SDRYP Day care centers. IGEY Support to Peasant Women. Training in gender themes. Credits Industry SEDEINCO Commerce and Services Dzilam de SAGARPA Alliance with you. 182/$808 108.00 $4 440.15 Bravo SECTUR Progan. Snidrus. INJUVY Agenda 21. Youth SDRYP environmental SEDESOL volunteers. SDUOPV Support the peasant SEDEINCO women, support agricultural fund. Emerging Pet Dz- ilam’s boardwalk Credits Industry IGEY- Equality of Gender Institute of Yucatan. INJUVY – Youth Institute of Yucatan. SAGARPA – Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture, Feeding, Rural Development and Fishery. SDRYP – Ministry of Rural Development and Fishery for the State of Yucatan. SDUOPV – Ministry of Public Works and Housing. SECTUR – Ministry of Tourism. SEDESOL – Ministry of Social Development. SEDEINCO – Ministry of Industrial and Commercial Development for the State of Yucatan. SRA. Ministry of Agrarian Reform.

256 257 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o support to the peasant women and youngster, as in the particular case of Sinanche and Chabihau. However, the infrastructure supports and commercial and industrial credits were given to less vulnerable groups of bigger municipalities such as Dzilam de Bravo and Dzidzantun (Murgia, 2007). It is important to emphasize that none of the municipalities received support from the institutions in charge of the environmental sector such as s e m a r n a t and the Ministry of Ecology; in the case of Dzilam de Bravo, locality that houses the natural protected area “Reserva Estatal Bocas de Dzilam” the diffusion of Agenda 21 is performed through the Ministry of Tourism. Dzilam de Bravo received a greater amount per capita, while Yobain not only received a lesser amount but also a lesser percentage per capita; 3.6% in relation to what was given to Dzilam; In Dzidzantun and Sinanche the percentage increases to 20.2% and 16.9% respectively (Table 5). According to field research, this is due to party affiliation of the government in turn (Murgia, 2007). The contributions performed by the government offices should have mitigated the poverty conditions of the communities; however with information from home levels on the economical and socio-demographic variables in the four coastal communities of the micro basin, Vallejo et al., (2004) and Batlori (2004) presented an estimate of the main poverty indicators and monetary resources needed to alleviate the marginal conditions before and after the passing of hurricane Isidoro in Septem- ber 2002 (Table 5). These communities present marginal signs, with a high percentage of homes in poverty and an income structure strongly linked to the fishing activity and threatened by the climatic events. The resources supplied by the government offices (Table 4) barely cover 40% of the needs for an effective fight against poverty in the case of Dzilam de Bravo; as of Sinanche, the contributions to the municipality represent less than 10% of what is required for San Crisanto; and the extreme case of Yobain where the contributions represent less than 3% of what is required for Chabihau. These percentages decrease even more if we consider the costs of poverty fighting in 2003, after the hurricane. This shows the need to implement not only assistance support to the most vulnerable groups, but also well defined development projects focused on mitigating the negative impact caused by the irregularity and eventuality of the fishing industry’s income, particularly by adverse climatic events. Not to do this would imply an increase, on a short term, of severe poverty. As was mentioned before, there is no doubt that the fishing activity is in an important economical recession and dis- couraging policies have been implemented, such as cessation of fishing permits and the establishment of temporary or permanent bans of many resources such as shrimp, conch, grouper, octopus and lobster among others. However, at the same time policies to promote a productive re-conversion based on rural aquaculture, wildlife man-

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agement – through Units of Wildlife Management (u m a s )- and ecotourism have been impulse, supported by s a g a r p a , Central America Biological Corridor, s e m a r n a t , and the Ministry of Ecology of the State government. An interesting aspect of the l d r s refers to the productive re-conversion which will contribute to the feeding security and sovereignty and a better use of the land,4 which should be accompanied by the necessary feasibility studies and processes of training, education and fortification of management capabilities and organization of the social actors involved, with the purpose of contributing the social change and the conception of sustainable use and management of the natural resources.5

Proposals to fortify the sustainable development municipal councils in order to assume decentralization processes

As mentioned by McCay and Acheson (1987), and Ostrom (2000), the management arrangements between the users of common property wealth promote rules that can be modified by the same participants who are the supervisors and overseers of the rules, constricting individual behavior, which otherwise would reduce the joint efforts of the community of users. This constitutes an adequate way to obtain sustainability in the use of the resources at local level without having to compromise the common property, only subject it to authoritarian dispositions generated by a foreign power; this is the reason why the community often goes against what is stipulated in the judicial instruments (Robles, 2005; Durand, 2006). This contradiction can be faced in two different manners that are in a sense conflicting: one authoritarian and the other of self-management. In the first case, the authority prohibits the appropriation activity and considers as environmental delinquents those who insist in performing the activity, generating a dynamic that, like fishing in marshes and lagoons, turns a traditional productive activity into illegal; initiates and maintains legal persecution of people that do not see themselves as delinquents; and gives way to the local perception that the authori-

4 In Article 53, this Law establishes that “ the Federal and state governments will stimulate reconversion in terms of productive sustainable structure, incorporation of technological advances and processes that will contribute to productivity of the agricultural sector, to food security and sovereignty, and the optimal use of land through complementary investments” (Munguía, 2007). 5 For those lands that have been dictated as fragile, and preferably forestry by the SEMARNAT (such as the coastal wetlands, mangrove forests, as well as coastal dunes and beaches), according to what is established in the Forestry Law and other applicable ordinances, the supports for productive reconversion should “induce forestry or agro-forestry use of land or, in its case, the appliance of restoration and conservation practices” (LDRS, 2001).

258 259 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ties, including the ones responsible for conservation of the natural wealth, are the enemy, which causes loss of information about the conditions in which the natural resource is found, and consequently the inefficiency of conservation efforts. The most elemental human rights of the coastal inhabitants are violated in this process, particularly of those who are in poverty: rights to food, to work, to legal commercialization and industrialization, and social property of the environment. In the self-management option, the natural resources users start a management organization to obtain authorizations or concessions that, when successful, determine the establishment of a formal institutionalized relationship between the users and the authorities. Based on the current ordinances, these organization and authorization processes require a modification of the common property criteria since they cancel free access to the resources through exclusion mechanisms, therefore those who cannot become members of the authorized organization stop having access to the resource (Robles, 2005). In this case, at least on a short term, it is not possible to say it is an “all win” situation since there is an exclusion process where only part of the community obtains access to the resource; it also generates a scenario where it is possible to propose appropriation mechanisms and resource management compatible with the current norms. Self management comes from the historical knowledge of the different problems that affect the different natural landscapes, in this case coastal, where, in the frame of the different development projects, economical activities are performed with different approximations and uses (Berkes and Folke, 1998). This complex system should be observed through time and face the uncertainty of its development through adaptive processes (Toledo et al., 2003). From the above, emerges the idea that the development programs and economical plans should be performed including the ecological restoration and maintenance of the environmental services as a base for the coastal ecosystems management (Dugan, 1992), in such a way that human activity, far from degrading the complexity and productivity of the ecosystems, adopt the environmental costs and contribute to its recovery and maintenance. We propose for the coastal municipalities the constitution of an integrated planning and executing organism called Ecosystem Users Committee, which will be in charge of designing development strategies, organization of activities and making and evaluating the ecosystem management programs in which the following perform their activity: 1) fishermen, summer population, urban population, fishing industry in the coast line; 2) ecotourism, salt collectors, artisan fishermen in marshes and lagoons; and 3) cattlemen, farmers, horticulturists, pig farmers, in savannas or low jungles. This committee will name a representative that will join the Municipal Council of Sustainable Rural Development for the follow up and evaluation of the

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program. However, reality shows that in the c m d r s frame the councils have little or no experience in municipal administration and little information about the judicial and legal frame of their functions, therefore their participation has been reduced to the approval of projects, particularly those related with the “Alliance for the Field” program, and to make the diagnosis and municipal plan with the Ministry of Rural Development. It has also been implied that external agents guide the municipal participation, diagnosis and planning process of the councils. In order to have efficient and effective participation in the c m d r s and in the integration of users committees, it is important to recognize that a training process in action and appropriation of the commitments they will have with the municipality’s sustainable developments is needed; this process requires time to translate to satisfaction. The proposal to integrate a committee of users is based on Article 2 of the l d r s , which establishes that “ejidos”, communities and the organizations or associations and, in general all physical or moral people who perform activities in an individual or collective manner in the rural environment are subjects to this law. As well, the special concurring programs (Article 15) made by these users committees will be based mainly on Article 11 of said Law, that is, according to the preservation, restoration, sustainable exploitation of the natural resources and biodiversity criteria, as well as the prevention and mitigation of the environmental impact and impulse productive reconversion processes as mentioned in Article 53. The supports given could be oriented according to Article 71, through regionally defined land sustainable exploitation contracts, which in this case we could define as ecosystems, with the purpose of modernizing the producer’s infrastructure and its equipment; establish agreements between industrialists and primary producers; constitute companies of collective and family character; promote the association of producers with a judicial aspect which will be more convenient to their interests, always within the current legal frame; invest in restoration and improvement of land and environmental services; and adopt energy saving sustainable technologies. According to Article 159, the Special Concurrent Program, within the frame of Article 15 dispositions, it will take into account the “plural activity different from the peasant economy and of the composition of its income, in order to impulse the diversification of activities and jobs and cost reduction of the transactions between producers and markets” (d o f , 2001). To fulfill the requirement of food security and sovereignty in the productive zones, lines of action will be operated, whose objects will be to fortify internal production and commercial balance of food, raw materials, manufactured good, and diverse services performed in the rural zones, promote the structural adjustments to the productive chains and reduce the conditions of inequal-

260 261 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ity of the agricultural, forestry and fishing producers and all the other subjects of the rural society, as well as obtain profitability and competitively within the economical globalization frame. The c m d r s is a facilitator through which the users committees impulse with equity the productive and ecological conservation activities and economical development. The users committees should have a budget and trained personnel to support the initiatives. The c m d r s should also include a team formed by people in the involved groups, capable and interested and able to share the scientific information to the action plans according to the responsibilities emanating from each c m d r s ; groups of facilitators that generate and maintain good relationships with the community and the participant groups and, establish volunteer agreements. Bonds should be established with the communication media in order that the information is available to the citizenship through different media. The users committees, the c m d r s , and their operative personnel should count with technical and scientific support; and plan the work agenda as well as its communicative action. The municipality should assume an important role as guarantor of preservation, in space as in time, of the environmental services and the biodiversity of available subsistence resources to cover local needs in hard times. It is required to share adequate technical information on the cycles of life of fishes and crustaceans, their reproductive needs, the importance of the different habitats and associated organisms. It is a key for the future to establish options with the tendency to create communal zones for fishing, collection and hunting, with legal mechanisms to control the intensity of these activities and zone areas for different types of use, such as wildlife management units. It is also important that informative partial results be commented with the users of the natural resources, in order to change their role from informants to users of the information and from objects of investigation to active subjects of such investigation. These changes are important to initiate a co-responsible process in the management of local natural resources.

Bibliography

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Batllori E., 2004. Evaluación de los cambios socioambientales de la microcuenca de Chabi- hau ocasionados por el huracán Isidoro y Estrategias de prevención ante futuros fenóme- nos meteorológicos. Informe Final del Proyecto: Clave: C01-8728. Centro de Investi- gación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Mérida, Mérida, México. Batllori E., and J. L. Febles, 2007. Cambio en la salinidad de la laguna costera de Chabihau, Yuc., Méx. Efecto del huracán Isidoro y la construcción de puentes en la duna costera. Ingeniería Hidráulica de México x x i i , p. 61-69. Berkes F., and C. Folke, 1998. Linking social and ecological systems. Management practices and social mechanisms for building resilience. Natural Resources Institute, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg Canada. The Beijer Internacional Institute of Ecological Econom- ics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciencies, Stockholm, Sweden. Cambridge University. Centro d a a r a.c., 2000. Programa de desarrollo socioeconómico de la microcuenca de Chabi- hau para el manejo de recursos naturales. Informe Técnico. Secretaría de Desarrollo So- cial (s e d e s o l ), Mérida, México. Clewell F. A. y J. Aronson, 2005. Motivations for the restoration of ecosystems, Conserva- tion Biology, 20: 420-428. Comisión Nacional del Agua, 2003. Programa Hidráulico Regional 2002 – 2006. Región x i i Península de Yucatán. México. Dickinson, F., 1996. Estudio etnobiológico en un municipio henequenero de Yucatán, In- forme Técnico del Proyecto de Investigación c o n a c y t 211085 – 5 – 30095 – S., Sección de Ecología Humana, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Poli- técnico Nacional, Unidad Mérida. Yucatán, México. Diario Oficial de la Federación d( f o ), 2001 Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión, Secretaría General, Secretaría de Servicios Parlamentarios, Dirección General de Bibliotecas. Ley de Desarrollo Rural Sustentable, 07-12-2001. Dugan P.J., (ed), 1992. Conservación de Humedales. Un análisis de temas de actualidad y acciones necesarias. u i c n , Gland, Suiza (1992). Durand F., 2006.. Modelo de gestión ambiental municipal para la integración de políticas públicas, enfocado en la conservación de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Celestún. Tes- is de Maestría en Estudios Regionales en Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo. Universidad Iberoamericana. Puebla. México. Ehrenfeld J. G., 2000. . Defining the limits of restoration: the need for realistic goals, Resto- ration Ecology, 8: 2-9. Fraga J., 1996. Henequeneros de la Costa ¿Impacto de la Diversificación? En Quezada, R. e Y. Breton (Eds.) Antropología marítima: pesca y actores sociales, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. f o m e s . Mérida, Yucatán, México. pp. 147-171 Fraga, J., 2001. Informe de los diagnósticos participativos para la evaluación social del corredor biológico del norte de Yucatán, Informe final al Banco Mundial, Centro de Investi- gación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mérida, México.

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García E., 1988. Modificaciones al sistema climático de Köppen. Instituto de Geografía, UNAM, México. George A., and E. Batllori, 2006. Análisis prospectivo del potencial pesquero y económi- co del caracol “chivita” Melongena corona bispinosa (Philippi, 1844), en la ciénaga de Chabihau, Yucatán, México. Revista Cubana de Investigación Pesquera, 1(24): 74-79. Manuel-Navarrete, D., J. James, K. Dolderman and D. Dolderman, 2004. Ecological integrity discourses: linking ecology with cultural transformation, Human Ecology Review,11: 215-229. Mc Cay B.J., and J. M. Acheson, 1987. The question of the commons. The culture and ecology of communal resources. Arizona. The University of Arizona Press. Murguía T., 2007. Capacitación y fortalecimiento de las capacidades de planeación de los Consejos de Desarrollo Rural Sustentable de los Municipios de las áreas focales del corredor de la costa norte de Yucatán, Informe Técnico, Corredor Biológico Mesoameri- cano. Región Península de Yucatán. Costa Norte de Yucatán. Mérida, México. Ostrom E., 2000. El gobierno de los bienes comunes: la evolución de las instituciones de ac- ción colectiva. c r i m -u n a m , Fondo de Cultura Económica. México. Palomo L., 2005. Análisis comparativo de la pesquería artesanal de camarón en Chabihau durante dos temporadas de pesca (2002-2003 y 2003-2004). Tesis de Licenciatura en Biología. Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México. Quezada D., and Y. Breton, 1996. Antropología marítima: pesca y actores sociales. Universi- dad Autónoma de Yucatán. f o m e s . Mérida, Yucatán, México. Rendis R., 2003. Relación sociedad-naturaleza en la microcuenca de Chabihau, Yucatán: La importancia de los humedales y el manejo de una pesquería. Tesis de Maestría en Cien- cias en Ecología Humana, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mérida, México. Robles R., 2005. Apropiación de recursos naturales y organización social en la Reserva de la Biosfera Ría de Celestún. Tesis de Maestría en Ecología Humana. Centro de Inves- tigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Mérida. Mérida, Yuc., México. Toledo, V., 1980. La ecología del modo campesino de producción, Antropología y Marxismo, 3: 35-55. Toledo V., B. Ortiz-Espejel, L. Cortéz, P. Moguel, and M. J. Ordoñez, 2003. The multiple use of tropical forest by indigenous peoples in Mexico: a case of adaptive management. Conservation Ecology 7 (9): (online) www.consecol.org/vol7/iss3/art9. Vallejo R. , E. Batllori, R. Santos, and P. Villacís, 2004. Aspectos generales de la estructura económica de la localidad de Chabihau, Yucatán. Revista de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, 228: .22-40. Vega Cendejas M.E., 2003.. Evaluación de la ictiofauna en las áreas focales del corredor biológico costero – Yucatán. II Informe c o n a b i o . Proyecto No. Y027. Centro de Investi- gación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Yucatán, México.

264 Analysis of agreement mechanisms and social participation: the case of the mayan coastal region (Mahahual, Quintana Roo, Mexico)

Bonnie Campos and Ana Priscila Sosa Ferreira

Introduction

he tourist growth in Quintana Roo, linked to the dynamics of urban, demographic and socio-economic development in the towns is clearly related to Tthe evolution of decision making processes. Cancun is a federal regional development project that, due to the economical and political context from which it evolves has a rapid tourist growth and consequently a demographic growth, generating diverse social-environmental impacts. That is the beginning of the activity’s expansion – and the problems – to what is now known as the Riviera Maya, and as an actual process, Costa Maya. Agreements between investors, federal government, state and local governments are visible as well as the development of different phases of social participation (Hiernaux, 1999 and Jimenez, 1998; s e m a r n a t , Uni- versidad del Caribe 2004).1

1 The actual decision (April 2007) to build a 18 building complex in the hotel zone of Cancun, approved by the Municipality, criticized by FONATUR, and an ambiguous position of SEMARNAT (who has already authorized the Environmental Impact Study), in spite of the opposition from the business and social organizations. Adriana Varillas, “Would FONATUR put a stop to Grand Island”, El Periodico, April 21, 2007, first page

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Mahahual is a small town located in the South of Quintana Roo, in Costa Maya, where the same problems, arising from the accelerated tourist growth have begun to reproduce themselves, aggravated by certain specifications of the tourist model and the actual context. Therefore, it is interesting to analyze the conditions of this process and its relation to the competence of the different levels of government in the project, as well as the newly formed community’s participation in this evolution. There are studies – investigations, finished or in process2 – on the tourist impacts in Cancun (Hiernaux, 1999 and Jimenez, 1998), about the urban problems in Solidaridad (Campos, 2006: Sanchez-Crispin y Propin 1999) and about some of the aspects of the population’s conditions and the use of resources in Mahahual (Cinner, 2001, Amigos de Sian Kaan, 2003). However, it is necessary to examine and dig into the specific conditions related to the actions and social participation processes facing the developed projects, it is necessary to examine it as a new population center in full expansion with special conditions between the different levels of government, the national and international investors and the people’s organization. The regional context of these processes forms an expansion view based on the tourism in the Caribbean countries (o m t , 1998, 2006) focused on the sun-beach model of those areas, the concentration the economy on tourism (Hiernaux, 1999 and 2001), the dynamic flow of international investments and an intense local and international migration originated by such activity but also encouraged by socio- economic-cultural international tendencies. In this sense, the analysis of the case of Southern Quintana Roo cannot be isolated from such a context since it has its expression elements. The purpose of this work is to examine, from the problems of the population, the Mahahual experiences within the process of social action and participation: the degree of coordination between the programs in the different levels of government; and the agreement and social participation mechanisms of the locals in the management of their natural resources and the decision making. In order to achieve this, we offer a brief summary of previous experiences in the North of the state, Cancun and the Riviera Maya. Later on we will briefly de- scribe Mahahual’s characteristics and its development conditions. And finally we point out some characteristics of government program coordination and the com-

2 The University of Quintana Roo, is performing several investigations on the migratory, urban and geographical processes in Costa Maya, the results will soon be published by investigators Bonnie Lucia Campos Camara, Xochitl Ballesteros and others. It also has the field work results of students and thesis writers such as the one from Tania Lol-Be Casamadrid.

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munity’s ways of participation. For this work we have performed a bibliographical and documentary investigation as well as interviews with local qualified informants and inhabitants.

Background

Following the development of the Cancun project, tourism has been defined as the main economical activity in Quintana Roo.3 The dominance of this activity has extended to the South of the state; in its first stage, in the coastal line Cancun-Tulum and has been given the name of Riviera Maya for promotional purposes; later, in a most recent phase, encouraged by political policies, in the South, the newly named Costa Maya. The Cancun project begins in 1973 and after 35 years it is the most important tourist center in Mexico, not only due to the number of hotel rooms but also due to the volume of visitors received and the amount of money generated. In 2005 Cancun’s population is of 572 973 inhabitants. The tourist activity is projected towards the South as a result of the demands for complementing activities which stimulate the creation of a wide offer of services mainly lodgings and water related activities in the Cancun-Tulum corridor. This forms a complementary or parallel destination that shoots up as of 1995. To this we add the expansion of cruise ships that up to this date had been concentrated in Cozumel, but by the year 2006 registered the reception of more than three million visitors in three docks in all the area. Therefore, the municipality of Solidaridad registers in this recent period the most accelerated population growth in the country. (i n e g i , 2005). In the year 2000 the population in this municipality was of 63 752 inhabitants and the 2005 census shows a population of 135 589 inhabitants. The size of this phenomenon brings important socio-geographical impacts (Campos 2006; Hiernaux, 1999, Jimenez, 1998; Garcia de Fuentes, 1979; Universidad La Salle Cancn, 2005). As a consequence of this process, the townships face a complex situation that arises from the following circumstances: a) their immigrant quality, limited integra-

3 Even though tourism, as a study subject, is still in the definition process, the most common reference is as “economical activity”. For the Tourist World Organization this is only one of the perspectives from which it is studied. From other points of view, it is not an economical activity since the tourists consume services produced by other economical activities (OMT, 2000; Hiernaux, D., 2002). As concerning this work, we recognize tourism as a fact involving economical, social, environmental, anthropological, psychological, geographical, etc., areas. This first paragraph only refers to the most commonly used perspective, the economical. (Government of Quintana Roo, 1999).

Population Evolution in Cancun, Acapulco and Los Cabos: 1970-2005 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 Cancun 2 663 33 273 167 730 419 815 572 973 (Municipio B. Juarez) Riviera Maya 63 752 135 589 (Municipio Solidaridad) Cancun y RM 483 567 708 562 (M. BJ and Soli- daridad) Los Cabos 2 571 4 369 14 892 61 299 164 162 Acapulco 174 378 301 902 515 374 606 751 717 766 Toluca 327 865 643 596 747 512 Aguascalientes 440 425 643 419 723 043 Distrito Federal 8 233 744 8 605 239 8 720 916 tion as a community and their identity (Ayuntamiento Benito Juarez, 1990; Jimenez and Sosa, 2006); b) lack of urban services and attention (Campos 2006) and little or no social participation mechanisms. All of this leads to important social conditions and impacts. (OMT, 1997, Jimenez and Sosa, 2006, Universidad La Salle Cancun, 2005).

Mahahual, different?

With signs of tourist activity expansion towards the South of the state of Quintana Roo, and determined to promote its integration as an option for development, the Federal and state governments have performed actions, either to give direction to the possible growth in the area, or to promote it. Some of these actions were, the State program to establish territorial order, the accelerated development of communications, building a four lane road – in process- and the project of a new airport close to Tulum. The most influential factor in this sense was the building in 1999 of a cruise ship dock in Mahahual.4 This was built in order to decisively include the Mexican

4 INEGI registers the official name of Mahahual. However, other studies suppose that that name comes from “majada”, a Spanish noun whose meaning is: “a place of night refuge for cattle and shepherds”, which would be the origin of this place and therefore it is Mahahual (Reyes, G., 2006).

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Caribbean in the cruise ship market, which is of great importance in the Great Carib- bean region. Cozumel, in the North, is the specialized destination in this modality and the South was offering an alternative. The federation, through f o n a t u r , designed a parallel development plan that has been announced but not yet implemented (f o n a t u r , 2003). In other words, we have both a Federal and state development plan. The activity’s growth is a fact, and with the arrival of cruise ships, the increase in hotel and services offers and consequently population, we find an accelerated process of tourist expansion, which will be ex- amined. Mahahual is the beachfront town, centre of the Costa Maya project. It has an area of 98 042 has. in the southern coastline of the State of Quintana Roo and belongs to the Municipality of Othon P. Blanco.5 Its borders are: the Caribbean Sea to the East, which goes from the coastal line South of Xcalak to the limit of the Reserve of Sian Ka’an; to the West the Ecological Conservation, Manati’s Sanctuary and the area for the protection of Flora and Fauna of Uaymil, and the Southern part of the Reserve of Sian Ka’an; and to the South with Belice. It communicates with federal road 307 Cancun-Chetumal, through a 50 km road. Three economical activities have been predominant in this area, the copra exploitation, fishing and tourism. Originally it was an area of copra production, however, the destruction caused by hurricane Janet in 1955 (Rosengaus et al., 2003) destroyed the palm trees. During the 80’s Xcalak’s fishermen requested a piece of land to build a fishing camp, which was established in Mahahual. This community became a little fishing village, isolated, without public services (light, water, drainage, and much less telephones), up to 1999 when the building of a Cruise Dock begins and tourism becomes it main activity. To this day, it is confronted with an environmental and social crisis: disorder in urban growth, damage to the ecology and cultural identity loss. It is now a Munici- pal Delegation. The State Government, in an effort to include the Southern area of the state, poor and rural, in the tourist development, promotes a series of studies that define the area as a model for alternate low density tourism. The Territorial Ordinance Ecological Program (p o e t ) for Costa Maya is published in 2000 by the University of Quintana Roo, which defines the area as a low density tourist development zone, with a maximum of 15 000 rooms for all the area; it includes, of course, the cruise ship dock and clearly delimitates the areas for urban growth.

5 According to the POET, the delimitation of Costa Maya, whose center is the town of Mahahual is l9º05’881”N; 87º34’24.8”W, 18º9’82”N and 87º33’0.15”W

The building of the cruise ship dock begins in 1999 and it starts to operate in 2002. This automatically implied the arrival, in growing numbers, of visitors, as well as an intense migration to attend the requirements of the activities that were being offered. This growth, consequent to the operation of the cruise ship dock, the pulverization of property, the low density model and the affluence of visitors for hours only, brings another kind of investment, very different to the massive model of big installations and strong investment groups or hotel chains. The Federal and State government interest to promote a model, similar to that of Solidaridad after 1995 or to Cancun’s massive model, brought a need to revise the p o e t . Under the argument that the approved density was not sufficiently attractive to the investors, a new version of p o e t was published. This new version was finished in 2006, with a decree that redefined the horizon with 20 000 rooms and accepted different types of activities. This is related to a strong investment for the widening of the Chetumal- Tulum road and the announcement of the Tulum airport. Under this logistic, the state government has prepared all the infrastructure (dock, roads and airport) for the arrival of tourists, as well as the transfer of visitors, not only as an extension of the Northern activities, but also as part of its own development. On the other hand, the federal National Fund for Tourist Promotion (f o n a t u r ) announces its participation in the area. In 2004 it presents the Grand Costa Maya plan that repeats that of Cancun, to develop the infrastructure for 3 800 rooms and a golf Course, as well as touristic real estate investment. That same year, 2004, permits were denied due to the studies on environmental impact that showed a lack of respect to the mangrove protection and other conditions. A new corrected study is presented and they obtain the authorization in August 2005. However, the reforms to the General Wild Life Law, approved in 2006, evidence the need to revise the project due to the fact that it is located in the North-Northeast mangrove areas of Mahahual. However, the f o n a t u r Director has announced and confirmed the beginning of the project (f o n a t u r , 2004, Government of Q.Roo, 2004). The dock and its operation, developed due to a strong investment and a wide infrastructure, were designed to keep it isolated from the local population, trying to maintain a monopoly control of the tourist services, mainly the sale of tours. Within the installations, restaurants and shops can be found, and the sale of tours is made aboard the ship before the tourists disembark onto Mahahual. In spite of the above, the town experiments a growth of touristic services addressed to the cruise visitors, who arrive into the town in small groups and purchase crafts, souvenirs, massages, food and drinks, increasing the offer. Mahahual port and its complementary installations are the result of a government project, developed and operated privately by a company that acts as a monopoly.

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Mahahual town, on the contrary, is located within a frame of nonexistent urban organization, in spite of the territorial order of 2000 and its 20056 revision – which is not applied – and the state program for investments. The beach front federal zone is invaded by all kind of businesses, artisan shops, sale of food and drink, massages, space “rental” for tents, and shacks. Actually, the port receives, depending on the season, from five to seven or three to four cruise ships a week, which implies approximately six or fourteen thousand visitors per week. According to s e d e t u r ’s (2006) statistics, 811 287 visitors arrived to the Costa Maya dock in Mahahual during 2006. Parallel to this situation there is a development of low density hotel offers all along the coast, receiving national and international tourists that form a different group from the cruise visitors (who do no spend the night and only stay inland approximately seven hours), who look for low density and authentic places, following the new travel tendencies (Beith, M., 2004; Shaw and Williams, 2002). In the statistics year book for Quintana Roo (i n e g i 2003), Mahahual does not appear as a location offering lodgings within the Municipality of Othon P. Blanco, while, according to the statistics published by the Ministry of Tourism of Quintana Roo (s e d e t u r 2006) is now one of the locations with increased growth in this area, with 47 lodging establishments and 267 rooms. However, according to the statements of the Presi- dent of the Mahahual Hotel Association, there are actually a total of 524 rooms in the area (May 2007).7 Other services are being offered such as restaurants, bars, and diving shops whose clientele are the tourists (different from the cruise ship tourists) and local residents. There is also a growing offer of establishments directed to the local residents. The opening of new establishments is an every day thing. It can be said that the predominant touristic model up to this moment is of the cruise ships and that the low density model is complementary. However, the perspective indicates a massive, conventional, sun and beach development towards the Northern side of the town and the dock, based on the type of infrastructure planned by f o n a t u r and the type of investments promoted under such a scheme by the state government.8 Both types of schemes are incompatible with the low density model,

6 Due to the fact that the tourist investment had not started, the government of Quintana Roo activated the POET with the object to increase densities and create attractive investment conditions. Actualization Decree of the Territorial Ordinance Program for Costa Maya. 7 Declarations of the Mahahual Hotel Association President, Mrs. Violeta Gonzalez, during the last SEDETUR’s presentation of the Walkway on May 3, 2007. 8 When visiting the area, the Governor accompanied by Spanish investors, representatives of the great hotel chains, mentioned 20,000 rooms and the available infrastructure and services. Noticaribe, March 29, 2007.

270 271 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o and therefore, a gradual extension of the massive model (and its impacts) could be expected towards the South, added to the specific conditions of the cruise ship model with massive short visits. As a matter of fact, difficulties have arisen from the incompatibility of both models, as an example, the small hotels that sell quiet beach rooms, exclusive of the massive activities for the cruise ship tourists (jet skis, motor- bikes, etc.). 9 It is important to indicate the poor participation of the local administration. The Municipality, from which Mahahual depends, Othon P. Blanco, even though it processes licenses, does not plan or give direction. Therefore, the state and federal authorities are the ones who prevail. The tourist activities are concentrated in three levels. The first one is formed by the dock, its infrastructure and sale of services. The tourists disembark after having purchased one of the tours or activities offered, they are distributed amongst the buses that will transfer them, returning after approximately eight hours. Only a very small group of these tourists will walk around the shops and restaurants of the dock. The second level is found at the centre of the town, that houses craft shops, mas- sage parlors, food and drink establishments (of diverse types of quality and image), scuba diving shops, and little hotels. A very important number of these establishments will only open on the days that ships arrive in the hope of obtaining business from those tourists that not having purchased a tour will venture into the town. Another part of the businesses remain open all week to attend on the needs of the tourists that are staying at one of the hotels and of the local population. An extension of this area is formed by the road that leads to Xcalac, as well as the one to Ubero, where low density hotels are located. The majority of these hotels, located outside the town, do not have electricity or running water, depending on solar units or wind power generators, wells and rain water reservoirs. The third level is distributed among the different areas of the organized tours: archeological zones, Mayan communities, beach areas and four wheel motorbike tours.

9 As is indicated in the letter written by the beach hotels to the environmental authorities in March 2007, in order to avoid the transit of four wheel motorbikes and water skis rejected by the tourists.

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The Mahahual population

Mahahual has been a traditional recreation area for the neighboring towns, such as Chetumal, due to its beaches and closeness to the reef. Since the beginning of the dock’s operation, the tourist activities and job offers shoot up and with that there is an acceleration of migration. According to the i n e g i ’s census of 2005, Mahahual had 283 inhabitants (a very close number to that registered in 2000). However, according to the registered voters in the 2006 election and studies made in the area,10 it is possible to estimate 600 residents by the end of 2006. According to the 2006 election results, Section 410 (Mahahual) has a voting population of 676 people and 24011 voted. The estimations of the Municipality Delegation concur with the data of 600 inhabitants in 2006. The Mahahual population is formed by the original inhabitants, mainly fishermen, and the national and foreign migrants that have chosen the place to live, or are employed by a company, or have some kind of business. Even taking as a base the 283 inhabitants mentioned in the census, we find data that indicate the problems of accelerated growth and migration such as the high index of masculinity, 56% of men indicated by i n e g i , or the 65% reported in the Atlas of Costa Maya (u q r o o , 2003), and the high concentration of productive age population, as only a 2% is older than 65 compared to the 6% national media (i n e g i , 2006). It is obvious the integration of a very important percentage of foreigners (whose numbers are not officially registered in the 2005 census nor in any other study). However, it is estimated that they form between 20 to 25% of the population. Their origins are very different: Italians, Germans, Dutch, South Americans, North Ameri- cans and Canadians. Some are only residents, while the majority works in tourism either as employee or owner and administrator of their own businesses. This process was also found in Playa del Carmen, however, the smallness of Mahahual and its greater proportion of foreigners makes this more visible. Another part is formed by those who come from other tourist centers only the days that cruise ships arrive such as the majority of craft vendors that use Mahahual

10 The Friend of Sian Kaan Association, report a population of 360 inhabitants in 2003, from a study performed between 2002 and 2003. (Amigos de Sian Kaan, 2003). The University of Quintana Roo also performed some investigations that coincided with the calculation of 600 inhabitants by the end of 2006. (See supra note 4). 11 These data are clearly illustrative. Considering only the 240 voters, it can be inferred that the population is larger, considering that part of the population did not have the “voting card” or, did not vote; also, we must consider the foreigners who live in the area, less the people that have left Mahahual.

272 273 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o as a camp site. The lack of commitment to the place and to the rest of the community is implied in such a scheme. Part of the population is located behind the coast line (some original inhabitants) next to a real estate development area, which has increased the prices of land. An- other part of the migrants lives in the new residential area, a few kilometers away from the town and the beach, developed by the same owner of the dock, called “Las Casitas” (The little houses), which is a development based on the “social interest” housing scheme, or in the neighboring land in homes built by the owners. There is a third area of habitation a kilometer away, which does not belong to a development area, has no services and has been populated through the illegal sale of land. The buyers are those unable to purchase or rent in the above mentioned development, who build shacks, or those who wish to “invest” in a property that will not be used now, and that do not live in Mahahual. According to the expressed opinions during interviews, one of the most visible problems among the population is the high consumption of alcoholic beverages and drug abuse due to the lack of recreation options, isolated conditions, lack of family, and the absence of a community structure that establishes social limits. The accelerated growth of Mahahual, due to the increase of tourist activity is not only generated by the cruise ships, but also by the transit tourists, forms a community of particular characteristics. These characteristics do not allow the population’s participation in the decision making processes: they are in the integration process; must be able to solve their daily needs in front of the instability caused by the cruise ship activity; they are unaware of the legislation and rulings that allow their participation and the adequate instances. However, some interesting initiatives have been registered.

Agreement mechanisms and social participation: The Costa Maya Project In this chapter we endeavor to relate the relevant aspects of the modalities that should be adopted by the three levels of government and their offices related to the usage of land and the economical activities proposed for the development of the area, based on the Program of Territorial Ecological Ordinance (o e t ) that proposes that all the productive activities comply with certain norms according to the ecological and social conditions in the area. In order to achieve this, it implies establishing the norms, identify them totally and coordinate their execution having established a proper communication channel within each government level.

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It is important to indicate that in order to establish the o e t in the Costa Maya Region, it was necessary, from the beginning, to establish mechanisms that would guarantee the social participation, through agreement means, of the inhabitants of the area (fishermen, beach front owners, investors, and service providers) as well as the participation of the different government offices in their three levels, federal, state, and municipal. One of the jobs in this process was to promote the participation of the different groups involved within the Costa Maya Region, from the government area as well as from the social area, with the aim of activating the interaction mechanisms between the two groups in order to be able to collaborate with the proposals and solutions derived from the o e t . In the particular case of the Mahahual community, the strategy for the participation, advertising, and agreement between the inhabitants and the social and educational organizations, was implemented through direct interviews with the key informants of the coastal region, such as the presidents of the fishing cooperatives, teachers, delegates, land owners, independent fishermen, businessmen, restaurant owners, etc. The idea to have meetings is to inform about the o e t , as well as perform activities related to environmental education and auto-diagnosis shops. It is important to indicate that in Mahahual several activities were performed in order to promote the Costa Maya project: design and implementation of courses to foment the environmental planning based on the o e t , and the distributions of pam- phlets, brochures, videos, informative bulletins, signs, articles, etc. These activities were the base to establish strategies through inter-sectors diagnosis shops on specific themes such as infrastructure and services, water, transport, migration, fishing activities and tourism among others; however, it is a fact that such activities were only performed during the authorization process of the projects and did not have a follow up. The Costa Maya o e t already identifies the regional spaces of operative coordination , such as the University of Quintana Roo that made the technical study of the o e t ; the National Institute of Ecology (i n e -s e m a r n a p ), the federal agency in charge of evaluating the o e t under its reference terms; the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fishing (s e m a r n a p ), the Federal Delegation of Quintana Roo, of state coverage and representation, whose function is to participate in the evaluation and validation of the o e t project. The Federal Office of Environmental Protectionp ( r o f e p a ), through its federal delegation of state coverage and representation, is in charge of overseeing that all the norms in the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium, as well as the official Mexican norms related to environmental issues are observed. The state representation of the

Ministry of Urban Development and Environment (s e d u m a ) coordinated the elaboration process of the o e t . After performing agreement actions with the different social sectors that one way or another are involved in the Costa Maya project, especially with the Mahahual inhabitants, we have been able to acknowledge in a direct manner their proposals, which are summed up as follows: a) From the personal interviews with the Mahahual sub-delegate, we learned about issues related to the lack of infrastructure and services in the township, lack of educational options which promoted the migration of families to Chetumal, deficiencies in communication, uncertainty in land ownership, deforestation of the coastal ecosystems, illegal fishing of the prohibited species (conch) and drug trafficking. b) From the personal interview with the directors and members of the fishing cooperative societies we were able to detect internal problems that have originated divisions among the cooperatives or the disappearance of some of them. Alcohol consumption among the fishermen is another problem, which causes family dis- integration. c) When making the socio-economic poll, we had interviews with the Mahahual inhabitants, and their fears and unrest regarding the OET and tourism development were detected. In 1996 a consensus was performed with the participation of the different academic and investigation institutions as well as the representatives of the non government environmental organizations. Ecological criteria were established in order to define vulnerable areas in the Costa Maya corridor. The participants were: Reserva de la Biosfera de Sian Kaan, Friends of Sian Kaan, Mexico’s Army, Ecosur, U.yumil Ce Reserve, i t c h , Cet del Mar, c n a , and u q r o o . It is a fact that there is a void related to social participation in the social and economic decisions for the area. On one side, the community lacks cohesion due to the mentioned characteristics of integration in an accelerated migratory process. On the other hand, there are no administrative or legal channels in the state’s planning that could facilitate such participation. The federal laws are unknown and are not promoted by the state and local offices. What is observed is that the few examples of participation initiatives are discouraged due to the lack of results.

The case of the f o n a t u r Project It is a federal project, which has had no intention of submitting it to any type of public consensus. The pulverization of land ownership was a problem that f o n a t u r

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was able to go around in order to obtain the confirmation of the project through the direct purchase of land. The questionings it has received have been indirect, and only related to the protection of the mangroves in accordance with the General Law for Wild Life. However, the present director confirmed the development of the project.12 As was commented before, the project has an approved environmental impact study that received no objections from the General Law for Wild Life.

The urban design, the community and tourism

The federal zone (beachfront) is invaded by many types of shops and shacks. With the idea of solving the image problem in the village’s beach, the Ministry of Tourism of the state government (s e d e t u r ) designed a walkway project. This project was introduced in April, 2006 to the group of businessmen that operate on the beach front. It was not introduced as a public consensus, but as an informative meeting. The participants were critical in their answers, indicating that such a project would concentrate all the tourist and commercial activity on the beach front and suggested that the project be moved one street into town, in order to distribute the activities in a larger space (similar to the Fifth Avenue in Playa del Carmen). s e d e t u r did not take into account the suggestion and announced the project in a public meeting on May 3. On the other hand, the expansion of tourist activities has created some incompat- ibilities. The small, low density, hotels all along the beach on the road to Xcalak, as well as some businesses and scuba diving shops presented a petition to s e m a r n a p , with copies to p r o f e p a , s e d u m a , and s e d e t u r , in order to transfer the activities, such as water skis and four wheel motorbikes, that in organized tours use the coastal road at very high speed, with a great amount of noise, to another place, as such activities are incompatible with the tourist in search of quietness and solitude. The proposed option was that, the motorbikes used the paved road. However, the tour is sold as an adventure through jungle and beach. We are talking of two incompatible activities, one related to low impact and low density tourism, and the other of massive beach and sun tourism. The authorities did not solve the complaint; the only action was to install “low speed” ads along the route. This indicates, on one side, the lack of clear means for the community to participate in the decisions that affect it and, on the other side, the difficulties and incompatibility generated by mixing the massive tourism originated by the cruise ships and the initial investment oriented to low density tourism.

12 These declarations were made by Lic. Rodriguez Mont during the MIT Congress (Touristic Real Estate Market), Convention Center, Cancun, April 18, 2007.

Final considerations

Mahahual’s growth accelerates as of the dock’s construction and the arrival of cruise ships in 2002. This dock is designed and operates with the idea to control all operations designed for tourists, moving masses of people and resources in specified days and hours. In spite of the existence of planning instruments such as the ordinance and urban development programs, disorder persists in the accelerated growth of the urban settlements and tourist areas especially around the town’s beachfront. Mahahual’s population is diverse: their nationalities, the way they link to the place, their economical relation with the tourism, and their permanence expectations. It presents social-demographic data that expresses its immigrant condition, such as high masculinity and productive age concentration. The use of spaces is still in the definition process, as well the joining of the tourist and social spaces. There is a void in the social participation of economical and social decisions in the area. The community lacks cohesion due to its characteristic of incipient integration in an accelerated migratory process. There are no legal and administrative channels in the State Government that would facilitate such participation. The channels offered by the federal legislation are unknown and are not facilitated or promoted by the state and local offices. What is observed is that the few examples of participation initiatives are discouraged by the practically null results. Following, are some examples. It is evident that the coordination agreements should be retaken and reactivate a series of meetings where the technical proposal of the p o e t could be discussed with the different sectors of the population, public and education institutions in order to make the social participation effective. The mechanisms and conditions for social participation in decision making are not sufficiently known nor advertised. The population is in the integration process and ignores the participation mechanisms in the legislation, especially if we take by example the p o e t ; but the federal projects like in the case of f o n a t u r , and the Direc- tive Plan for the Urban Development of Mahahual, should be subject to a social participation process. Not only in a virtual manner, by consulting with the population via Internet, but by creating real agreement and social participation mechanisms. It is a fact that Costa Maya, and consequently, Mahahual, have very attractive natural conditions to start a new tourist area that will allow the regional development of southern Quintana Roo and be a complement to the range of tourist products offered in the Cancun-Riviera Maya corridor in the northern area.

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If this growing process continues, it is necessary to surmise a sustainable development, by joining the economical expansion, job opportunities, social development and environmental protection. In order to achieve this, a socially inclusive process must be obtained, through which, the construction of service infrastructure will improve the quality of life of the Mahahual inhabitants.

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Rosengaus, M., M. Jiménez, and M. Conde, 2003. Atlas climatológico de ciclones tropicales en México. México, c e n a p r e d y c n a . Instituto de Investigaciones Turísticas de la Universidad La Salle Cancún, 2005. Análisis de los flujos migratorios y evaluación de los impactos económicos y sociales de la migración en la zona norte del Estado. Enero de 2005. i n e g i , 2000a. Censo General de Población y Vivienda 2000. i n e g i , 2000b. Censo Económico del 2000. i n e g i , 2002. Anuario Estadístico de Quintana Roo. i n e g i , 2004 Anuario Estadístico de Quintana Roo. i n e g i , (2006. II Conteo de Población y Vivienda 2005. 13 de febrero del 2006. Sitio del INE- GI en Internet: wwwinegi.gob.mx/est/ontenidos/espanol/proyectos/conteos/conteo2005/ default.as?c=6224 Jiménez Martínez, A. J., 1992. Turismo:Estructura y Desarrollo. México. Mac Graw Hill. Jiménez Martínez, A. J., 1998. Desarrollo Turístico y sustentabilidad. El caso de México. México. Ed. Miguel Ángel Porrúa / Universidad Intercontinental. Jiménez Martínez, A. J., 2005. Una Aproximación a la conceptualización del turismo a partir de la Teoría General de Sistemas. México. Editorial Miguel Ángel Porrúa / Universidad del Caribe. Jiménez Martínez, A., and P. C. Sosa, 2006. Cancún: Reflexiones sobre los impactos del turismo en una comunidad local. Ponencia presentada en VI Congreso Nacional y II In- ternacional de Investigación Turística, Monterrey, 21 junio de 2006. Lozato-Giotart, J.P., 1990. Geografía del turismo. Colección Geografía, España. Marcherena, M., 1998. La reconversión del turismo de litoral en el espacio mediterráneo. In: Turismo, territorio y estrategias de desarrollo. Actas de la Jornada de Turismo. Universi- dad de Girona, 2 de marzo-1 de abril de 1998. Mesplier, A., 2000. Geografía del Turismo en el Mundo. España, Ed. Síntesis. Olivares, M. Á., 2006. La administración en las empresas transnacionales: industria hotel- era de Cancún. Trabajo de investigación del Prof. Olivares en el Cuerpo Académico de Economía y Negocios de la Universidad del Caribe. Abril del 2006. o m t , 1997. Reunión de Líderes del turismo sobre los efectos sociales del turismo. Informe Final. o m t , 1998. Introducción al Turismo. España. . Programa de Ordenamiento Ecológico Territorial de Costa Maya (p o e t ), 1996. Pearce, D., 1987. Tourism today: a geographical analysis, Harlow, Longman. Pearce, D.,1988) Desarrollo Turístico. Su planificación y ubicación geográfica. Trillas, Méx- ico. Pearce, P.L., 1994. Tourist-resident impacts: examples, explanation and emerging solutions. En Editor William Theobald. Global Tourism. The next decade. London, Butterworth- Heinemann Ltd. Pearce, P.L.,G. Moscardo, and R. Glen, 1996. Tourism community relationships. UK-USA- Japan, Pergamon.

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Propin, A., 2000. Metodología… México, u n a m -Instituto de Geografía. Colección Temas Selectos de Geografía de México. Riley W., R., 1995. Prestige worthy tourism behavior. Annals of Tourism Research, 22(3): 630-649. Robinson, M., 2004. Cultural conflict in tourism: inevitability and inequality. In: Robinson, Mike and Boniface, Priscilla, Editores Tourism and Cultural Conflict, London,c a b i Pub- lishing. Salinas Chávez, E., 2003. Geografía y turismo. Ed. Si-Mar. Bogotá, Colombia. Sanchez-Crispin, A and E. Propin, 2000. Valoración medioamiental de los niveles de asimi- lación económica de la Riviera Mexicana: homogeneidad geográfica y heterogeneidad económica” Observatorio Medioambiental 2, Universidad Comlutense. Madrid, España. Sanchez-Crispín, A., 2005. Principales rasgos geográficos del turismo en México.In: Geografía(s) de América Latina. Buenos Aires, Red Latinoamericana de la Unión Geográfica Internacional, Unión Geográfica de América Latina, Sociedad Mexicana de Geografía y Estadística y Centro de Estudios Humboldt. Sanchez, J., 1991. Espacio, economía y sociedad, Madrid, Siglo x x i . Santos, M., 1996. De la totalidad al lugar. Barcelona, Oikos-Tau Santos, M., 1999. La naturaleza del espacio, Barcelona, Ariel. Schluter, R., 2003. Turismo sustentable en áreas litorales. Consecuencias y retos del turismo de playa. Ponencia presentada en el Congreso Internacional sobre el desarrolllo del turismo sustentable., 21 al 23 de mayo de 2003. Instituto Tecnológico de Cancún. Cancún, Quintana Roo. s e c t u r , 2002. Compendio Estadístico. s e d e t u r , 2006. Estadísticas por mes. s e m a r n a t -Universidad del Caribe, 2004 Una visión estatal de la educación ambiental, la ca- pacitación para el desarrollo sustentable y la comunicación educativa 2002-2006. Shaw, G., and A. Williams, 2002. Critical issues in tourism. A geographical perspective. Ox- ford, United Kingdom, Blackwell Publishers. Sierra Sosa, L., 2006. Migración, trabajo y medio ambiente. Acercamientos teóricos de las ciencias sociales desde el caribe mexicano. u q r o o -Plaza y Valdés. Torres R., 2002. Cancun’s tourism development from a fordist spectrum of analysis. Tourist Studies, 12(I): 87-116. Torres Torres, F., and J. Gasca Zamora, (Coord), 2006. Los espacios de reserva en la expan- sión global del capital. México, u n a m - Facultad de Economía-Instituto de Geografía- Plaza y Valdés. u q r o o (1983). Atlas de Costa Maya. Villoro, L., 1996. Sobre la identidad de los pueblos. In: Ruiz, Ramón Eduardo y Ruiz, Ol- ivia Teresa (Coordinadores), Reflexiones sobre la identidad de los pueblos. México, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte. Yiannakis, A., and H. Gibson, 1992. Roles tourist play. Annals of Tourism Research, 19: 287-303.

282 Social organization, modernization and utopias amongst the artisan fishermen of the Atasta Peninsula and Isla Aguada in Campeche

Javier Villegas Sierra and Ramon Martinez Berberaje

Introduction

he coasts have played an important role in human life, either because they have resources that are a source of food or, because they contribute to the Tcommunication and commerce between communities, regions, national states or markets, in such a way that these factors have favored numerous human settlements all along these territories. Disciplines, focuses and currents converge today to board the analysis of the coasts, which have been objects of study, either from the natural science or social and human sciences perspectives, which allows their inventory, description, characterization and explanation. The importance given by the State and its policies is of food, bio-economical, productive and territorial ordinance character. In the Mexican coastline there are more than 125 coastal lagoons, which together form a surface of 12 500 km2 and constitute the most productive ecosystems in the world. These ecosystems have a fundamental role, since more than 90% of the marine species in a region can be found in mangroves and estuaries during one or more periods of their life cycles.

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Among these coastal systems, Laguna de Terminos, located in the state of Campeche, is of particular importance due to its extension (approximately 2 500 km2) and high productivity of coastal species with commercial interest. These conditions favor the establishment of fisheries that are the sustenance of one sector of the Carmen municipality in the state of Campeche, which is integrated by people who are commonly called artisan fishermen. However, it is not only the population dedicated to fishing that exploits this ecosystem, but in general all the population along the coastline of the Carmen municipality where historically this activity has developed. The artisan fishing activity has been practiced by producers culturally named “non-organized” free fishermen and organized in the micro-regions of the Atasta Peninsula and Isla Aguada, Carmen municipality. The fishermen have formed an imaginary collective in which the natural resources, marine or freshwater, are a generational inherited right. However, in the modernizing process this right is being lost due to the characteristics of the productive system they are in. They go from cooperative societies to societies of social solidarity, with the object of giving the activity a legal and judicial frame in the fishing norms that rule them, even though it does not necessarily correspond to time and ways with their socio-cultural practices. The fishing organizations in the Atasta Peninsula are located mainly in the locality of Nuevo Campechito, where the main activity is extractive fishing and the commercialization of the products. These organizations catch along the bank of the Usumacinta River and the coastline of Tabasco and Campeche. One of the typical fishing localities is Colonia Emiliano Zapata that belongs to the circumscription of Nuevo Progreso. In the locality of San Antonio Cardenas there was a cooperative whose social object was the extraction of clams from the Poom Lagoon. The fishing organizations of the Atasta Peninsula have been increasing and transforming since the decade of the 70’s as can be observed in their passing from cooperative societies to societies of social solidarity,1 in coincidence with the emergence of new conditions, the building of a road all along the Peninsula, the recent process of oil activity in the Carmen municipality; and the construction of bridges that com- municate Carmen Island and Aguada Island. The Aguada Island fishermen constitute the contrast with those of Atasta, as they characterize by a strong identity component

1 It is in 1994 that the first Society of Social Solidarity is formed in Ciudad del Carmen as a consequence of the fishermen’s situation due to the ban on the giant shrimp in 1993. This was part of a negotiation and a solution to the conflict between the fishing sector and the authorities which were then the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fishing (SEMARNAP).

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Isla Golfo de México Aguada Puerto Real

Ciudad Emiliano Zapata del Carmen

Pom Atasta Laguna Laguna Atasta Laguna de Términos Pom Laguna de Carlos

Coastal system: Atasta Peninsula, Carmen, Isla Aguada and Terminos Lagoon.

that is manifest in the tradition of the professional fishermen that still celebrate The Lord of the Fishermen every May 3rd, antecedent to the modernization process of the shrimp fleet, which allows them to go around, in certain way, the modernization of the oil activity. The oil process is a milestone for the new productive and cultural practices of the professional fishermen and of those that become circumstantial fishermen. It is required then to study in depth the modernization that make the fishermen transit in productive practices centered in trawling and extraction of marine resources, with a cosmos-vision of space and time centered in the storms and the seasons of marine organisms, and a daily life without any structure regarding time of production in series – “cultivation” practices that disrupt space and time cosmos-vision -, but especially towards the transformation of the sense of cooperative organization into organizational figures that are flexible to the exclusivity criteria of the exploitation of marine resources, as another of the modernizing processes of the fishing sector via aquaculture. In this manner, modernization is an analysis category that allows the knowledge of diverse social processes among which we find the fishing activity, but in order to offer an operational definition of it, it is necessary to investigate in depth on the purport(s) that the fishermen have and live. This chapter pretends to point out the fact that the history of the coastal zones is marked by the modernization processes of their fishing resources impacted by the use of intensive technologies that soar from the expert knowledge of the imaginary collective. Also the modernization that in its beginnings gave power to the fishing population as beneficial of the marine resources, has reached the organizational figures; to this day, not only the organization capacity has been lost among the power

284 285 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o relationships that have bound it to regional institutional and social practices, but the State has given judicial status to such practices, stripping the fishermen of the right to benefit from the marine resources. In this manner, decentralization and the exercise of governance face asymmetric power relations. Lastly, the most recent moment of the fishing modernization process is going through old roads by the impulse via aquaculture a x i x century practice. We have to learn from its errors.

Fishing resources and intensive technologies

Up to before the x i x century the world’s regions were not subject to a dynamic of intense exploitation of the marine and river resources. Each one of the fisheries handled their own technologies that, consciously or unconsciously were adequate to the reproductive cycles of each species and also to the geo-morphological characteristics of the habitats. In contrast to the diversity of regional technologies by species, the technology that arises in the system ruled by the market has the object of obtaining great volumes to “lower production costs”; based on this vision, the volumes of catch are intensified. During all the x i x century the range of catch of the main commercial fisheries in the world remained more or less stable due to the relative sluggishness in technological changes. The majority of the world’s fishing fleets were still wind impulsed and the entry of new boats in each fishery did not imply transcendent changes. It is in 1880 when the situation changes: the steam motor is introduced in the fisheries ruled by England in the North Atlantic, and at the same time the technique of the trawling net, pulled by two boats, is introduced. The trawling technique spread relatively quickly – it was only interrupted during the First World War-; and later the substitution of the wooden hull by a steel hull as another of the most important technological innovations. It is significant that up to the First World War, commercial fishing had not increased its levels of catch and did present a collapse threat of the marine resources. After 1920 is when notable improvements are introduced in the trawling net technology and the capacity of the boats to pull bigger nets (Nada, 1996:29-30). The marine industrial culture with trawling technology appears in the stories of the collective imagination, for example, when people tell about the detention of the United States shrimp fleet and the distribution of the catch among the population of Ciudad del Carmen; and the waste practices of throwing the catch because it did not reach the required size or did not have adequate storage facilities. It is also present among those who worked in the mentioned shrimp fleet in a long development

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process of ontological competence that implied the development of daily skills and practices that were watered under discriminative social relations. In fact, it was the United States fishing companies who displaced from the coasts the beach technology, consisting of medium sized white shrimp catching with beach nets and covers in coastal lagoon or in shallow waters. While the United States’ fleet exploited the resources in the Campeche Sound in the decade of the 40’s – after its already mentioned detention – the shrimp fleet and industry was beginning in Ciu- dad del Carmen as an extension of the United States fishing consortia, who were the ones who built the port infrastructure: docks, reception centers, ice factories, and fuel deposits. The State contributed by building roads for land transportation (cfr. Leriche, 1995). In sum, there has been a constant affectation caused by this technological change in almost all the commercial fisheries in the world, even in those misnamed “artisan”, especially as it was erected as a standard in all the fisheries. To understand this capitalist dynamic is to understand not only the increase in the great production volumes, but, especially, the sense that the scientific-technological discourse builds as discursive field of power through a category system that, on one hand sustains a dichotomous vision between the advanced and the backwards and, on the other, introduces differentiation – as adjectives – between artisan fishing and commercial fishing, between high seas fishing and shoreline fishing, also called artisan coastal fishing or small scale fishing in relation to high scale fishing (Lobato, 1996:301). These notions sustain differential processes of territorial appropriation. From this fact, the productive, social and cultural practices built in the collective imagination, consciously or unconsciously, two representations of the meaning that implied the use and application of those technologies in the fishing activity that was displayed in the Terminos Lagoon: the mosquito fleet and the “chaquiste” (a very small, vicious type of mosquito-Trans.note) fleet. In the decade of the 60’s, two decades after the fishing modernization stage began in the Terminos Lagoon, in the Gulf of Mexico, the young generations that had been involved with their parents in the adapting and incorporating process of a new way of life and feeling towards the fishing activity, navigation and construction of fishing boats, retook the extraction of the fishing resources at a smaller scale, on this basis the mosquito fleet was formed (Cfr. Melville, 1984), reconfiguring the shoreline fishing culture into a marine industrial shoreline fishing culture, which took two ways. On one hand the boats used for cabotage were adapted for fishing and small boats were built for the exploit of white and big shrimp in the coastal zone, later substituting the wooden boats with the steel ones in the Campeche Sound. And on the other, in the Terminos Lagoon they passed from the wooden canoe to outboard

286 287 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o motor fiber glass boats for the artisan fishing; with this technological incorporation, which also impacts in social practices, there is more catching capacity and quicker displacement. The fishermen are conscious of this, and based on their experience they consider that with this technology they could “fish at any time”; therefore, they are seen as the “chaquiste fleet”.

Organization problems / management decentralization

The State’s reform processes from the 70’s to the beginning of the x x i Century constitute a big scenario of rearrangement of the rules of the game between the State and the social actors (Cfr. Lechner, et al., 1999:11). The State plays an important role in three fields: as articulation instance of factors and actors of the economical process that ensure the country’s competitiveness in the context of a globalized economy; as guarantor of society’s integration; and as superintendent of the democratization processes demanded by the citizens, truth is that to this day there is no discussion on the importance of its new role in the beginnings of the x x i century (Lechner, 1999:39-40). The decade of the 70’s represented an expression of the western hegemonic model’s crisis, even though it put modernity – paradigm model and archetype of world civilization and progress – in a cross road due to the lack of response on the ideals of the new man’s liberty and the emancipation of the subject,2 since that decade, the tendencies imposed by instrumental reason do not seem to be corrected, which today demands a re-dimension of the myths of democratic processes in the globalization context (Cfr. Comboni et al., 2007:21). Myths in which State and market have direct inference, as mentioned by Beck, when the industrial society is generalized, two processes are triggered in opposite direction in relation to society’s transformation, the emergence of a political parliamentary democracy and the emergence of a social apolitical change, non democratic,

2 For further debate on modernity and modernization see Berman, Marshall, “Todo lo sólido se desvance en el aire, Spain, Siglo XXI, 1998, 386 p.; Solé Carlota, “Modernidad y Modernización, Barcelona, Athropos, 1998, p. 9-29; Bauman, Zygmut, “Modernidad y ambivalencia”, Barcelona, Athropos-CHCH UNAM, 2005, p. 11.39; Beck, Ulrich, “La sociedad del riesgo”, Barcelona, Paidós, 1998, 11-235; Echeverría Bolivar, “La modernidad de lo barroco, Mexico, Era, 2000, p. 121-160; Giddens, Anthony, “Consecuencias de la Modernidad, Madrid, Alianza editorial, 1993, p. 15-166; Touraine, Alain, “¿Podremos vivir juntos?, México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1997, p. 27-60; and Comboni, Salinas, Sonia et al., Modernidad y Diversidad cultural, Mexico, Univerisdad Autonoma Metropolitana, 2007, among other authors.

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under progress and rationalization legitimacy, in this underlies a particular power exercise based on the relation between social change and political orientation expressed in the model of a split citizen. Therefore, decision making, and power exercise follow legality criteria and the principle that power and dominance can only be exercised with the consensus of the nominee (Beck, 1988:283). The question is: Is this what underlies in the State’s reform and strategic policies such as decentralization? Even though participation of the social organization in the public space tends to be a central element in democratic governance, it is not clear which internal coordination principles rule or should rule these organizations, and is even less clear how decision making/implementing and internal conflicts processing affects their political performance (Luna and Tirado, 2004:1) According to Luna and Tirado, the manner in which decisions are made in the frame of an organization is a crucial element of the conditions in which results are produced, therefore, the relation between decision making and political performance from the evaluation perspective of the social organizations supposes a relation between the results (purpose, objectives or organizational goals fulfillment) and the production conditions. The evaluation of the results supposes a set of performance criteria, of which two are fundamental: efficiency and legitimacy (Luna and Tirado, 2004:1-2). In this sense, the participation of social organization in the public sphere acquires relevance in a context of a new way of politics, institutionally disperse; polycentric and differentiated (Messner, 1999, quoted by Luna and Tirado, 2004:1). The features of the new political scenario are marked by globalization, citizenship evolution towards more complex forms, and the consensus in a post-bureaucratic model legitimized by the principle of citizen’s participation, redefining powers in relation to diverse territorial levels and between different type of institutions, as well as by the integration of social groups in the decision processes (Cfr. Luna and Tirado, 2004:2). The above mentioned context is fundamental to understand the changes in the organizational figures that up to 1994 exploited the natural water resources, marine or freshwater, that even though the characteristics of the productive system were the impulse of the creation of the first cooperative societies during the decade of the 40’s, these had to reconfigure during the 80’s with the reforms to the Fishing Law. This fact was translated in the constitution of Social Solidarity Societies (SSS), but especially in the variation of two medullar questions: the transformation of the social composition of the organizational figure and the deregulation of fisheries exploit, to be taken by other social actors without a fishing tradition.

Finally, we have to emphasize that all organizations need to take numerous decisions, but the most relevant are those concerning the ends, as these are the ones that define the organization’s profile, the agenda and policies; the establishment of internal operation rules; selection of leaders; and finally, determine the strategic actions or specific actions that will answer to the environment’s quick changes (Luna and Tirado, 2004:7), changes that lead to permanent destruction of the nature, external and internal, change of work systems, rupture of order between sexes, relocation of traditional social classes, acuteness of social inequalities and new technologies that come close to catastrophic risk (Beck, 1998:239).

Fishing modernizing via aquaculture

Background

Among the fishing historical background in Mexico, it is important to remember that when the fishing modernizing process begins at the end of the x i x century, instrumental reason interests are put forward that pretend to change the productive dynamic of the colonial era. To this effect a technology is applied to increase production and in 1829 judicial norms are established that foment fishing and navigation. The Spanish Courts’ decree of 1820 establishes “promote fishing as sustenance base of the coastal population, their industrious employment and benefit, for example, in 1856 eight years exclusivity was given to Manuel Mugica to fish seals in the coasts and islands of the Sea of Cortes; similar privileges were given to Luis Rivas Gongora in 1858 in the Gulf of California for ten years”. 3 The modernizing process via aquaculture is also present by the end of the x i x century with the intention of boosting this activity among the population and the object of adapting foreign species.4 From that era to this day many of this type of projects have been fomented in different regions and, by the end of the x x century, aquaculture regains force without stopping to consider the rights and errors. With all, in what concerns the State

3 Official Registry of the Mexican United States, September 23, 1831, uotedq by Sierra, Carlos and Justo Sierra Zepeda in “Reseña histórica de la pesca en Mèxico (1871-1977) Department of Fisheries, Mexico, 1977, p. 23-31. 4 In 1860, the government of Miguel Miramon authorized Carlos Jacobi, for a period of twelve years, the introduction of non native fresh water species, which implied acclimatize the fish, train the population of the Valley of Mexico, maintain exclusivity of the fish raised in the ponds and repopulate other lakes through donation of eggs, Ibid., p.31.

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of Campeche, aquaculture was divided into industrial and rural aquaculture. The industrial aquaculture is formed by four shrimp farms: two in Champoton, one in Campeche and another in Tenabo; two fattening centers of marine fish in Ensenada and Punta Xpicob, Campeche; two ornamental fish farms ini m i i i i ; and a tilapia production center in Plan de Ayala, Carmen municipality. Rural aquaculture is formed by 33 tilapia fattening units in the municipalities of Carmen, Palizada, Campeche, Candelaria, Champoton and Tenabo.

An approximation to aquaculture’s history in the micro regions of Carmen’s Municipality: Atasta Peninsula and Isla Aguada

Atasta Peninsula – aquaculture and evolution of fishing organizations

From a most recent historical process we will analyze the complexity of the social, economical and cultural condition of fisheries in this coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico: the Carmen municipality, Campeche. In this coastal zone of the Carmen municipality – with its micro regions: Isla Aguada, Ciudad del Carmen and Atasta Peninsula -, the beginning of aquaculture in the Atasta Peninsula takes place in a cyclical moment for the inhabitants of this region, encouraged by the collateral activities of the oil industry establishment in this micro region. In this context, a process of fishing organizations’ conformation takes place in the Atasta Peninsula, which has gradually been increasing due to a series of events to be described. Between 1978 and 1980, in the stretch Nuevo Campechito-Zacatal, the road was broadened with stone material for the asphalt cover, which was obtained from exca- vations in the community of San Antonio Cardenas. In 1993-1994 the road bypasses of San Antonio Cardenas and Nuevo Progreso were built, also with stone obtained from excavation, forming cavities that later turned into water holes. These water holes were used for experimental aquaculture work with snook and red tilapia as an alternative for self consumption of the communities. The Autonomous University of Carmen, through the School of Fishing, performed the experimental work. For the 1995-1996 periods, the 25 fishing organizations were concentrated in the Nuevo Progreso community but had their operation center in the locality of Emiliano Zapata.

For the 1997-98 periods, the Federal government, through the Ministry of En- ergy and the support of i c a Company, promoted the construction of a Nitrogen plant within the limits of the localities of San Antonio Cardenas and Nuevo Progreso. The object of this plant was to inject Nitrogen gas into the operating oil wells in the area of the off shore rigs in the Campeche Sound. Since the construction of the plant required stone material for the building of the foundation, it was projected to obtain the material from the state of Tabasco. How- ever, there are two version of why this did not happen: one was that the community was offered aquaculture projects in return for the stone and the other, that the communities did not allow the entry of the material from the state of Tabasco, proposing to be supplied by their own communities. This situation implied a series of negotiations between the company and the region’s population which resulted in the building of earthen ponds fed by the aquifer, with the argument that two purposes would be obtained: provide material for the Nitrogen plant and generate an infrastructure for the farming of water species. The benefits went to the “ejidos” San Antonio Cardenas and Nuevo Progreso and did not include fishing organization. The Direction of Protection Area of Flora and Fauna Terminos Lagoon and the Investigation Unit of the u n a m participated in the execution of this program. A group from the “ejido” San Antonio Cardenas formed in 2000 nine societies of social solidarity whose object was aquaculture. They obtained the permits for the construction of earthen ponds for the farming of water species, which included the exploit of stone material, which created in incongruous situation since the social organizations were formed by a population with an agricultural profile, none of them with any experience in the handling of water species, either fisherman or aquaculture. It is concluded that there was more interest in the gains from the sale of stone material than a productive vocation. All considered, the cultivation of hormone tilapia was driven in this “ejido” in 20 m3 floating cages, in aquifer earthen ponds. The obtained production is of 0.10 to 0.22 t/cage two crops per year, with a yearly income of 60 000 to 420 000 pesos, exclusively for sale. Price of fresh whole mojarra is of 30 pesos/kg and is commercialized at the farm. The partners have 1 to 3 years experience in this activity (Amador, 2006:9) The same happens in 2000 in the Atasta locality when a social organization constituted in aquaculture production cooperative reproduces the same scheme. It is allowed to build infrastructure for the cultivation of water species even when it is in identical situation to the referred social organizations.

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The Societies of Social Solidarity: El gavilan pescador, Martin Pescador, el Girasol de Ciudad del Carmen and Sociedad Cooperativa de Pescadores de Nuevo Progreso, formed before 1995 and related to extractive fishing, they organize in 2003 and jointly obtain authorization for the building of aquaculture infrastructure. Different from other organizations in the area, there is registry since 1996, of their interest in performing aquaculture activities. Another strong impulse was given to aquaculture through the Ministry of Agri- culture, Husbandry, Rural Development and Food and the Ministry of Fishing of the state of Campeche. During the period 2000-2006 those programs destined to develop aquaculture in the state – such as Alianza Contigo -, had their own operational rules, one of which establishes that the producers with support expectation should be constituted into a social organization. We observe that in the Atasta Peninsula the producers’ organization is developed in two moments: one previous to the aquaculture infrastructure when the fishing organizations were dedicated to the extraction of species, concentrated in the localities of Nuevo Campechito and Emiliano Zapata; the other during the construction phase of the infrastructure related to the oil activity, when the commercialization of stone products fomented the aquaculture-fishing activity, to which the localities of San Antonio Cardenas, Atasta and Puerto Rica joined. Thirty three tilapia fattening units in the municipalities of Campeche, Carmen, Candelaria, Champoton, Palizada and Tenabo5 joined the two types of aquaculture that were promoted in the state of Campeche. The rural type was developed in the micro-region of Atasta, Carmen municipality. However, in spite of this deployment of initiatives from the different levels of government and international organizations, these organizations are not functioning as was expected. Examples are the Feminine Units of Rural Production (u f p r ), where, according to the specialists, “there is a lack of good production practices and deficient administration, which impacts profitability. A deficiency is observed in activity synchronization and technical assistance as well as on time delivery of young fish and balanced feed”. Therefore, they propose that “it is necessary to promote technology transfer and improve technical support, training, finance and organization level of theu f p r to improve production and profitability expectations” (Amador, 2006: 1-9).

5 With private and state investment, this infrastructure registered from 1998 to June 2003, production volumes of: 683 tons of shrimp, 492 of tilapia, 245 000 ornamental fish and 3 576 000 baby tilapias.

A series of questions arise from this situation: Why do they lack good production practices? Why is there a deficient administration? Why aren’t the promotional and technical advisory activities synchronized? Why do they depend on young animals and balanced feed? If they have had the presence of international organizations and support from the different levels of government why are they still in this situation? The dimension of the problem is structural: they incur in the same problems of the past. The development practices, either in agriculture or fishing, are sustained on a dichotomy vision of the activity: backward/advanced, artisan technology/modern technology, popular knowledge/expert knowledge; from modernization’s point of view, the first element of each one of these dichotomist relations is synonymic to backwardness and the second to advancement. Therefore, this view generates dependency towards technologies, supply of young animals and balanced feed. The experts inform us that the supply of young tilapias is mainly from two sources: Aquasur in the state of Campeche and the laboratory of the Juarez Autonomous University of Tabasco. Balanced feed is bought in Villahermosa Tabasco, either from Purina or Silver Cup with a cost of 6 000 pesos/ton; however, there are serious availability problems, which represent a production risk.

Isla Aguada – historical fishing tradition and urbanization process

Isla Aguada has not participated in the modernization process via aquaculture. Even though it has received support offers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Husbandry, Rural Development, Fishing and Food, and from the Ministry of Fisheries of the state of Campeche, the participation of the fishing organizations in this activity is null, with the exception of Palo Alto where aquaculture activities have been developed.

Associations in Isla Aguada, Carmen, Campeche 2005. Type of Organization Number of Organizations Societies of Social Solidarity 12 Cooperative Societies 16 Licensees 12 Source: Federal Fishery Office, Isla Aguada, Ministry of Agriculture, Husbandry, Rural Development, Fishing and Food, 2005.

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This is mainly due to the fact the fishing is a historical tradition in this locality and the participation of Isla Aguada’s people and fishing organizations is renowned in the catch of scales fish, which provided close to 25% of the fishing statistics for 2005. Isla Aguada has a 32 km littoral, which is 25% of the state’s total; and its economical support is base on different fisheries of which scale fishing is predominant. All along its coast rich and varied species are caught, among which we find, pompano, snook, Spanish mackerel, snapper, grouper, striped mullet, and white mullet, crab, blue crab and shrimp, among others.6 The locality has 237 minor boats and around 28 fishing organization, according to s a g a r p a ’s census of 2005, which group 700 fishermen. The fishing sector is organized into three types of judicial character organizations: licensees, cooperative societies and societies of social solidarity.

Fishing and evolution of fishing organization

To understand the complexity of the social, economical, and cultural condition of the fishing in these coastal zones, it is necessary to relate to its most recent historical process. At the beginning of the 90’s a group of people established themselves in Isla Aguada with the purpose of catching scale species giving them an added value through the process of salting/drying. These people, who came mainly from the state of Chiapas, created a dwelling on the banks of the Terminos Lagoon, which was called “colonia chiapaneca”. These people from Chiapas exploited low commercial value species, which were not exploited by the locals; they formed commercial webs with the purpose of sending the product to the state of Chiapas, which allowed them to capitalize on the effort and consolidate with time the formal commercialization of the processed product. To this day, the relevance of their activity generates certain disputes due to the fact that the colony has grown with time due to a constant migration. Due to the importance of the fishing sector in Isla Aguada, by the middle of the 90’s decade, the state government largely invested in building a shelter port to protect and put order in the docking of boats. The fishermen actually use this infrastructure that in 2002 allowed the establishment of an ice factory due to the demand for the preservation and conservation of the catch. In 2005 with the rehabilitation of

6 This fishing infrastructure has the following infrastructure and support services: 15 refrigerated warehouses, or modular refrigerators; 2 ice factories; 1 primary process center; 7 salting and drying units; 1 dock; 5 fishing centers; and 25 related businesses and industries.

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Urbanization problem

Modern concepts arrive into Isla Aguada via urban settlements. Of a total of 1 161 dwellings, 731 have drinking water and 1 022 have electricity. An important data is the beginning of an accelerated urbanization process with the building of housing projects. The project that is taking place in this locality has a use of soil permit dated July 29, 2006. An example is the project San Jose that will have approximately 1 500 houses; approximately the same number of dwellings in Isla Aguada: a new social problem.

Cultural show down?

The tradition that Isla Aguada is a fishing locality with its cultural and social practices intertwined with the fishing activity is about to enter a process of cultural con- frontation, as has happened in the other localities of the Atasta Peninsula, with the arrival of the oil activity. In these localities coexistence goes from a level of tension to a conflict level, due to segregation and exclusion; social practices differentiate the inhabitants, the generational gap broadens to the point of having no contact, local knowledge is relegated and the modern expert knowledge set the standards of the productive, social, cultural and religious relations.

Final Considerations

It is evident that the modernizing process has structured the productive processes with intensive production practices through the appliance of technology, but at the same time is has structured the social and cultural processes instilling in the population dichotomy visions and inhibiting their local knowledge, fishing techniques and coexistence and collective participation practices. The fishermen are as well facing the challenge of consolidating an organizational structure within the reformed legal frame which deprives them of exclusivity in the exploitation of fishing resources. The challenge of establishing a sustainable management of the natural and fishing resources as well as encouraging decision making of the population that exploits them

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is a utopia, but it means changing the paradigms they have been working with the population for others that provide the acknowledgement of their ways of knowledge building and understanding of the local knowledge. On the contrary, the power and dominion of the State through the reforms that legitimize progress and rationalization of this new era of modernization will persist, in which the agents and social actors with pre-established assigned roles – for example, the citizen, the politician and the bureaucrat as typically ideal people of the modern market democracy – multiply their roles and change their functions but are incapable of showing social coordination mechanisms in front of the market’s dynamics, as the velocity of changes and emergence of new type of processes overcome the stability and permanence of institutions (Cfr. Lechner et al., 1999:12). The above mentioned is the condition that blurs identities and buries the social subject; a particularly relevant situation if the State’s role is taken into account as one of the greatest builders in the historical moment of modernity, as well as its function in the constitution of national sovereignty and as the agent in charge of offering mo- tives, symbols and projects conducive to and guaranteeing national social cohesion. However, the changes enclosed in the expression “State Reform”, apart from transforming the objective conditions in the reproduction of the State and capital, have disrupted the threads of these production chains, in such a way that uncertainty regarding multiple phenomena has taken over the conscience of the actors. At the same time, the actors modify the routines to which sense of time had accustomed them to, according to certain productive processes, and alter or loose the certainty parameters traditionally produced by the State. Paradoxically, at the same time that the State transforms its function of giving coherence to the historical and national identity, the leading groups and mass communication bombard the population with the promotion of traditional values linked to family, nation, country, property, success, excellence and religion (Lechner et al. 1999:12-13). In this manner the State reforms pass as objective transformation, as well as the subjectivities. For sure there are different ways to improve the links between several categories of investigators working in government agencies, universities and o n g ´s; however, from our social practice in the investigative experience we propose an inter-disciplinary dialogue that will allow overcoming the disciplinary work as truth and legiti- mization criteria.7 We must emphasize that what prevails in the region in reference 7 To this day, science in general, as well as the areas of social life, is confronted to the questioning of its universal character, in such a way that the paradigms have given way to others more critical and inclusive in which the role of junior vision of knowledge goes hand in hand with the expert ways of knowledge construction. cfr. Villegas, Javier and Adriana Solis. “De la explicaciòn al encuentro con el otro”. Paper presented in the National Encounter in Social Sciences, Memories, Mexico, 2006. 296 297 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o to field of knowledge, is the field of Natural Sciences. In this sense we advocate an inter-disciplinary and knowledge dialogue capable of ignoring politics, creating bonds with the collaborators in the communities, that is, investigations born and developed from a work that builds diagnosis, action proposals emanated from the community not only based on vertical actions induced by supra-national policies that modify the lives of the inhabitants of the coastal municipalities. If work is based on this utopia, it may be possible to build new paradigms that transcend the unfulfilled promise of progress and development through universal technologies beyond instrumental rationality. The future of decentralization in the Yucatan Peninsula and in Mexico, is related to the system’s structural crisis but also with the crisis present in the inter-subjectivities of a collective imagination that has lived the loss – (Presidential six year) period, after period – not only of legitimacy, but also credibility of the State and the supra-national agents with which it articulates. The exercise of democracy is stained by this condition, and the power relations maintain structures that certain groups will not allow to change so easily. Decentral- ization will have to transcend the rearrangement of the new roles that the actors and social agents will develop facing the challenge of the new millennium that implies overcoming the social asymmetries in the Yucatan Peninsula and the country, which are becoming more abysmal.

Bibliography

Amador del Ángel, L.E., 2006. Diagnóstico de las unidades femeniles de producción rural (u f p r ) de Mojarra Tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) en la Península de Atasta, Campeche, México. Facultad de Ciencias Pesqueras, Universidad Autónoma del Carmen (México), en Comunicación Científica -c i v a . (http://www.civa2006.org), 1-9 Barman, Z., 2005. Modernidad y ambivalencia, Barcelona, Anthropos-c i i c h u n a m Beck, U., 1998. La sociedad del riesgo, Barcelona, Paidós. Berman, M., 1988. Todo lo sólido se desvanece en el aire, España, Siglo x x i . Comboni Salinas, S., et al., 2007. Modernidad y Diversidad cultural, México, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. Echeverría, B., 2000.. La modernidad de lo barroco, México, Era. Giddens, A., 1993. Consecuencias de la modernidad, Madrid, Alianza editorial. Lechner, N. et al., 1999. Reforma del Estado y coordinación social. Plaza y Valdés Editores, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, u n a m , México. Leriche Guzmán, L., 1995. Isla del Carmen: La Historia indecisa de un puerto exportador. El caso de la industria camaronera (1947–1982). Gobierno del Estado de Campeche. Uni- versidad Autónoma del Carmen. Instituto de Cultura de Campeche. Campeche, México.

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Lobato González, P.M., 1999. Reflexiones sobre la pesca ribereña. In: A. Nadal Egea. Esfu- erzo y captura. Tecnología y sobreexplotación de recursos marinos vivos. El Colegio de México. México. Luna, M., and R. Tirado, 2004. Modos de toma de decisiones en las organizaciones sociales y desempeño político. In: II Congreso Latinoamericano de Ciencia Política, México, Me- morias en versión digital. pp. 1-15. Melville, R., 1984. Condiciones laborales de los pescadores camaroneros en Ciudad del Car- men, Campeche. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología So- cial. Col. Cuadernos de la Casa Chata. Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares. Núm. 112. México. Nadal Egea, A., 1996. Esfuerzo y captura. Tecnología y sobreexplotación de recursos marinos vivos. El Colegio de México. México. Touraine, A., 1997. ¿Podremos vivir juntos?, México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1997. Villegas, J., and A. Solís, 2006. De la explicación al encuentro con el otro, Ponencia presentada en el Encuentro Nacional en Ciencias Sociales, Asociación para la acreditación y certificación de las Ciencias Sociales, A.C. a( c c e c i s o ) Memorias, México. Sierra, C., and J. Sierra Zepeda, 1977. Reseña histórica de la pesca en México (1821–1977), Departamento de Pesca, México.

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300 Local planning strategies: Carmen Municipal planning Institute: facing the decentralization challenges in Campeche

Guillermo J. Villalobos and Cristina Jaber Monges

Introduction

he anarchic historical development of the cities in Mexico has caused a great damage to the quality of life of its inhabitant and ecosystems by generating a Tdisorderly growth of the cities and conflicts in the use of soil and resources, usually establishing the irregular settlements and then the public services and communication means, not analyzing seriously the natural and territorial ability of the soil, for the development of productive activities as well as for the establishment of human settlements; much less count with a historical registry of the state of the ecosystems before they were modified. Planning in Mexico has also fronted several problems in its instrumentation (Guerra and Graza, 2002): • The inconvenience that the municipal governments usually limit their actions to the feasible within their three year mandate, which limits the execution of necessary works and projects for long and medium term development of such communities.

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• The little or null continuity of the projects of the preceding administrations, especially if these had a different political platform from the following one. These problems are substantially reduced by incorporating the citizens, in an institutional manner into the design, rectory and activation of the municipal plans. • The improper use of faculties by public servants to favor and/or prejudice citizens through location definition and/or reach of public works that are part of the development plans, without taking into account the aptness of the soil nor the existence of other incompatible productive activities or risks. • Favoritism performed by public servants in the assignment of contracts for product supply or services required to perform the works of the municipal plans. • Abuse of faculties giving premature or selective information access of the local development plans to certain individuals who take advantage of this privileged information for their own profit in detriment of common good. The structure of this chapter is formed by an introduction and three sections. In the first section we show, in a general way the current situation and decentralization challenge in the state of Campeche. In the second section we board the local planning strategies, taking as study case the i m p l a n -Carmen, that is, we present the focal initiative of the Carmen Municipality and the advances achieved up to this date of the planning instrument; and the municipality’s socio-demographic profile, including its ethnic constitution. In the third section we offer the chapter’s conclusions and indicate the opportunities offered by this instrument at municipal level, with future positive repercussions for the superior levels of government (state and Federal).

Current situation and decentralization challenges in Campeche

An important challenge to solve at national level is to get a greater participation commitment from the local communities at municipal level, and that the municipal bodies of environmental management become professional and articulate the community’s participation with the municipal government. The state of Campeche requires new citizen’s participation schemes and instruments, built, consensual and validated by the communities, since the current ones are wasted and do not count with the citizen’s trust. The state and municipal governments should learn to generate, care and contribute to a new culture of citizen’s participation and evaluation. As of the communities or civil society, they should improve their

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level of education, information, propositional participation, fortify the ethic values, co-responsibility and participation consistency and prepare for self evaluation and external evaluation of the appliance of these instruments and decentralization success. All of this to be able to increase their participation’s pertinence and influence in the collective instruments that will aide the decentralization of public policies. The current linking degree between the different levels of decision making in Campeche regarding environmental management (use, management, and administration) is in the medium to low level. It is still necessary to give greater consistency to the spaces that have incorporated citizen’s participation therefore, the state and municipal offices should build bridges of trust, mutual communication and better coordination with the Federal offices, having as an articulating component citizen’s participation. A good example is the State Ministry of Ecology that has found a good communication and work space with the Federal office ofs e m a r n a t in the Campeche State Nucleus of the Consulting Council of Sustainable Development, which is being better used by the citizens. Regarding the participation of non governmental organizations of environmental character, unfortunately for Campeche, they have not gone through a process of growth and maturity like in other states like Yucatan and Quintana. There are very few successful experiences; therefore their influence in a decentralization process of environmental management has little significance even though it is not absent.

Local planning strategies: the i m p l a n Carmen case

As a result of almost forty seven years of initiatives (international, national and local), programs, academic induction processes, and sensitization towards decision makers and greater social participation, more informed and oriented, conditions have generated in the three levels of Mexico’s government of political will, financial investment and a normative judicial work that has allowed the incorporation of ordinance and territorial planning public policies in their environmental agendas, and that in their operational charts, legislations and rulings they create areas, directions, schemes and planning processes, such as the ecological-territorial ordinance programs of the country as well as regional, state, municipalities and communities. Citizens’ participation in governmental management has become an inescapable need of our times, which should be understood as inherent to the governing process, that is, it must be included as an essential component. It is part of the great challenges of municipal institution modernizing policy. It is also a fact that the current instruments available to the municipalities to link with so-

302 303 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o ciety are anachronistic and insufficient, which is creating a political tension between the social participation needs and the effective capacity of the municipal government to become and inclusive institution. The impulse and increase of citizen’s participation and co-responsibility in the rendering of accounts and follow up of the three levels of government is recognized as a very effective strategy to lessen corruption opportunities in public management. This civic participation, known as social comptroller, is of great value in the generation of a culture of transparency, account rendering and continuous improvement in the governmental exercise. The permanent crisis of urban development in the municipalities of the Mexican states motivated the local governments of the 2000-2006 Federal administration to promote the initiative and intervention of the investigation and planning institutes. This vision is new in Mexico, but it exists in Europe since the 70’s. In our country the first municipality to apply this new vision was Ciudad Juárez six years ago, followed by Leon, Guanajuato; the list of municipalities with decentralized planning instruments has grown; the Mexican Association of Municipal Planning Institutes was created as a coordination and cooperation instance for sustainable development in the Mexican municipalities, with annual meetings for interchange of experiences, financial options and inter-municipal collaboration (Ruiz Esparza, 2001). The municipal planning institutes are decentralized public organisms of the municipal administration, in which the development efforts performed by the public administration, social and private sector and general society are structured. These institutes are generally directed by a council formed by citizens and public servants that help the municipal authority in the recommendation, definition and execution of the communities’ development programs (Ruiz Esparza, 200l). In the ideal case, these institutes are operated by extremely qualified personnel (or in qualification process) in matters of strategic and participative planning, which gives the necessary technical knowledge to formulate development plans and projects for the municipalities, incorporating the citizens in the formulation of those works. These institutes also provide an integrating vision to the planning process, as they contemplate, from the users’ reality, the economical, social, environmental and territorial aspects, among others, to give coherence and in depth solution to the diverse problems of the community. The objectives of these institutions are to guarantee continuity and efficiency of the planning processes on the short, medium and long term; to be a technical support for the municipal government; make the governmental communication more efficient; and promote communal actions that will contribute to the viability of an

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ordered and sustainable municipal development with really informed citizen participation. We must emphasize that this did not happen in the beginning of the first municipal planning institutes: the participant citizens were expectant of the proposals from the municipal authorities, and would not inform their co-citizens or the sectors they represented (Ruiz Esparza, 2001). A grounded planning with an available area of continuity within the municipal chart has not been easy in the municipal case, particularly in those of the state of Campeche. The main limitations, in the view of the authors, are: a) the short life time of a municipal government, which in the case of Mexico is on three years; b) the lack of capable human frames with the adequate profiles; c) the limited autonomy in decision making without having fear of retaliation from the local power groups that see their economical interests affected, or from the political parties; d) the legal frame that does not bestow the sufficient competence attributions; e) lack of finance for these planning exercises; f) the absence of enabling channels and quick answers in order to feed back with the participant sectors of society; g) the political reticence of some local officers to participate with society in public consult workshops, particularly if they are programmed during electoral times; h) the lack of municipal government objective evaluation mechanisms by civil society, among others (Mu- ñoz, 2004). In the particular case of the state of Campeche, as a sign of conjunction between the changes of public policies of the three levels of government, the change in the understanding of the real function and pertinence of the municipalities, and the fact of incorporating the empowerment advances of civil society regarding their own development vision, not only present but also future, the case of Carmen Municipality excels, where citizen’s culture is fortified and local management is supported in the formulation of viable public policies related to institutionalized planning and civil participation (Carmen Municipal Government, 2004). The development problems in the Carmen municipality cannot only be faced with governmental action. Such important themes as protection and promotion of the environment, generation and diversity of jobs, the economical activation, regional equilibrium, poverty fighting, contribution to the whole state education revolution, and the micro-regional development, among others, require the whole society’s coordinated will and effort. The differences between the micro-regions (Carmen, Atasta Peninsula, Isla Agua- da, Sabancuy and Mamantel, among the main ones) of the Carmen municipality, urge the municipal government to define a resource assignment proposal for these localities in order to fulfill the objectives and strategies of the Municipal Planning Institute, in conjunction with the Municipal and State Development Program.

The municipal head (Ciudad del Carmen) located in the west side of the island of Carmen, has the greatest development, the greatest human settlement problem, the greatest demand of public services, and major security problems, where the oil activity and associated services located therein weigh significantly in the municipal policies, programs and budgets.

Socio-demographic profile of Carmen Municipality

A general view to the social and demographic profile of the Carmen municipality will help to understand the decentralization challenges and the public policies especially those corresponding to environmental management problems in a municipality and state where the oil activity and fishery are the dominant activities. Carmen Municipality has a territorial extension of 9 720.09 km2, which represents 17.1% of the state’s total surface. It is second regarding population in the state of Campeche (Table 1). The municipality has approximately 13 localities with a population of more than 1,000 people, according to i n e g i ’s 2005 II Count of Popula- tion and Housing. Table 1. Population density in Carmen Municipality and its main localities -2005. Locality No. of inhabitants Total for the Municipality 199 988 Ciudad del Carmen 154 197 Sabancuy 6 159 Isla Aguada 4 688 Nuevo Progreso 4 492 San Antonio Cardenas 3 319 Atasta 2 096 Chicbul 1 543 Checubul 1 541 Francisco Villa (Mamantel) 1 208 El Aguacatal (Chumpán) 1 189 Licenciado Gustavo Diaz Ordaz (18 de Marzo) 1 194 Emiliano Zapata 1 126 General Abelardo L. Rodriguez (El Jobal) 1,023 Source: Modified from the INEGI, 2006 II Count of Population and Housing.

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From pre-Hispanic times, the dynamic of human settlements in the area was maintained in relation to the prevailing economical conditions. Different studies argue that the settlements west of the Terminos Lagoon, together with the towns of Tabasco’s low lands, were part of one of the most active commercial zone in Central America, further decimated by the conquest, did not populate again in the same magnitude during the colony and only some activities such as livestock and forestry motivated the establishment of some ranches and camps. The economical conditions that maintained the region with low levels of population were modified with the beginning of intensive fishing of shrimp at the end of the 30’s, which strongly influenced the regional economical indexes. Such activities made Ciudad del Carmen the second most important urban centre in the state. Later, after the discovery and exploit of the Campeche oil fields, Ciudad del Car- men became the administrative center for the activities of Petroleos Mexicanos (p e - m e x ) in the area. The strong migration resulting from this situation caused an accelerated population and urban surface growth: the expansion rate went from 0.08% to 1.7% between 1970 and 1990.

Ethnic groups

More than 25 indigenous languages are spoken in Carmen municipality. A total of 2,987 inhabitants speak an indigenous language; the predominant ethnic group is the Chol with 1 731 inhabitants, the Mayan people are in second place. With the municipal’s territorial re-ordinance due to the creation of the new municipality of Candelaria that took place on July 1st, 1998, the total population was of 156 587 inhabitants, 50.4% men and 49.6% women, which means a 12.86% decrease. The birth rate in this municipality is of 34.6 births per 1 000 inhabitants; mortality rate is of 3.7 deaths per 1 000 inhabitants. In contrast, it is also the most vulnerable micro-region to the effects of global climatic change and to extreme events such as hurricanes and tropical storms (Figure 1). On the contrary, inland micro- regions, located south of the municipality with low density population (Mamantel, Aguacatal, among others) have insufficient support for the sustainable development. Carmen’s municipality sustainable development planning should be founded on an intense and responsible citizen’s participation in order to effectively transform the economical and social reality of the municipality, according to the values, principles and aspirations of the Carmen citizens.

Figure 1. Susceptibility and risk map in the face of meteorological threats. Source: Taken from “Palacio Aponte, 2007” in p o e t – Development in Carmen. Citizen’s participation in the development planning allows the different social groups to know and reconcile their development visions and establish agreements regarding objectives, strategies, projects and priority actions in a harmonious manner with the state and national development. Citizen’s participation is also fundamental in the permanent vigilance of the fulfillment of agreements by a new Federalism.

The i m p l a n -Carmen: objectives, goals and judicial frame.

The i m p l a n -Carmen was created and formed in September, 2005, by the Carmen Municipality in its 2003-2006 cycles. It has the mission to “head the integral development of Carmen” in the long term, generating synergy in the social organization, in conjunction with the government, through the promotion of a strategic planning culture that will allow a sustainable and inclusive future for the inhabitants of the Carmen Municipality (Carmen Municipal Government, 2007). The strategic plan-

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ning of social, urban, rural and economical development is considered in interaction and coexistence with the natural environment where the municipality is located, and in this manner order the action on the territory and natural resources and participative build a development model adaptable to the changes, needs and growth of the Carmen population. i m p l a n -Carmen has the objective to “build a decentralized public organism that will promote and regulate the planning processes for the integral and sustainable development of the Carmen Municipality”. As it is the inclusive link between society and the municipal government, it is intended that it articulates the community’s demands through the representatives of the different sectors in the diverse planning spaces, that it has continuity on the long and medium term and not be a program instance of only three years (the length of time of the municipal governments in Mexico). Its organic structure is formed by a Government Organism, a Planning De- liberation Council and a Technical Body (Carmen Municipal Government, 2004). If we recognize that, to this day, sensitization and citizen’s culture in healthy societies are based on the principles of co-responsibility and self-regulation to promote and increase a kind and conscious social regulation that will redound in a culture of participation and functional relations (neither dependent nor coercive) between the local government and the society, it is fundamental that all the society in the Carmen municipality bonds, fortifies and channels their citizen’s nets with i m p l a n -Carmen. Regarding the judicial frame and according to its rulings i m p l a n -Carmen has the following objectives (Carmen Municipal Government, 2004): a) Help the Municipality in the fulfillment of the functions bestowed by the Orga- nic Law of the State’s Municipalities, in planning matters, through the development of projects, opinions and recommendations for the municipality, and if such is the case, for their approval. b) Advise the municipality in matters of Integral Planning with a short, medium and long term vision, through the Municipal Planning System. c) Design the methodology for the development of plans, programs and other instruments of the Municipal Planning Systems, as well as the investigation projects and information systems that will sustain the investigations. d) Give technical advice to the Municipality and its offices in the instrumentation and appliance of the norms originated from the Municipal Planning System. e) Promote participative planning, coordinating with c o p l a d e m u n the consultation to the citizen’s organizations, and f) Promulgate the Municipal Planning System, the investigation projects and the information systems.

These i m p l a n -Carmen responsibilities embodied in its regulations, establish the competence for it to be the linking instrument between the Municipal Administra- tion and civil society regarding the growth planning of the municipality, as well as the instance of transversal crossing with the offices of the three levels of government from the local action in the municipal development planning theme. i m p l a n -Carmen bases its functioning in two main programs: 1) the Municipal Ecological-Territorial Ordinance Program; and 2) the long term Strategic Program, in conjunction with the private programs: Directive Urban Program, Urban Code and Use of Territory Model, Historical Center Revitalization Program and Mobility Program; and in transversal articulation with other Federal and state development programs, as well as sectors, such as the Flora and Fauna Conservation and Manage- ment Program of the Terminos Lagoon and p e m e x programs, among others. Finally, we conclude that in order to make the Municipal Development Plan operative with a vision that transcends the three year governmental periods, it is necessary to generate the programs, strategic projects, actions, priorities, goals and program deadlines, fulfillment indicators, statistics of benefited population and financial structures. Strategies of transversal coordination are also needed between the participant organisms and the functions, under the articulated work and permanent communication between the Municipal executor and the executing municipal offices and their guidance and citizens’ recommendations, as the i m p l a n -Carmen pretends to be. The main challenges for the viability and permanence of i m p l a n -Carmen are: • Viable strategies and actions for its rapid instrumentation and follow-up by the organized civil society; open functional communication channels with the municipal government offices; • Rapidly professionalize its operative frames that will contribute in the instrumentation of the programs; open communication and broadcasting channels with the citizenship; generate and maintain citizens’ trust; • Operate in a transparent manner and with results that will give a real sustainable and fair municipal development, to ensure its permanence and continuity after the three year periods; • Design evaluation and follow up instruments to measure the results of the works and make them known; improve citizens’ participation within the i m - p l a n ; • Endure the sector or political pressures that do not uphold sustainable projects or, that only propose high benefit programs at short term for minorities at high social and/or environmental costs;

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• Work with sustainable and fair decentralization strategies in its development as well as in the public policies towards the other micro-regions facing events, processes and situations that will modify the economy and municipal growth (to this day it has been centered in Carmen Island), such as the depletion of oil exploration/exploitation, the depletion/transition of shrimp fishery, the impact of the effects of global climatic change in the long and medium terms, among others.

Conclusions

During the last 12 years the State of Campeche has had some outstanding results in decentralization and de-concentration of the environmental management and administration. However, the process has not been concluded from the Federal to the State level, much less to the ideal level of management, which is the municipal or local, but it is important to emphasize that there already is a first promising exercise, which is the i m p l a n -Carmen. This process has not fully reached the municipal environmental management and administration, but that is not only due to municipal responsibility but also as to how the communities are informed, sensitized, board and adopt the themes with a co-responsible and permanent participation. To have a decentralized space that will allow direct consultations and information is an essential requisite to start building a municipal policy that will attend coordinately with the other two levels of government, the environmental sustainability. The first step has been taken; the challenge is now in discerning how to improve it and gave it continuity beyond a three year municipal administration. Secondly, the first municipal ecological territorial ordinance programs constitute another positive aspect to be articulated with these municipal planning systems with the citizens. Thirdly, some prompt emblematic activities have been performed on the municipal potentials. Among them are: p r o m i a (Integral Water Management Program) for the municipality of Campeche; the generation and fortification of the Municipal Planning Institute of Carmen, in the Carmen municipality; the municipal support to the differential collection and recycling programs in the Atasta region within the Carmen municipality; and the State government’s actions to order and preserve its coastal zone (Integral Coastal Zone Management Program), for which it looks for articulation of wills and competence with the Federal Government.

The proposal of a orientation-recommendation-planning strategy that supports the environmental management-administration at municipal level can be focused on two steps. The first step is to fortify and upgrade the environmental management within the possibilities offered by the current legal frame. And the second step is to commence discussing a reform to that legal frame in the state and municipal scope to determine the environmental competences and establish clear and precise cooperation mechanisms with the Federal Government. We find a range of opportunities to achieve an effective decentralization at municipal level, with clear positive repercussions for the superior instances. Among the most important are: • Fortify, articulate and integrate instruments of municipal public policies (Mu- nicipal Programs of Ecological-Territorial Ordinance, Municipal Develop- ment Plan, Urban Directive Plan, Strategic Program and Conservation and Management Programs of Natural Protected Areas, among the main ones). • Design municipal plans of environmental management accompanies by actions to actualize, train and fortify the municipal technical frames. • Develop and implant a greater coordination and collective function of the three levels of government with the society as well as fortify and give continuity to the general elements of environmental management such as: inventories of the ecosystems and natural resources immersed in the municipalities, schemes of user-payer, contaminator-payer, correction at the originating source, precau- tions, among others. Further of the discussion on the pertinence and priority of ones or others, the first step it to set the question in the collective discussion and broadcast, at municipal level as well as the stations and communities, in coordination with the state and Federal authorities, eliminating the party aspects in search of the municipal common welfare. • Diversify the instruments of environmental management with society’s cooperation and follow up. To conclude, we think that in spite of the obstacles and limitations of any process that involves socio-environmental, economical and political aspects, the i m p l a n -Car- men has great potential as long as it continues working in effort unity with various types of actors (local communities, academics, government, non governmental organizations and international agencies).

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Bibliography

Guerra M., and E. Garza, 2002. Los institutos municipales: Contraloría Social en el Desar- rollo Local. www.funcionpublica.gob.mx/publicaciones/paraleer/gl7/art-operacion.html Gobierno Municipal del Carmen, 2007. i m p l a n -Carmen. http://implancarmen.org/portal/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Ruiz Esparza Saldaña, L. A., 2001. El i m i p y las instituciones de educación superior. t o d o s @ c i c e s e . No. 52. Muñoz, G. R. Innovación gubernamental. México, f c e , 2004.

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Final Conclusion

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316 From panaceas to reflective efforts on decentralization and coastal governance processes

Julia Fraga, Guillermo J. Villalobos, Sabrina Doyon and Ana Garcia

Decentralization: an eminent social and territorial process

he object of the preceding chapters is to inform the readers on the main lines of investigation that face, as central reference, the decentralization of the Tcoastal communities in the Yucatan Peninsula. We are searching to underline the rich experiences of those involved in the various levels of this process, governmental agencies, University centers and Non Government Organizations. The first element that calls our attention is the great complexity that characterizes the relationships between highly diversified groups of users and institutions. When analyzed through a historical focus, as is the case of this publication, there is a clear indication that in the Peninsula, and other parts of Mexico, a centralized system of government has prevailed for a long period of time and still shows significant forms of resilience. On the other hand, there is also evidence that things have been changing for the past two decades and that there is a growing will to promote decentralization. This publication first endeavors to examine these changes in the handling of the coastal areas from and interdisciplinary perspective, putting emphasis not only in the physical characteristics of the areas, but also in the individuals, institutions and social webs that sustain these initiatives. Secondly, it pays attention

317 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o to the coastal areas in order to see up to what point the specification of the users and economical activities can influence in the decentralization processes in comparison to the inland areas (see Colfer and Capistrano, 2007, on decentralization in the forestry area). Thirdly, convinced that in general, many difficulties related to decentralization, are frequently related to a false or blurred distinction between territories and the limits of the social groups that exploit them, we are sustained on a comparative focus that will show that, even though they are included in a common administrative region, the states of Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo cannot develop identical forms of decentralization. As frequently happens in publications, whose initial parts adopt an analytical perspective and observe phenomena at various scales, this conclusion could logically give way to a series of lectures and recommendations. However, the reader should be conscious that, due to the complexity of the situation, it would be presumptuous on our part to pretend to give unquestionable affirmations that could, on a medium term basis, influence the decentralization policies. As indicated in our title, our point is that, in Mexico and other parts of the world the advises of the international agencies following the Rio de Janeiro Conference in the 90’s, frequently originated generalized formulas or remedies that were the base to begin several efforts of decentralization. After many trials and errors, we know that the results are still mitigated. Therefore, as investigators, we are convinced that additional reflexive efforts are needed at analytical and operational levels, expecting that some of our comments may influence in a positive manner the individuals and institutions interested in decentralization. Three main demonstrative axels guide this work. The first one is concerned on a critical history of the decentralization trajectory in Mexico, underlining its experimental character which is, sometimes, contradictory. The second one concerns the relationships between several user groups focused on a scale that goes downwards. As by definition, decentralization implies the transference of responsibilities (decision, administrative, financial, among others) between a series of government levels; a logical way to begin would be with a brief characterization of its internal components and then examine their mutual relationships and, finally underline their positive and negative dimensions. However, due to the great number of studies available on Mexico’s decentralization, especially on the initiatives of the federal government, we will stress the importance on the regional support groups, that is, the representatives of the academic groups, the n g o ´s, and the consulting committees that have been created in these last years. Our intention is to examine in a more profound manner what seems to be an important variable in order to understand the difficulties in implementing the decentralization: a progressive reduced circulation

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of information when the “downwards” focus is used, a situation that implies vertical and horizontal distortions and unbalance among the group’s capabilities to become effective collaborators. The previous chapters already contain several proofs or examples of this situation. The third axel consists in examining how a general system, supposedly operative decentralization can generate many inequalities and asymmetries when applied in a uniform manner in different contexts. In relation to previous affirmation on our limited capacities for analysis in order to understand the great complexity of this process, we would like to, at least, start some reflections on the numerous limiting factors that can influence the consolidation of a decentralization plan. We will therefore, examine how specific intervention mechanisms could be promoted in the three states of the Peninsula, taking into account the importance of their main economical sectors – the oil industry, fishing, and international tourism – and the variable played by the state governmental agencies in the handling of coastal resources. Finally, it is important to underline that, independently from our different disciplinary trajectories, our conclusive notes respond to a common will to reinforce the ties between investigation and public policies within a perspective of balanced decentralization processes that may respond better to the needs of the local population.

The trajectory of environmental decentralization in Mexico: a critical outline

Mexico strengthened its State Reforms regarding environmental situations by modifying its political-institutional structure, in December 1994, by creating the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fishing, just two years after the Rio Conference in ’92. The prior political-institutional structures related with the environment and ecology (the Under Ministry of the Environment created by the end of the 70’ as part of the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Urban Development and Ecology, created in l983 and dismantled in 1992 to form par of the Ministry of Social Development) were strongly dependent on the contamination prevention and control programs in metropolitan areas.1 The early stages of instrumentation of environmental policies in Mexico, with a focus on the “lets go green” is presented to the governmental operations between 1994 and 2000 ( o e c d , 1998 and 2003).

1 What could be called “green agenda” during the last third of the XX century, was attended from the institutional spaces, responsible of agricultural development (particularly the Ministry of Agriculture and Live Stock first and then the Ministry of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources).

These restructurings and openings to environmental processes in the decade of the 90’s with new ministries of the environment are not exclusive to Mexico (Brazil in 1993; Colombia in 1993; Bolivia in 1991; Cuba in 1994). Those restructurings were presented as remedies to the environmental issues and to a good management of natural resources and to obtain a sustainable development and were reproduced at state level with different levels of importance and operation. It is curious to note that the remedies presented as simple solutions to complex problems register long periods of chronic disease at institutional level. Mexico is not exempt of them, especially those that are expressed in the effervescence of civil organizations, public consults, sector programs, state and municipal councils that increase year after year and, that, one hand they are applauded, on the other they are categorized as excesses of citizenship (Olvera, 2007). As indicated by Brañes (2000), a system of environmental management has formed in Mexico, created as a centralized system, by sectors and without social participation, but, lately it has been transformed into a more decentralized and participative system. What are the achievements in the matter of Mexico’s decentralization? Which are the main risks and opportunities generated by decentralization? The answers are not simple, considering the territorial scale (31 states and one Federal District), time factor (1992 to 2007), administrative (federal, state, municipal), supranational (interests of agencies dedicated to philanthropy and development, international agreements) and legal (constitutional rights, laws, regulations and norms) economical (market and social interests), social (depressed areas and poverty), ecological (diverse eco- regions of the country with their water bodies and protected natural areas), among other dimensions. A pioneer in the matter of Mexico’s decentralization, who filled the position of Director in the first Ministry of the Environment, indicates, in relation with decentralization, several key points: 1). without any doubt, decentralization can detonate in the States of the Republic, the regional sustainable development, with the possibility of defining their own development modalities. 2). Decentralization can be a risk when it is not performed with the necessary care and guarantee by the local governments in those functions performed by them according to the law. In these cases, the decentralized natural resources can become – and do become – political and economical booties. 3). In order to avoid these problems it is necessary to consolidate a decentralization policy with the understanding that it is a sustained, long term process for a regional sustainable plan. 4). It is necessary to fortify the capabilities of local authorities and assign them the corresponding technical, material and financial resources.

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5). Decentralization should extend to the municipalities and count with clear and transparent arbitration mechanisms in the case of conflicts as well as having technical support in order to fulfill their functions.2 6). Excess of authority should be avoided in the name of “interest of the nation” and, accept that some federal policies imposed on the local interests would not reflect the original spirit of the Constitution in relation to the interests of the nation. This is in the sense that some attributes that, by nature of the resource, should be reserved exclusively to the Federation, in concordance with the principle of the Federal Pact that establishes that the interests of the nation should always be put in front of the local interests (Carabias andLanda, 2006). Let us see which have been the achievements of decentralization. For the case of Mexico, the modifications to the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium 1996 (decreed in 1998) allow the distribution of the environmental competences between the Federation, the states and the municipalities (Brañes, 2000), and the first big steps are taken in order to activate a decentralization agenda. It is in the year 2000 that it achieves the quality of “institutional passport” in environmental matters, especially with the six year experience of the s e m a r n a p (1994-2000) and s e m a r n a t (2000-2007) (see Robles and collaborators in this publication). Some sectors had already begun with decentralization processes and dis-concentrations prior to the s e m a r n a p emergency, such as the hydraulic sector, especially in the North of the country, by giving user concessions to some irrigation districts. (o e c d 1998). The steps taken for a municipal environmental action started in 1999 with the Municipal Agenda for Environmental Action, published by the Under Ministry of Planning and the General Coordination for Decentralization of the s e m a r n a p ; a kind of informative manual of the municipal environmental program, whose base argument was “the need of the society’s participation in the instrumentation of the environmental programs, legitimacy in the decision making, credibility of the municipal authorities, a closer to reality perception of the problems, and a creation of environmental conscience among the population” (s e m a r n a p , 1999 s/p). A State Decentral- ization Program for each state was developed in 2002 as part of the Environment Institutional Development (Guevara Sanginés, 2003). The initial strategy for decentralization of the environmental administration was to slowly transfer matters of political competence, administrative functions and economical resources from the federal government to state governments and munici-

2 It is important to point out what Robles indicates in relation with this matter “we don’t know which should be the mechanisms for each municipal case”. (Personal comment.).

320 321 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o palities, as well as, in a certain way, to the private sector and non governmental organizations to work resources such as: water, forestry, fishing, and protected natural areas. The reasons for this strategy were the following: the states confront different limitations as to their technical, administrative and financial capabilities in order to perform the new functions bestowed on them according to the 1996 reforms to the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (l g e e p a ); the contributions and budgets of the Federation, states and municipalities for the environment are small, not only in relation to the problems they attend to, but also in comparison with the budget contribution to other sectors of the federal, state and local administrations; the local income generated from environmental rights is confronted to a restrictive judicial regulation, generally centralized. (Guevara Sanginés, 2003). As indicated by Guevara Sanginés (2003) in his article on decentralization in Mexico – and that Robles and collaborators retake in this publication (Chapter 2) – in order to commence this process, high priorities were established: actualization of the state law (homologation with the l g e e p a ); state environmental action plan; and finance, inspection and vigilance mechanisms. Medium priority measures: state ecological ordinances; plans and programs by sectors; the establishment of emissions registry and transference of contaminants, the establishment of a state web of inter- sector coordination for the handling of residues, risk maps and systems of geographical information. Low priority measures: agencies for citizens’ participation; mixed decentralized environmental agencies; fortification of the environmental authority or support to the strengthening of the municipal environmental action; purchase of equipment and training, and state regulation in environmental matters. The decentralization process does not march on its own, and to advance, satisfy- ing these priorities, world institutions have intervened such as p n u d , World Bank, the o e c d and p n u m a . The p n u d , for example, made possible the creation of a Support Unit in the then called Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fishing, to create and negotiate proposals at the World Environment Fund (f m a m ), which resulted in an increase of projects, from 504 000 dollars in 1997 to 29.9 million dollars. This Unit was also responsible for the formulation of the National Strategy for the Environment and strengthened the Support Program for the Decentralization Process in the frame of the new federacy, financed by thef m a m (p n u d , 2002). The problem consists, in good measure, in harmonizing adequately the decentralization requirements and the centralization of the environmental actions, in such a way, that they do not stay as simple, general and abstract proposals. In this sense, there has been an advance in the s e m a r n a t actions related to the beaches and coastline. These were decentralized to the municipalities3 (administration of the federal

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maritime zone – 20 meters counted from the maximum sea level in the Mexican coasts-), since it is there where the majority of the fishing and tourist activities concentrate. This decentralization strategy was justified by fomenting the profitability of a national wealth that was under exploited and increase the municipal income, regulate the fishing and tourist activities and guarantee and adequate ecological care (Diario Reforma, p.12, section A, 2005). The decentralization of the federal maritime land zone is, without any doubt, a relative achievement for the coastal municipalities (relative until it is able to operate successfully at municipal level), but, we must take into account that many of these municipalities have their seats away from the ports, and are dedicated to other inland activities, which does not guarantee that the resources will be distributed in an equal manner allowing growth and overcome their social marginality status: for example, Sisal (Hunucmá), el Cuyo (Tizimín) or Las Coloradas (Río Lagartos) in Yucatan; Isla Arena (Calkiní) in Campeche; or Majahual (Othon P. Blanco) in Quintana Roo. It is important to mention that even though these municipalities have benefited from decentralization of the federal coastal zone, in those cases where they are natural protected areas – such as the Ria Lagartos Biosphere Reserve – the municipalities cannot make decisions and do not have control on the activities and investments made or that could be made in the coast, since these are administrated by the Re- serve’s Direction. Therefore, this decentralization process must be taken with care even in those cases where, apparently it has been successful. The transference of responsibilities, competences and capabilities of superior to inferior government units along with their corresponding capabilities for decision making, plus an incentive logistic, covers a multiple socio-political dimension that does not adjust to a one simple territorial dimension, much less to simple aspects of administrative jurisdiction (the municipalities and their commissars), as it also re- lates to matters of national security. For example, the municipality of Benito Juárez in Quintana Roo, with Cancun as the head of the major tourist center in an international scale (see Campos and collaborators, chapter 12), does not have the same transference process as Río Lagartos in Yucatán where the salt industry, second in the whole country, is located (see Doyon and collaborators, chapter 14). Much less, those emerging tourist communities like Costa Maya in the municipality of Othon P. Blanco in Quintana Roo that is growing with fluxes of migrant population. That community, which in less than six years went from a fishing camp, with 100 people,

3 This negotiation started during the administration of the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fishing, during the last decade of the XX century. It continued later during Vicente Fox’ administration (2001-2006) and it is still unfinished or as a paper proposal.

322 323 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o to a municipality of 1 500 inhabitants, the majority dedicated to service tourism, is amazed by the benefits of decentralization (the income from rights of the federal maritime land zone). This circumstance places the community in controversy with the municipal head (Chetumal), due to its capacity to generate income superior to that of any other municipality in the Peninsula (see Campos and Sosa, chapter 16. We could then affirm that the decentralization agenda for the environmental actions in Mexico has been institutionalized for a decade, if we take into account the judicial normative plan (constitutional precepts, laws, decrees, and rulings), the organizations and conducts of the actors that are not exempt from fragmentation. However, this agenda has also allowed the construction of a system (governance), whose mechanisms of inter-governmental coordination (formal and fiscal), we are beginning to understand in a systemized exercise such as this publication that studies the Yucatan Peninsula case. The decentralization problem is fundamentally political (which natural science is not prepared to understand, and social science lightly understands, especially in the area of environmental action) and is closely attached to the territorial power of the State (many times exceeded by the globalization processes in the world economy). The question whether it will be positive or negative will depend on the multiple focuses, from history to sociology and semiotic (the intricate significance of culture). However, we have to underline that the benefits of decentralization are in democratization with citizens’ participation. From a political point of view, it reinforces the democratic system (decentralization equals more participation) and from the efficiency’s point of view it decongests the central power, eases the administration of matters, that due to closeness are better known and resolved in a more efficient manner. But, it also generates the entry of new transnational actors (new citizens at different adscription and investment levels, that could be individuals requesting concessions to develop environmental goods and services or to purchase land, (supposedly to conserve it better than the peasants),where some perceive these decentralization processes as processes to privatize the economy and the natural resources of the country and as a painful loss of national or local sovereignty (Nadal in La Jornada 2006). In reference to citizens’ participation, there is no doubt that there are environmental action processes in the Yucatan Peninsula (some strong and other considerably weak) but there are also strong barriers that do not allow to perceive that the social and the environment are strongly interconnected. This may be due to the fact that the main promoters of environment are mediated by non governmental institutions, whose strong background comes from Natural Sciences, as indicated by the director of a Marine Park in the Peninsula: “80% of the time is dedicated to perform sociol-

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ogy being biologists”. We hope that, the recent environmental ordinance plan for the Yucatan Peninsula will allow correcting, up to a certain point, the previous trajectory and, will generate more systematic efforts of cooperation between the institution and individuals involved in decisions of the management of their coastal zones.

What can we learn from the bonds between the social actors?

International Agencies

As it happened in many countries during the period following the Rio Conference in the beginning of the 90’s, in Mexico, several international agencies had great influences in the handling of the natural resources. We specifically refer to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (b i d ), the Organization for Coopera- tion and Economical Development (o c d e ) and the United Nations Program for the Development (p n u d ). Close to 150 protected natural areas of different categories were established in a context of rapid transition that did not allow enough time to the decision makers to develop strong implementation strategies. Of this total, 29 are in the Yucatan Peninsula, of which, 19 are of Federal jurisdiction and 10 of state responsibility (see Arellano and collaborators, chapter 8). As it is clearly underlined in the previous chapters, the fact that Mexico is not a country with a federative system but unitary, this implies that it is difficult to identify, due to its great ecological, economical and cultural diversity, management formulas adapted to regional or local conditions through which a real decentralization could be consolidated. In many cases, a constant institutional change is combined with limited human and economical resources, which mainly generates experimental formulas. How- ever, these agencies have been able to sensitize the authorities in the need to under- take several initiatives in environmental management; they are still lacking direction where the “conservation and development” lines could be reduced -as indicated by Cordoba and Ordoñez in chapter 5. It is important to remember that the international agencies not only interact directly with the various ministries of the Mexican government, but also back several initiatives of a great number of non governmental organizations (o n g ), whose objectives not always demand a firm public participation in the decision making, as well as that many of them are oriented towards the preservation of the bio-diversity. The mistrust towards these international agencies is present in several communities that form part of natural protected areas, the close relationship between these agencies and the federal and state governments generate

324 325 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o a situation of diffused clientele, which in most cases becomes a ticket to prestige and boss-client relationship for the local communities. As in other places, the role played by the international agencies in the coastal management of Mexico is very complex and the results cannot be easily systemized. If on one hand the call for a more effective decentralization is present in many discourses and initiatives of the political authorities, the results are still characterized by a partial and experimental content; what is happening in the Yucatan Peninsula illustrates this situation. Following is an exposure of the central aspects that derive from the analysis and reflection of the case studied in the Peninsula.

Government agencies and consulting councils

When the Mexico’s coastal management is boarded, it is necessary to take into account the fact that many ministries are involved, due to the vast marine zones and the important role they play in the national economy, especially in relation to oil, tourism and fishing. This situation results in a complex and fluctuating administrative system, where the level of decentralization is very variable: some ministries have state offices and others don’t, with under-ministries whose rule could or not be of national or regional level. In such a way, that in order to respond to the international agencies, several ministries have established, through committees of citizens participation, public consult mechanisms in order to reinforce their initiatives. What calls our attention, is the number of those committees (c c n d s , c c d r s , Council Advi- sors of a n p , c o p l a d e s , c o p l a d e m u n , Inter-municipal Alliances, i m p l a n , Society of Coastal Municipalities, Fishing Committees, Councils of Basin, Local Civil Asso- ciations, among others), and their lack of coordination, without mentioning that their composition and responsibilities may vary from one ministry to the other (see Guz- man and collaborators in chapter 9). As mentioned by Robles, “they seem trapped in a false simulation of representation that hinders what could be considered as a real collaboration” (2007:1). On his part, Olvera indicates that “the notion of citizen’s participation has been confused with the form of direct democracy” and that many of these committees “were taken as experiments that shares a certain lack of institution- alism, a total lack of political support and the absence of sufficiently strong social actors in order to impose their conditions to the public sector” (2007:5 and 11). It is also important to underline that, with the central government changes oc- curring in Mexico every six year, administrative modifications are registered having consequences in the coastal management. A good example was the creation of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (s e m a r n a t ) in 1994 and then the

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Ministry of Agriculture, Husbandry, Rural Development and Feeding (s a g a r p a ) in 2000 (see chapter 11, Fraga and collaborators). As clearly indicated by Guzman and collaborators in chapter 9, the fishing administration through c o n a p e s c a , recently decided to locate its functioning in the Northern Pacific region by transferring its office to Mazatlan, which has generated problems in the Gulf of Mexico and Carib- bean states, mainly because the producers are facing greater transaction costs. Even though, in this case, we can speak of a certain form of decentralization, it is in fact a re-centralization in the most important fishing region of the country to the expense of other less favored regions.

The academic media

Many investigators are strongly implicated in several government initiatives related to decentralization, especially those related to environmental management. In the Yucatan Peninsula there are several institutions, such as e p o m e x -u a c , c i n v e s t a v , u a d y , u q r o o , e c o s u r , i t m , u n a m , c i e s a s , whose investigators have kept close contact with government agencies as advisors and participants in several coordination committees at peninsular and local levels. Part III of this publication clearly underlines that great experience has been obtained in matter of oil, territorial ordinance, fishing and tourism. In the case of investigation needs and interventions related to the coastal zones, the representatives of Natural Sciences are more numerous than the ones of Social and Economical-Administrative Sciences. In terms of decentralization and coastal governance, this asymmetry presents several disadvantages since many interventions put more emphasis in natural resources than in the human population that exploits them; and when the attention is placed on the local townships and population, the tendency is of a mere sociological proposal of the transgression of the natural resources. It seems that, in spite of the numerous discourses on the importance of public participation in the decision making, there is a lack of public consult efforts where the opinions of the base users could be better known and serve as parameters for the establishment of management policies. However, what we find most questionable in terms of social impact is the existence of a “scientific or academic culture” that prioritizes, at all cost, studies and analysis, whose value is determined by the editorial or magazine the publishes them, generally in the English language, at the expense of accessible products available to the general public. The lack of acknowledgement of the academic systems of evaluation on the efforts and merits that imply the broadcasting of the results of multi and trans-disciplinary results to those outside the academic world, does not invite the

326 327 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o investigators (or the institutions) to bond on a regular base with the local population, since it is not considered an important part of their scientific work (Breton et.al. 2006:244). The scientists that do it are penalized in terms of internal evaluation. It is important to promote new orientations where, always maintaining the mission and sternness of the scientific investigation “in the strict sense”, the academic work attached to the broadcasting of results in the local towns linked to the sustainable use, conservation and administration of the natural resources received proper acknowledgement. As indicated by Leon, Sosa and Graf (chapter 7), “A profound academic transformation is required in order to leave the stage of broadcasting and extensions and pass to a new stage of knowledge communication and transmission, towards a new model that could be nominated “public information services” where the function of publishing for decision making is acknowledged. In other words, the demand to broadcast the knowledge be recognized as an internal need (the university with its own rewards) and as an external obligation (the users, congressmen, governments, companies, common citizens) to be heard” (2007:1). Such orientation could considerably enrich the role played by several citizens’ participation instruments or consulting committees, as they would have access to a more complete and actualized information that would solidly establish their degree or representation. However, this change of attitude cannot take form without a common will of the governmental and academic agencies to change, up to a certain point, the rules of the game; on the contrary, many discourses on decentralization that look for a representative public participation and co-responsibility will remain as remedies without any effect.

The Non Governmental Organizations (o n g ´s)

The non Governmental Organizations have grown in Mexico, in such a way, that by 1994 more than 400 were reported, a fourth of them based in Mexico City (o e c d , 1998). The o n g ´s reported in 2000 in the Peninsula of Yucatan were more than 150, and were categorized in five levels according to their capacity of economical resources management and their maturity in human and material infrastructure (Wilshusen and Murguia, 2003). According to the organization providing funds to the o n g ´s, will be their weight, strength and influence within the communities of the Peninsula. Many of these o n g ´s are known by their opportunism, lack of continuity with the projects, their improvisation or lack of ethics. This has to do with the pragmatic interests of the o n g ´s. Many are focused on the conservation and preservation of natural resources or in the management and control of emblematic species, like the turtle or the flamingos. In these cases the inhabitants of the communities, who dedicate

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part of their daily life in the search of economical alternatives and to survive through several low scale artisan activities, have no interests in these conservationist initiatives and many times are unaware of them. These same o n g ´s many times employ volunteers, local as well as foreigners (from other states of Mexico and other countries). In these cases the inhabitants of the communities are conscious of the presence of a foreigner in the town, but they do not care what he/she might be doing. In the case of o n g ´s that work with children, they are generally better known in the communities. These organizations promote education and environmental conscience through recovery activities and training of primary school children. Howev- er, in many cases, the o n g ´s are not very visible for the majority of the inhabitants of coastal and rural communities, because they do not always promote priority themes for the local population. These organizations are diffuse and transitory in the communities where they work and those selected volunteers are mainly students that need to perform social services. The capacity of environmental management depends on the financial source, from which the organization receives its funds, for example, in the Peninsula of Yucatan, Pronatura-p y is the most visible organization attached to business groups and transnational o n g ´s (w w f , c i , Audobon Society, among others). According to Vil- lalobos and Jaber (see chapter 18) in Campeche the o n g ´s have not had the growth and maturity process that has been experienced in the other states of the Peninsula. There are very few successful cases, and at this moment their influence degree in a decentralization process of environmental management is of little significance, even though it is not absent. It is important to mention that many of the o n g ´s located in the Peninsula of Yu- catan were created by government ex-employees, even of p e m e x , and of other productive sectors, as a new source of employment after the six year adjustment made by the State in the bureaucratic sector, and also by academics that still work in several educational institutions and created their o n g ´s to complement their investigation activities or their economy and are very few who have done it as a social commitment and based on a plan.4 Therefore, the functioning of these o n g ´s is closely related to the connections and contacts these individuals have with others within the State apparatus and their several agencies, in such a way, that this condition surely has an influence in the decentralization processes of environmental management that has yet to be analyzed. Finally, we can also indicate that around the context of the o n g ´s are many investigators, educational and investigative institution employees, or

4 Biocenosis, A.C., was created in 1983 and has worked in the Peninsula since the late 80’s, seems to be an exception of which little is talked about. (Robles, 2007, personal comment).

328 329 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o graduates that offer their consulting services to these organizations for their investigation (investigations rarely published or that do not compile the participative work experience, due to the vicious circle of turning in reports and obtaining funds). It also happens that many times the investigators attached to the o n g ´s offer their services directly to several groups in the coastal communities that wish to develop projects of sustainable development or eco-tourism. Even though many of these projects are developed without any problems, the investigators meet the group requirements in order to complete the petition files for eco-tourism permits; in other cases they do not complete their work, leaving the community group without any resources or alternatives. Within a decentralization process it is important to see the mechanisms and institutions that are properly formed, which have credibility and summoning power between the administrators and the communities, what type of services and cooperation they offer the community and which have a strong quality impact and the type of decentralization that could be developed in the Peninsula of Yucatan. The training still is a process and an indispensable tool to attain decentralization. There is no doubt that the consolidation of o n g ´s in the Yucatan Peninsula in the last 20 years has been inscribed within a very visible process at world level. On one hand their presence in the communities has contributed to reinforce the image and role played by the local units in the development, on the other, it has to be accepted that their trajectory has only resulted in mitigated results, due to their internal diversity and lack of coordination. In other words, in terms of decentralization, the o n g ´s do not yet represent a well established consolidated group of social actors and their rulings, still remain relatively obscure.

The communities and civil associations

Part IV of this publication shows the enormous differences existing in the communities. In spite of sharing similarities due to their location in the coastal areas, they are characterized by great demographic variations, different ways of obtaining resources and respect of the law; they are also immersed in a regional economy differentiated within a globalization mega-process. Therefore, their opportunities and capacities to achieve development are not the same. As well, most of them are impacted by an increasing poverty and the bankruptcy of many communal initiatives, the division of the cooperatives and “ejidos” and the almost total disappearance of the “milpa” in the coastal areas. These processes generate a growing internal and external migration that leads to a considerable marginality, even though is not as extreme as the

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one registered in Chiapas and Oaxaca. It results that the communities ties with the government’s state and national levels remain weak and fragile or discontinued; their basic problems rarely correspond to the investigation interests and are utilized in the various games and political and economical changes that occur every six years. In order to better understand the role played by the communities and the o n g ´s within this context, it is important to underline the presence of several civil associations. They are non governmental organizations frequently financed by international agencies and created by the coastal communities’ inhabitants. They may take several forms and serve different purposes, but the majority share environmental conservation issues, such as the recovery of plastic bottles, organization of “environmental fairs” for children, the administration of a marine reserve or organic agricultural projects, all at local levels. These different civil associations (a.c.) that arise from local initiatives and from the interest and desires of certain people in the community can be found in little towns, coordinated by Italians, Germans, Canadians, North Americans, and people from central Mexico and rarely are they local like in the exceptional cases of San Felipe and San Crisanto. These associations are diverse, depending on their source of finance and their bonds with more or less strong institutions in the coastal regions. Also, these associations compete for the same financing or look at similar or different environmental or socio-economic objectives – sometimes contrary – within one ecosystem. As refers to the internal organization of the communities, the associations generate certain changes because they move the traditional power poles. They mobilize money, resources and contacts with several types of people in the agencies and give a new status to the individuals who created them; individuals that generally do not hold the traditional power in the towns and, on the other hand, many of these associations have been promoted by women. These a.c.s can create conflicts within the communities and contribute, in a certain way, to internal marginality due to the changes they stimulate. New differences can appear when a project that requires a re-definition or a new configuration of power is initiated, as this always creates resistance from the interests or groups that benefit from the traditional ways. From the decentralization point of view, these A.C.S represent new social actors that sometimes, depending on the financial importance, compete with the municipal authorities. It should also be mentioned that, with certain frequency they represent management and operational capabilities that strengthen the possibilities of receiving, in decentralization, faculties and attributions when strong alliances are established between the A.C.S and the local authorities. At a general level, the role that should be played by the communities in order to contribute or apply to their daily life the decentralization processes is to become co-

330 331 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o responsible agents in the follow-up and evaluation of these environmental handling processes. One of the main obstacles is that the majority of these citizen’s participation structures – as they are formed by honorary appointments – have no financial schemes to ensure the constant participation of the representatives of the different sectors of society. Another important challenge, which could become a great opportunity for decentralization once it is solved, is that municipal level institutions attain a greater participation commitment and that those municipal bodies of environmental management become professionals. At this date, those who move and make environmental decisions in the communities are not necessarily the elected leaders in the cooperatives; they are mainly natural leaders, who have a moral acknowledgement that, however, in some cases does not coincide with the political or state endorsement. There is also the problem generated by the fact that municipal elections are held every three years and the constitutional impossibility of Mayor Reelection (this has been pointed out in many nations’ forums as a serious problem for the continuity of the local programs because it implies a constant learning). When changing the working teams every six or three years, there is no possibility of continuity or to show success in the environmental management. This is a relevant problem that any state or national decentralization program will have to solve. In synthesis, we notice that at the social actor’s level, the presence of several cooperation initiatives are present but, however, they are atomized and not adequately linked with their actors nor contents due to the over saturation of programs, workshops, projects and public consults that have impregnated in the local inhabitants (those with access to them) the notion that taking care of the environment is more important than planting, cropping and fishing (source of food), as these activities deteriorate the environment; which contradicts a real policy of sustainable development. The main actors of the environmental management processes (o n g ´s, academics, development agencies and local users) find themselves atomized by processes demanded by the superior powers (financiers, international publishing standards, permits, businessmen and directors), leaving the links between actors and institutions in the inertia and a laissez-faire. To obtain more successful decentralization processes, there should be more studies on “social engineering” where the contribution of each of the potential parts could be more specific.

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The need of a state comparative focus

In order to achieve the decentralization of environmental management in the Yuca- tan Peninsula, considering the delegation of responsibilities, faculties and attributes from the state to the municipalities, it is necessary to take into account the economical axis of each entity: Quintana Roo with the beach tourism; Campeche with the oil, fishing, forestry and alternative tourism; and Yucatan with a more diversified industry, the importance of the Port of Progreso, tourism, fishing and educational, health and entertainment services. Even though they are the same federal institutions that at a general level intervene in the coastal environmental management, it is important to underline that, depending on the main economical characteristics of each state; certain agencies have a more visible role such as p e m e x in Campeche and f o n a t u r in Quintana Roo. If we take the state of Quintana Roo with the tourism, we see that it is the entity that provides more foreign currency to the country for this concept; it occupies the sixth place at world level due to the cruise ship traffic between the United States and the Caribbean, and the first at national level. The eight municipalities that form the entity receive, in an unequal manner, the benefits from tourism: Benito Juarez (Can- cun) and Solidaridad (Playa del Carmen) receive more than Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Jose Maria Morelos (the Mayan zone of the State). An example of the explosion of resources received by the accelerated transfer to tourism is the town of Maja- hual in Costa Maya, that provides its municipality Othon P. Blanco (whose head is Chetumal, capital of the state) 4 million pesos a year from dues on the federal zone. This has generated unease among the local authorities because those resources are not returned in order to benefit the community and the inhabitants (for example, to improve the road infrastructures or give quality water to the community) (interview with the Municipal Delegate, August 13, 2007). Quintana Roo is a state that received immigrants from all the country – recently from Central and South America – giving way to new human settlements, where the sense of “community”, in the anthropological meaning of the word is located in towns and cities of Yucatan, Veracruz, Tabasco, Mexico City, Chiapas and Campeche. The inhabitants of these new settlements of no more than 15 to 20 years of existence (except for the migrants from the Mayan Zone of Quintana Roo) are immerse in ro- tating work shifts with three different time schedules during the week in hotels and restaurants in the area. Is it possible that they could become managers and trainers in the processes of environmental management of their communities? What and which local capacities are needed in order to obtain decentralization processes?

The other side of the coin is that Quintana Roo, being a recent state (it was created in 1974 and has the youngest public university in the country, created in 1991), more than 70% of its population is formed by immigrants than turned into its citizens. If we take the original inhabitants (mainly from the Mayan zone), they never recognized the central government (“huaches” from Mexico as they are locally called) that pacified them but never dominated them (something that tourism achieved through extensive work schedules and offering them bus transfer, more than 120 kms., between the tourist complexes and their communities, which became dorm communities) (Fraga, 2007). As it is explained by Campos, Sierra and Balam in this book (chapter 12), the migration of the Mayas towards tourism is what has given the reason to be to the state of Quintana Roo, to which we would have to add that the over sale of the Mayan symbol in the mass tourism marketing and eco-tourism is a source of pride for the trans-national companies and at the same time pacifies the inhabitants that work there, who, in this manner are far from being prepared for a state-municipality decentralization. Campeche, with its eleven municipalities has another giant that aroused in the 70’s, as indicated by Villalobos and Rivera in this book (chapter 10), and that originated demands in living space, transport infrastructure and generated violence in the cities it formed (Ciudad del Carmen), contaminated rivers and displaced shrimp fishing: oil. Contrary to what happened in Quintana Roo with tourism, in Campeche the oil activity with p e m e x as the executive head, apart from being a very centralized industry, historically has not generated any positive results for the local economy in terms of welfare with sustainable development, since the majority of the employments and businesses of the associated services belong to foreign people that have no belonging feelings towards the state, the local culture, nor the municipal environment. Yucatan, however, is today an exporter of population, mainly to the Riviera Maya and Cancun. Its population of temporary migrants is trapped in a fluctuation between “to be or not to be”, untrained, conformed mainly by construction workers without proper qualifications nor stability to service in the hotels and restaurants of Quintana Roo, worried about getting back to their local communities where they have their roots, but falling into weekly alcoholism (Fraga and collaborators in press). Who will be able to be the negotiators in their municipalities, and take over the fiscal, social and environmental responsibilities? It is important to state in this brief comparison, that even though Yucatan has 13 coastal municipalities, it has a total of 106, that for the state administration signi-

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fies worries and much diversified interventions where the problems attached to the coastal and marine zones are not necessarily a priority. It is obvious that in spite of their different characteristics, the three states of the Peninsula, in terms of decentralization, face similar structural problems. For decentralization to become a public policy priority, it has to begin by raising the educational level in all the municipalities, instruct to avoid corruption, have better salaries, create local incentives for those who remain in their localities to produce food, give urban and service infrastructure to those municipalities that are abandoned, give training and improve the local scene in order to invite the migrants to return to their communities and bring the tourists to the rural areas and not exclusively to the sun, sand and sea places. It is also important to incentivize the local capital, which is usually in the hands of the “caciques”, in order to create alternate work sources and not create the classical paternalism characteristic of programs such as p r o n a s o l , Oportunidades or Procampo, and even some communal projects where the only beneficiaries are the urban work teams. It is also required to return credibility and co-responsibility to the local authorities filled with vices from a bi-party system rooted in the municipalities, give less assistance, with follow up or evaluation actions, be more positive in order that money is not the main source of community motivation. However, the solution of these problems must be backed up by an administrative and participative vision that each state has certain specifications at the economical and political levels and therefore, the decentralization mechanisms and modalities can vary from one state to the other.

Final Comments

As was noted in the previous paragraphs, Mexico’s decentralization began just over ten years ago, but it can be said that in a country like Mexico, with more than one hundred million inhabitants and a territory of almost two million square kilometers, the processes, though slow, have not been all negative. One of the positive achievements, on which we will have to base in order to attain the environmental management processes in the future, are the c c d s (Consejos Consultivos para el Desarrollo Sustentable, established in five great regions of the country). Created in 1995, they gave, seven years later, as National Council, a document on the Sustainability of Oceans and Coastlines (s e m a r n a t -p n u d , 2007). In 2003, their effective participation was achieved in ecological ordinances, such is the case of the Gulf of California and, in 2006 the conformation of an Executive Committee for the Ordinance of the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea (ibid).

The fluctuations, efforts and achievements have not yet been evaluated, but these ordinances have made possible the mobility and integration of people from academia, government, communities, and users, such as had not been mobilized before to face environmental problems (see chapter 11 of Euán and collaborators, related to the experience of these ordinances in Campeche and Yucatan). As indicated by Rob- les (2007) decentralization also means a radical immersion in democratic life. Many things should change in Mexico to be able to build an efficient and effective decentralization process with faculties and attributes. As has been said in other chapters of this book, not everything is capable of decentralization. For Robles (2007), the future of decentralization is not an easy road. It still has considerable difficulties even though they are surmountable if decided to fortify it (the construction of “non party” governance, the formation of capable professional frames in the operative levels of the executive organisms in the three levels of government, and that the Federal government accepts that decentralizing faculties means also the decentralization of public expense). This implies a more profound fiscal reform than those made up to this date; a fiscal reform that includes decentralization as a strategic proposal Rodriguez Solórzano (2003) indicated that decentralization is a gap existing between the concept and application of public policies, in this case, environmental policy, where there is a high degree of difficulty to close the gap between the goals and objectives of environmental policy conceived by the federal government and its translation into actions and specific management achievements at other levels of government (state or municipal). It is definite, therefore, that the local governments as well as the societies of the Yucatan Peninsula, who are immersed in the process of environmental decentralization, analyze objectively if they count with the conditions (human, economical, infrastructure and social co-responsibility) to build the expected concrete results for a sustainable development of the societies and their ecosystems, attending to the peculiarities of each of the three states that form the region. It should also be very clear to the state governments that this is not a negotiation “per se” in order to obtain a greater autonomy, or only a re-distribution of administrative-economical attributions between the different levels of government, but a re-design of the relation between State (the Federation in a wider sense) and the society, in which the local actors, duly organized, pro-positive and co-responsible are recognized. What is clear to the editors is that to have the leadership of a federal environmental policy is not exclusive to having a successful decentralization process of environmental management. When analyzing the case of the Yucatan Peninsula, we add to that indicated by Rodríguez Solórzano (2003) that the decentralization of the environmental policy

336 337 Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o Decentralization a n d environmental m a n a g e m e n t . Co a s t a l g o v e r n a n c e i n Me x i c o

means a new division of authority, co-responsibility and power; which consequently translates into a new and dynamic scheme of inter-governmental relationships, building schemes of citizen’s participation, with commitments formed and evaluated by rendering account to the other levels of government and society, where there is a challenge that with proper attention can turn into a real transformation opportunity for the public policy of the state and municipal governments, this means that the local politicians and administrators fully understand and make their local environmental agendas concordant with the national objectives and the international commitments of environmental policy. In the three states of the Yucatan Peninsula there are understanding and interpretation differences about how to decentralize, the methods, forms and manners, and the transformation times and speed of their human frames. Another question is the way in which decentralization should be done, that is, isolated or not from other policies; with a regulated accompaniment (temporal, permanent) of the Federation; programs with or no follow up and evaluation (in the transition process as well as the application process). On the other hand are the questions to the federal government: What type of conditions or responsibilities does it assign? Which are the possible consensuses and agreements? How do the objectives align between the two or three levels of government? Which actualization or training programs or strategies are to be generated in order to improve local capacities? Which are the available financial resources that will allow settle the decentralization? And finally, how are the local societies going to receive certainty of the accounts of this process? How can the university programs and the investigators from several private and public institutions, including international investigators contribute to this process? To finalize, we leave to reflection and future analysis the consideration that a broader comparative level, the environmental management of the Yucatan Peninsula has a great illustrative value due to its specific ecological characteristics. The almost generalized absence of rivers and basins generates a particular context of coastal governance because the interactions between the interior and coastal regions are not as visible as in other regions. This entails additional effort in the sensibility of the local population regarding contamination, process in which decentralization has a great importance. At the same time, economical activities such oil extraction and international tourism require a strong state control due to its importance in the national economy, in a situation that minimizes the decisional power of local authorities. If take into account the importance of internal migrations that modify the local panorama of many communities, we see that decentralization of the Yucatan Penin- sula will have to be a progressive process backed by constant efforts of social analysis that will allow the identification of the best ways for its continuity.

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e p o m e x Institute-Universidad Autónoma de Campeche. Cinvestav-Merida-i p n

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341 July 2010 Doctoral Candidate Heather L. Hawn said : « I am a doctoral candidate at the University of South Carolina and a licensed attorney. I have recently completed field research in furtherance of my dissertation in Mexico and Guatemala and had the pleasure of meeting several academics in these countries including Julia Fraga, one of the contributors to and an editor of the above-referenced collection of research articles. I found her research to be very helpful to me in my own research and an excellent contribution to many different bodies of literature including international political economy, comparative democratization, decentralization, development, state strength, social mobilization and tourism studies. As you may be aware, these areas are very intensely investigated in the field of political science and, because of this, I spent considerable funds on translation services from my own dissertation funding to have several chapters from the above text and other articles written by Julia Fraga. It is my understanding that Dra. Fraga is currently seeking to obtain funding to have this entire volume translated into English as well as some related research articles. I fully support her efforts and would suggest that, if this volume was translated into English, there would be several universities in the US that would be interested in purchasing this volume for their libraries or recommending that their students purchase it for their own research. I thank you for your attention to these matters and ask that if you would like to discuss my recommendations, please do not hesitate to contact me at my office at the University of South Carolina or my email [email protected]).

December 2010 Dr. Yvan Breton, social anthropologist said : « In the last decade, I had the opportunity to do consultant work for i d r c Canada in several Caribbean countries. Following this collaboration, the Caribbean colleagues, always in collaboration with i d r c researchers, came out with another interdisciplinary publication but his time dealing with decentralization in coastal zones. For reasons mainly linked to financial ressources, this publication came out in Spanish only, co-edited by Plaza Y Valdez from Mexico and i d r c Canada. (2008) It received several positive comments from Caribbean researchers and from other parts of the world, involved in the study of governance problems. Many of them showed a great interest in the availabilty of an English version of this publication for themselves and their students. Dr. Julia Fraga from Cinvestav in Merida is in charge of promoting this project with the help of Mexican colleagues » (Dr. Yvan Breton Consultant anthropologist. 5396 rang sud- est.Saint Charles de Bellechasse. Pr. Québec, Canada GOR 2TO.Tel: 1-418-887-6761.Email. Yvan. [email protected]).

January 2011 Dr. Michel Redclift said: “It was through Dr. David Manuel Navarrete, who collabo- rates with me in investigation projects in Latin America and the Caribbean that I became aware of a book published by IDRC-Plaza y Valdés entitled “Descentralización y Manejo Ambiental, Gober- nanza Costera en México” coordinated by Dra. Julia Fraga, Guillermo Villalobos, Sabrina Doyon and Ana Garcia. As a specialist in international environmental policy, with considerable research experience in Mexico, it is my view that this book should be published in English, given the currency and importance of the environment on the coast and the local governance theme. The book contains many lessons that should be taken into account in the planning, design, negotiation and evaluation of public policies of the coastal zones. It is my judgment that our English speaking students and professors will benefit from this book, should it be published in English, which will become an important source of information in order to understand the processes of the Yucatan Peninsula in particular and of Mexico in general”(Michael Redclift,Professor of International Environmental Policy. Department of Geography, King’s College of London, UK. E mail: [email protected]).