Smallholder Response to Hurricane Dean: Creating New Human Ecologies Through Charcoal Production

Smallholder Response to Hurricane Dean: Creating New Human Ecologies through Charcoal Production

Sam Schramski1 and Eric Keys2

Abstract: Naturalhazardschallengeruralcommunities’ livelihoods, but they may also serve as windows of opportunity for the rural poor in the form of new livelihood strategies. In 2007, Hurricane Dean devastated subsistence and commercial agriculture in the Calakmul municipality of Campeche, Mexico. Charcoal production’s importance seems to have increased as a result of Mexican forestry policy decisions related to Dean. Household interviews were carried out to determine the livelihood effects of the storm, and results indicate that while many respondents did not acknowledge the hurricane as a driver, a notable production increase was observed subsequent to the event. This research portrays a shift from hybrid swidden and intensive agriculture to that of an alternative forest strategy, situating it as an example of the adaptive capacity to natural hazards experienced by rural people in the developing world. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000100. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Risk management; Natural disasters; Mexico; Political factors; Hurricanes. Author keywords: Risk-hazards; Adaptation; Mexico; Political ecology.

Introduction Mearns and Norton 2010). Although usually depicted as hazards to household livelihoods, extreme events may also provide new Land use and land cover change represent some of the most wide- economic opportunities (McSweeney and Coomes 2011). These reaching impacts that people have on the global environment opportunities are theorized as effective adaptation to extreme (Geist and Lambin 2001; Lambin et al. 2001). Nowhere are these weather events and have been documented elsewhere in climate changes treated with more concern than in tropical forest envi- science and policy circles [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ronments, owing to their role in carbon and hydrological dynamics Change (IPCC) 2007]. These adaptations or windows of opportunity (Dixon et al. 1994; Bonan 2008), biodiversity conservation (Myers might offer individuals in the rural developing world ways to better et al. 2000), and nutrient cycling (Vitousek and Sanford 1986). In their immediate circumstances (McSweeney and Coomes 2011). ’ southeastern Mexico, tropical deforestation has been combated since Our research in southeastern Mexico s Calakmul municipality the 1980s. Efforts to limit deforestation enjoy muted success, as indicates that income-earning opportunities arose in response to ’ demonstrated in the following quote from Campeche’s Tribuna 2007 s Hurricane Dean through charcoal production. In August 2007 Hurricane Dean passed through Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula newspaper: “Danos severos se registran en la region de Calakmul, and preceded an increase in charcoal production from primary and donde se cometen anomalias por parte de los talamontes y los secondary forests. We argue that the explosion in charcoal pro- carboneros, ya que cortan todo tipo de arboles preciosos” (“Severe duction did not follow the arrival of the hurricane linearly nor did it damage is seen in Calakmul where rules are violated by foresters and lead to a sudden increase in deforestation. A causal chain involving charcoal producers who are now felling all types of valuable tim- national forest harvest policies and extreme events coalesced in ” “ ” ber )(Inspectores 2010). Although tropical deforestation is not Calakmul in forming the charcoal landscape, which continues to new, our understanding of the pathways to deforestation have grow. With respect to this causal chain, our research questions are historically been limited to only a handful of narratives (Lambin, the following: et al. 2001). Often these narratives do not recognize the complexity 1. How did a natural hazard contribute to an alteration of liveli- of interactions between driving forces, actors, and land change itself hood in Calakmul in the form of rapidly spreading charcoal (Hersperger et al. 2010). production? In many cases, forest communities are portrayed as being either 2. Is charcoal production an appropriate indicator for measuring resource reliant and vulnerable to climate-related extreme events or this window of opportunity resulting from Hurricane Dean? adaptable in the wake of these shocks (Leichenko and O’Brien 2008; 3. What is the current state of the livelihood strategy and its prospects for the future? Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 10/30/13. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved. 1Ph.D. Candidate, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Univ. of Florida, 103 Black Hall, P.O. Box 116455, Gainesville, FL 32611 (corresponding author). E-mail: schramski@ufl.edu Literature Context: Responses to Extreme Events 2Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geography, Univ. of Florida, 3141 Turlington Hall, P.O. Box 117315, Gainesville FL 32611. Much of the work in the environmental social sciences has echoed the Note. This manuscript was submitted on August 20, 2011; approved on experience of postdisaster scenarios wherein recovery efforts often October 9, 2012; published online on October 11, 2012. Discussion pe- fi riod open until April 1, 2014; separate discussions must be submitted for reaf rmed prior social inequalities (Oliver-Smith and Hoffman 1999; individual papers. This paper is part of the Natural Hazards Review, Vol. 14, Passerini 2000; Ahmed et al. 2009). At first glance, this might appear to No. 4, November 1, 2013. ©ASCE, ISSN 1527-6988/2013/4-211–219/ be the case for Calakmul’s rural livelihoods in response to Hurricane $25.00. Dean, an extreme climatic event. Whereas few works directly address

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Nat. Hazards Rev. 2013.14:211-219. how land users benefit in their responses to natural hazards, the ex- as well as for restaurateurs abroad (Ghilardi et al. 2013). And while perience of Dean might be best understood as an opportunity for Mexico demonstrates a number of charcoal-forest hotspots,the a livelihood transition in the wake of one such extreme event (Birk- country’s tropical forests as a whole are not perceived to be under mann et al. 2008; McSweeney and Coomes 2011). Examples like ours serious threat from production (unlike the country’snorthern could be referred to as “creatively destructive,” borrowing from mesquite forests) (Taylor 2006), nor is the livelihood considered Schumpeter’s(1942) renowned description of how new systems of to be an overtly popular choice for the rural poor (Bailis et al. accumulation and modes of production constantly change in 2012). a capitalist economy through a process of collapse and renewal (Johnson and Lewis 2006). The windows of opportunity for more lucrative livelihoods also Geographic Context: Calakmul Municipality fit with more recent research on livelihood adaptations in larger bodies of work on climate change science (Stern 2007), adaptation Mexico’s Calakmul municipality is located in the southeastern (Kelly and Adger 2000), and mitigation (Leach and Leach 2004). corner of Campeche and is the country’s first ecologically focused Charcoal production may present one such window that in Mexico, municipality. Calakmul is home to the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve as in other forest-dependent regions of the world, leads to the (CBR) (Fig. 1), one of Mexico’s largest protected areas (7,230 km2). interface between different land uses. In many countries, the trade Smallholders have added charcoal to their livelihood strategies in in charcoal is a large domestic industry (Khundi et al. 2011), and addition to smallholder agriculture in five ejidos (communally held numerous governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), lands) in northeastern Calakmul. Market-based charcoal production and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have expressed con- is new to Calakmul, although it has a long history in other parts of cern about the local and global impacts of ongoing charcoal Mexico (Taylor 2006). Four of these five ejidal communities lie production (Hofstad 1997; Girard 2002; Mugo and Ong 2006). within the bounds of the reserve or its buffer zone, and exchanges Greenhouse gas emissions related to charcoal production have also between the smallholders and reserve officials, as well as its NGOs highlighted its importance in research on global environmental and governmental partners, are often contentious (Haenn 1999). change. Reviews of charcoal production often highlight its envi- These tensions are further complicated by the communal nature of ronmental perils and not the livelihood opportunities it presents. much of the ejidal property, which in many cases makes provisions Those that do (Monela et al. 1993; Hibajene and Ellegård 1994; for sometimes inconsistent forest management (Bray et al. 2008). All Arnold et al. 2006) use a livelihoods or policy perspective. Further the carboneros (charcoal producers) in our study reported that they still, charcoal production in Mexico’s case is seemingly unique: at produced charcoal on their de facto individual parcels rather than in 0.6 million tons produced per year (Johnson et al. 2010), it is for the communal older forests, echoing Martínez Romero’s observations most part fulfilling a need in the asadores (meat roasters) market (2010) in nearby ejidos. Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 10/30/13. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 1. Map of the study communities of Zoh-Laguna and El Refugio, both located in the state of Campeche, Mexico; also depicted are the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve and other charcoal-producing ejidos in the region

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Nat. Hazards Rev. 2013.14:211-219. Historically Calakmul was open to resettlement for rural Mex- development strategy for forest communities spread slowly to icans from crowded Gulf Coast states, a measure sponsored by the Calakmul. By 2006, a coyote began buying and selling finished federal government (Turner et al. 2004). Most of the colonists charcoal, at which time 16 of the 68 interviewed charcoal producers formed ejidos, which quickly became the predominant form of land were engaging in the practice. tenure in Calakmul. They were usually managed by a community of Days after Hurricane Dean made landfall in August 2007, 20 or more land users granted lifetime rights to a percentage of the SEMARNAT, the Mexican federal agency charged with the mission ejido’s land (Vance et al. 2004). Most of Calakmul’s early colonists of conserving natural resources and providing environmental serv- focused land use on cultivating cash and subsistence crops, con- ices, promoted the extraction of fallen timber to reduce fuel loads in tinuing to the present day with the addition of charcoal. These forests and thereby reduce fire risk. The effort was intended to be practices led to deforestation and raised concerns about threats to a temporary win-win solution: it would provide a boost to household carbon stocks and habitats (Ericson et al. 1999). Given the Mexican incomes in poorer rural areas as well as prevent costly wildfires, government’s awareness of international conservation efforts, and given that most of the downed timber was secondary forest and a desire to draw upon their resources, the CBR was established in largely unsuitable for sawmills (Matyas et al., “A rapid assessment 1989 and registered with UNESCO in 1993. of tree damage in the Yucatan Peninsula caused by Hurricane Dean,” The broader Calakmul area includes several Mennonite farms, submitted, ASCE, Reston, Virginia). The initial permitting period which have interacted with local mestizo and Mayan farmers at for extraction ended in April 2008, by which time virtually all various points in modern Mexican history (Porter-Bolland et al. households in El Refugio were involved in charcoal production, as 2007). These so-called Old Colony Mennonite populations differ were a majority of those in Zoh-Laguna. By the time fieldwork for from some of their predecessors in their use of modern technol- this research was completed in June 2009, the coyote was firmly ogy (Cañás Bottos 2008), including agricultural mechanization for planted as the connecting point between individual producers and commercial production of vegetable crops and charcoal (Bixler- larger markets for charcoal in Mexico City and Puebla. Márquez 1988). Researchers have pointed to these Mennonite SEMARNAT issued permits between August 2007 and April communities as contributors to deforestation in Campeche over the 2008 for the collection of downed timber and for the purpose of fire last two decades (Petkova et al. 2011). Our discussions with local suppression but with the awareness that charcoal production would people and officials from Mexico’s environmental and natural re- be a secondary outcome. Each head of household was given an al- source agency, Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales lowance of 20 ha toward charcoal production if they applied within (SEMARNAT), also reveal the Mennonites’ influence on tradi- a 7-month period. In Calakmul, the five ejidos of Nuevo Bécal, Zoh- tional Mexican farmers, especially in terms of raising awareness Laguna, Nueva Vida, El Refugio, and Xpujil had nascent charcoal about the agricultural products most current in the marketplace. production; in all, the term carbonero was commonplace for both ejidatarios and pobladores involved in the livelihood strategy. Hurricane Dean as Catalyst Research Methods On August 21, 2007, Hurricane Dean made landfall in the region. Although classified as a Category 5 storm, it left comparatively little We carried out a rapid field assessment of Hurricane Dean’s impact structural damage in its wake, and even fewer human casualties in September 2007; during that time, smallholders reported signif- (“El huracán” 2007). It did, however, devastate maize and cash crops icant crop loss, treefall, and structural damage. Additional fieldwork that were on the verge of harvest and subsequently caused extensive was conducted between May and August 2008 and then again in treefall. We focused on two northern ejidos that were along the hur- May–June 2009. We noted that what was once a novelty had become ricane’s path and that also border the CBR: Zoh-Laguna (officially conventional. The constant refrain “la única cosa [que tenemos]” known as Álvaro Obregon) and El Refugio. The two share envi- (“it’s the only thing we have”) was often heard during research ronmental characteristics and lie 27 km apart. Zoh-Laguna is eth- conducted in Zoh-Laguna and El Refugio. We formulated our re- nically mixed and provides services, education, and clinical care to search questions after this experience, which again are: 250 households [Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía • How did a natural hazard contribute to an alteration of livelihood (INEGI) 2005], the majority of whom are ejidatarios (Ericson et al. in Calakmul? 1999). The ejido of El Refugio is considered poorer, has fewer • Is charcoal production an appropriate indicator for measuring services, and is smaller than Zoh-Laguna (43 households) (INEGI economic opportunity resulting from Hurricane Dean? 2005). It has a high number of pobladores (settlers not vested in the • What is the current state of the livelihood strategy and its ejido) with little historical connection to the community, their ab- prospects for the future? sentee ejidal proprietors residing in either the United States or other Hurricane Dean was cited by the 68 carboneros interviewed as parts of the peninsula. The selection of comparable ejidos took into the force behind the downing of timber, but there was no consensus account the differences in charcoal production through empirical on the reason charcoal had become so widespread. observation and accounts from both smallholders and the charcoal During our fieldwork, the 68 household surveys included the full coyotes (local term for market intermediary) in the area. population size of carboneros in El Refugio (n 5 25) and 43 of 70

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 10/30/13. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved. Our ﬁeld interviews tell us that in Calakmul a small number of land from Zoh-Laguna. We collected additional data through semi- users engaged in market-oriented charcoal production before 2004. structured interviews with staff at CBR, ejidal and municipal Smallholders began producing charcoal because there were few other administrators, political leaders, representatives from Mexican options with similar income potential. They explain that charcoal federal agencies, and regional marketers of the product. Field visits began in response to the urging of coyotes (Keys 2005). Before the were used to validate the data received from interviewees. Less than year 2000, production occurred primarily in Campeche state’smu- a year later, follow-up surveys and interviews were conducted with nicipalities of Candelaria and Hopelchén, but after environmental many of the same respondents. and forestry agencies provided extension demonstrations, often Both open-ended and semistructured interviews with carbon- with the objective of discouraging large-scale deforestation eros, ejidal administrators, reserve and governmental ofﬁcials, [Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y asadores, and intermediaries elicited detailed information about char- Alimentación (SAGARPA) 2005], the idea of charcoal as a rural coal production. The intermediaries provided detailed information

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Nat. Hazards Rev. 2013.14:211-219. about their trade, but, given the complexity of their practice and the use in testing cause and effect (Robins and Wish 1977; Whitney et al. possibility of losing leverage over carboneros, they generally 2002). declined to answer questions concerning their revenues. Interviews with reserve and government ofﬁcials shed light on the permit process and the form of the charcoal commodity chains, which can Results be observed in Fig. 2. We used the McNemar test and linear regression to evaluate We found that charcoal production made up between 70% (Zoh- charcoal production data in Zoh-Laguna after Dean. The survey Laguna) and 90% (El Refugio) of the carboneros’ household in- queried the full population of producers in El Refugio, and because come during the period of research. Other income came from federal responses indicated real increase in this ejido’s production after entitlement and subsidy programs such as Progresa, DICONSA, Dean, a paired test was not necessary for analysis. McNemar test was DIF, PROCAMPO, and PROARBOL. The median annual house- judged to have greater validity than a linear regression of data using hold income derived from charcoal supersedes income from indicator variables given its level of measurement and demonstrated other sources, a difference of MEX$24,400.00 (approximately US$1,763.91) in Zoh-Laguna and MEX$26,500.00 (approximately US$1,330.16) in El Refugio, as noted in Fig. 3. Moreover 64% (28) and 79% (19) of the respondents in the respective communities reported they received income only from charcoal yields. Extrap- olated to the full household population in Zoh-Laguna, this would mean that fewer than 40% of the carboneros participated in another income-earning activity since Dean, while in El Refugio a census was taken of all households and extrapolation is not necessary. While some or a minority of households used diverse livelihood strategies, most households featured at least one member engaged in charcoal production. Most charcoal ovens, both earthen and laminate, operated on a weekly cycle for timber extraction, construction, burning, cooling, and packing for ﬁnished charcoal. The timber extraction, construction, and packing stages were most commonly carried out with family members or day laborers (jornaleros). The inputs and outputs for both Zoh-Laguna and El Refugio did not vary. This also held true for the oven types excluding laminate tops, which cost 5,000 pesos (approximately US$361.45) and last on average 1–2years. Intermediaries and carboneros both agreed that charcoal burned Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 10/30/13. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 3. Graph of median household incomes in (a) El Refugio and (b) Zoh-Laguna, separated between income from charcoal production and Fig. 2. Commodity chain of charcoal production in the study area, from all other sources; Zoh-Laguna’s median income is greater than El raw resource to retail; variations in the chain occur depending upon the Refugio’s, but the latter demonstrates proportionally higher income type of oven used and where the wholesaler chooses to sell his product diversity

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Nat. Hazards Rev. 2013.14:211-219. more evenly, and was more sellable, when produced in a laminate McNemar Test Results oven. Consequently, laminate oven–produced charcoal sold at a higher The majority of carboneros did not report a significant increase in price (MEX$1.90/kg) than that from earthen ovens (MEX$1.80/kg). their production after the hurricane, although interviews and reports The average mass produced in a single cycle of a laminated oven from Mexican environmental officials state otherwise. Permits were came to 1,049.14 kg or 45 costales (storage sacks). On average, increased to collect downed wood from ejido lands between the end ’ a traditional oven s cycle yielded 969.26 kg or 39 costales. of August 2007 and the beginning of April 2008, specifically the thick vegetation that tends to grow on fallow land. That the majority Charcoal Production Drivers of carboneros do not cite the permitting process as sufficient grounds for determining whether production began around the time As drivers, both meteorological events (hurricanes and droughts) of the hurricane is notable. An equation was established using the and extraction permits elicited comparable responses. Of the 68 related samples or categories of carboneros respondents in the survey, 20 (29%) in both ejidos suggested their nnc 2 ncn production increased owing to the relaxed permitting on timber z0 ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi nnc þ ncn extraction. A plurality of carboneros reported that no change in production was evident. A secondary prompt asked about actual The first category included those who engaged in charcoal pro- tonnage, but oftentimes the respondent either declined to answer or duction (1) before the hurricane and immediately after it (ncc), (2) provided an inexact amount, possibly owing to the legal restrictions before the hurricane and not afterward (n ), (3) only afterward (n ), of the permit or simply a lapse in memory. cn nc and (4) neither before nor afterward (nnn), following the model Similarly, when asked about various natural hazards and the established by Flynn (1987). The second category could be filled by potential effects on production (Table 1), respondents overwhelm- carboneros who did not continue to produce charcoal at any time ingly reported that hurricanes did not increase the total weight between the hurricane and fieldwork. The last category included (production) of their charcoal. Metric tonnage had to be dispensed those carboneros who produced neither before nor directly after the with as an indicator because of the inexactness (or lack) of responses hurricane, but who are presently engaged in the activity. The results in some cases. In both ejidos, only eight (12%) respondents indicated in Table 2 indicate that the hurricane was a statistically significant that hurricanes, as a general phenomenon, affect charcoal produc- driver of respondents’ likelihood to engage in charcoal production tion, most likely owing to the novelty of charcoal and the infre- in Zoh-Laguna contrary to carboneros’ responses. In El Refugio, quency of hurricanes during that period. Although more respondents where the full population of carboneros was questioned, 11 car- reported an increase in charcoal production as a result of the hur- boneros reported starting production of charcoal after the hurricane ricane in El Refugio (five, 20.83%) than in Zoh-Laguna (three, and nine prior to it. Five respondents considered themselves car- 6.82%), in both communities respondents indicated that hurricanes boneros but were not currently involved in production during the decrease that season’s charcoal production rather than increase it. period interviewed. In the particular case of Hurricane Dean, the majority of producers initiated production only after the storm made landfall in August The New Livelihood 2007. ’ Every single carbonero who reported that droughts increase During follow-up visits, we observed that charcoal production s total charcoal production (eight, 11.76%) observed that droughts impacts were an ongoing concern for conservation authorities because of shifted land use patterns. The average number of hectares facilitated the drying of hardwood timber that, when burned, would extracted and utilized for charcoal on an oven parcel was similar take less time to turn into charcoal. Nevertheless, the majority of between Zoh-Laguna and El Refugio, and between traditional oven respondents (77.94%) indicated that droughts had no effect on carboneros and laminated oven users (Fig. 4). Correlations between charcoal production. Tropical storms and seasonal rain received town and extraction size, town and oven parcel size, oven type and high numbers of decrease responses, understandably given the cooling of active traditional ovens during precipitation and the fi inaccessibility of roads following a storm in the region. Wild res, Table 2. McNemar Paired Sample Test of the Null Hypothesis that which as one carbonero observed pre-burn timber, were also cited Hurricane Dean Had No Impact on When Carboneros Began Producing as increasing production, but the majority of respondents in both Charcoal in Zoh-Laguna ejidos (69.12%) noted little change. These decrease responses Effect of Hurricane Dean (n 5 43) combined with the apparent lack of change as a result of hurricanes highlight precipitation’s role as a deterrent of charcoal production. When charcoal After charcoal After non–charcoal production commences production production

Table 1. Effects of Natural Hazards on Charcoal Production in Both Before charcoal production ncc 5 24 ncn 5 0 Ejidos , Self-Reported at the Household Level Before non–charcoal nnc 5 10 nnn 5 9 Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 10/30/13. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved. Extreme events in both production ejidos (n 5 68) Decrease Increase No change P value for Zoh-Laguna ,0:01 Note: The alternate hypothesis states that the proportion of carboneros Droughts 7 8 53 producing charcoal after Hurricane Dean increased in Zoh-Laguna. Our ﬁ Wild res 7 14 47 test statistic is the signed square root of McNemar’s chi-square statistic Hurricanes 43 8 17 (McNemar 1947). This statistic is approximately normal in large samples, Tropical storms 48 7 13 and a binomial distribution can be used to determine that nnc is distributed the Seasonal rain 47 9 12 binomial with n 5 nnc 1 ncn and P 5 0:5 under our hypothesis. Values of z0 Note: Decrease refers to a decrease in production after the hurricane, above za=2 are evidence in favor of the hurricane having an effect on charcoal increase an increase in production, and no change no observable change production; values less than 2za=2 support the claim that the hurricane did in production. not have an effect.

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Nat. Hazards Rev. 2013.14:211-219. extraction size, and oven type and oven parcel size revealed little. It differs from much of the published literature. Often the average is should be noted, however, that the median extraction size for both understood to be more like 1.5 ha per year (Uitz et al. 2006; Schmook laminated and traditional oven carboneros reflected the fact that all 2008). The varying estimates can be observed in Table 3. carboneros in El Refugio used traditional ovens at the time, although this has since changed. These apparatuses are smaller than the : 3 : standard dimensions of a laminated oven (reported as 2 5 1 5 Discussion 3 4 m), but traditional ovens often had greater capacity. Traditional carboneros rotated their ovens routinely around their In this paper, we examine how natural hazards might reorient live- parcels, and at times had more than one oven burning. These oven lihoods in natural resource–dependent landscapes. We demon- parcels varied in size depending on whether they were located at strate that a natural hazard contributed to livelihood alteration with a site of timber extraction or in a separate location. Slag leftover from increases in charcoal production. We also show that charcoal pro- past cycles of a traditional oven burning deterred construction of duction is an appropriate indicator for measuring economic op- an oven in the same location, and in extreme cases ovens may have portunity resulting from Hurricane Dean and described the current been continually constructed near the next closest area of timber state of charcoal production strategy and its prospects for the future. extraction. In all charcoal sites, smallholder agriculture was also Dean presented opportunities, and from these opportunities, the practiced, generally through a staple of corn, beans, chili, and possibility of livelihood change in the ejidos of Calakmul. This is squash. No carbonero reported extracting more than 2.5 ha per fi year for charcoal production, and this was verified by field visits. af rmed by a body of evidence collected in two different com- All carboneros maintained that a traditional milpa (swidden maize munities linked by actors and processes in the production of field) reserved solely for agriculture would lead to at least 3 ha or charcoal. Charcoal appears to have expanded with an increase in the more per year of deforestation due to slash-and-burn practices. This availability of extraction permits (a proximate cause) as a result of number should take into account annual crop rotation, and even then Hurricane Dean, but notably not just the hurricane itself, and with the collapse of the industry in the northern states of Mexico (an underlying cause). Permitting was necessary for charcoal production to be widely adopted, but the hurricane was a sufficient driver of this event because it prompted SEMARNAT to issue temporary permits in an effort to reduce fuel loads from fallen wood. The results have lent weight to this hypothesis as a result of a paired samples test and documentation about individuals’ commencement of production. The majority of carboneros in both ejidos began their production after Hurricane Dean made landfall. The relaxation of timber collection permits facilitated this process, as prohibition on collection did not officially come back into effect until April 2008. The reader may raise concern over our heavy reliance on self- reported data, but such data are necessary for social scientists and were utilized because they took into account the necessary conditions: sampling method, method of administration, and any non- response biases (Colton and Covert 2007). Furthermore, charcoal production in Calakmul exists within a backdrop of quasi-legality and concerns a natural resource (e.g., timber) that has been central to the conflicts between state, capital, and peasant farmers for gen- erations (Anderson and Anderson 2011). Self-reported data are particularly helpful to obtain these types of circumstances (Jupp Fig. 4. Comparative graph of the area used for timber extraction and 2006). We do recognize, however, that there are limitations with our oven construction in the study area; standard error bars indicate some study in this way and we believe that triangulating remotely sensed variability in reported area for construction and extraction, but laminate data and archival research at bodies within the Mexican federal ovens appear to use up more area in both categories agencies could prove invaluable.

Table 3. Comparison of Research in the SYPR Depicting Land Allocated and Used and What Percentage 2 ha of Charcoal per Year Would Represent if Harvested on Said Allocated Land Land used annually if charcoal harvest amounted Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 10/30/13. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved. Reference Land allocation (ha) Land used annually (ha) Land used annually (%) to 2 ha per year (%) Schmook 2008, p.139 71.1 13.89a 19.54 2.81 Keys and Roy Chowdhury 59.31 0.75b 1.26 3.37 2006 Keys 2004 45 10.5 23.33 4.44 Vance et al. 2004, p.173 88.23 42.23 47.86 1.13 Klepeis and Vance 2003 95.7 46.5 48.59 2.09 Note: Schmook (2008) and Keys and Roy Chowdhury (2006) do not include all known land uses in their results. aFor milpa and pasture exclusively. bFor chili exclusively.

Nat. Hazards Rev. 2013.14:211-219. Is charcoal production an indication of a wholly new opportunity, Conclusions and therefore a transition in the way by which local people secure the necessities of life? In the two ejidos under observation, charcoal The effects of Hurricane Dean catalyzed not only a change in live- production appears to have as much of a future as swidden agri- lihood, but possibly to the landscape in the ejidos of Calakmul. This culture at present. While it is true that campesinos throughout is consequential and provides empirical backing for theoretical work Calakmul still practice slash-and-burn agriculture, results from arguing that windows of opportunity may come into focus after survey research demonstrate that these communities are forging extreme weather events (McSweeney and Coomes 2011). The a strong identity in the production of charcoal. In El Refugio, where pathway to change is dependent on events preceding and succeeding charcoal production made up 90% of household income during the the storm, notably the permitting process initiated by SEMARNAT, period of study, the ejido would appear to be assuming a new providing an empirical example of Hersperger et al.’s(2010) identity. The more livelihood-diverse Zoh-Laguna, with 70% of its model of a driving force (hurricane) mediated by at least two sets of aggregated household livelihood income coming from the product, actors (government and carboneros) before land change took place. is equally notable. The product has changed livelihoods entirely in One could argue that the carboneros influenced the position of some cases and less so in others. Charcoal has even gone so far as to SEMARNAT in the initial permitting, but that has not been defin- establish community variability between individuals and house- itively proven, and so the model of driving force–actor–land change holds: some carboneros produce more charcoal than others, and seems more plausible. others manipulate its sale. Charcoal production has become in- The carboneros of Calakmul might have struck on a window creasingly controversial as local news reports speak of a region beset of opportunity after a destructive—albeit not calamitous—natural by illegal carboneros and government agents attempting to quash hazard changed livelihood strategies. The hurricane’s effects could the worst excesses of the trade. run counter to the criticisms leveled by the CBR and others within Charcoalproduction’s impact as a new livelihood can be summed the conservation community if charcoal remains a comparably lesser up by the income tables, and by local municipal officials who refer to land use, in some part achieving a balance between conservation and the region as la zona carbonera (charcoal region). Such claims echo development (Garnett et al. 2007). In the longer term, studies would the claims that a zona chilera (chili) exists to the south, a region tied need to be carried out to establish the veracity of this claim. to the crop for some 30 years (Keys 2002). Chilis became successful The surrounding forest of the CBR has also been impacted by progressively, apart from any sudden or anticipated changes in livelihood change, with more land being used for extraction and environmental conditions. Survey responses do point to a land use construction. Increasingly more ejidal land, and that which is rented to practice that requires the cutting of fewer forested hectares per year. pobladores, is being used primarily for charcoal production and As has been noted in contemporary research in the region (Mercer secondarily for milpa. The amount of land used for charcoal pro- et al. 2005; Schneider 2006; Uitz et al. 2006), the average household duction is less than that which has been historically used for small- milpa parcel ranges between 3 and 5 ha of forest cut per year. This holder agriculture in the southern Yucatan peninsular region (SYPR). has been slightly modified by Schmook (2008), who found in her This poses the distinct possibility that in the short term the conversion study that the actual number of new hectares cut per year is closer of forested land cover, or the extent of cut timber, will be less in and to 1.5 ha (or 1–1.5 ha per plot, one plot per year), although she around these ejidos. Moreover land use in parcels and house lots too found households engaging in greater extensification (2–9ha (solares) is diverse, as households tend to farm subsistence crops, or in in some cases). The largest timber extraction site in our survey, some cases produce enough surplus for market with intercropping. however, was reported to be 2.5 ha on an ejidal parcel, the average Although conservation authorities express concern about growing less than half of that number. Without comparing satellite imagery pressures on a critical ecosystem, sheer numbers do not benefittheir and aerial photography, or without the records of forest managers argument against charcoal relative to traditional swidden agriculture. or on-the-ground measurements, there is no accurate way to test As either ejidatarios or pobladores, carbonero households will cut these claims. Carboneros report cutting down less forest per year, down fewer hectares of forest than those who primarily attend to their however, than dedicated milperos. Timber extraction and charcoal milpas unless there is a dramatic development in either the technology oven sites provide sufficient soil in which to plant a traditional or oven capacity for production. rotation of corns, beans, squash, and chili peppers. Although land SEMARNAT’s permitting process facilitated the collection of use patterns have switched as a response to economic necessity and timber through April 2008; and for many years to come if the rate of natural hazards, deforestation may be less than what has been charcoal production proceeds at 1.5 ha or less each year, advancing evidenced by traditional milpa, even if some media reports and into most common use and ejidal land. Natural increase, combined governmental officials find examples of extreme noncompliance with lax enforcement, would appear to ensure this progression. with the law, as when a truck carrying 200 tons of charcoal was found Interviews with officials often pointed out that it was not the hur- by the federal environmental enforcement agency (Gobierno de la ricane that brought the livelihood into being, but rather the presence República 2009). of Mennonites who were closely linked to their relatives in northern A recurring theme throughout the results indicates respondents’ Mexico where hardwood— predominantly mesquite—deforestation fi

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA on 10/30/13. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved. apprehension toward questions pertaining to the onset of the hur- from charcoal production was rst observed. In the surveys with ricane, motives for production, and relation to the perceived gov- carboneros themselves, few knew where the idea for charcoal came ernance of timber extraction. The questionnaire was designed to from other than at a demonstration by extension agents, and in some obtain interrater reliability using the responses of differently worded cases concerted attempts at making more efficient fuel wood for questions (Imle and Atwood 1988), but later responses to questions stoves. The hurricane was an underlying cause along with Men- regarding motivation yielded little statistical significance (Bernard nonite and extensionist presence, just as the disbursement of ex- et al. 1984; Romney et al. 1986). Just as likely, the social desirability traction permits was more proximate. of responses could be considered a reflection of respondents’ desire Close attention will have to be paid to changes in the upper ejidos to dissimulate in the presence of an outside researcher or to otherwise of Calakmul, but the spread of charcoal seems imminent given the project a stronger conservation ethic to an interviewer with an largely uniform social and ecological conditions of the Calakmul expressed interest in forest use. municipality; some ejidos may not have access to the densest parcels

Nat. Hazards Rev. 2013.14:211-219. of timber, but charcoal can be produced regardless of a tree’s di- Bonan, G. B. (2008). “Forests and climate change: Forcings, feedbacks, and ameter at breast height. Not all ejidos are as comparatively affluent the climate benefits of forests.” Science, 320(5882), 1444–1449. as Zoh-Laguna, but if El Refugio is any indication, poverty could Bray, D. B., et al. (2008). “Tropical deforestation, community forests, and ” spur greater production, not less. The current status of permitting protected areas in the Maya forest. Ecol. Soc., 13(2), 56. “ restrictions placed on some ejidos and not others appears to be Cañás Bottos, L. (2008). Transformations of Old Colony Mennonites: The making of a trans-statal community.” Glob. Netw., 8(2), 214–231. agency politicking, not because of a lack of interest in production Colton, D., and Covert, R. W. (2007). Designing and constructing instru- throughout the parts of Calakmul encountered. More ejidos appear ments for social research and evaluation, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. fl to be beginning their involvement in production. Given the uc- Dixon, R. K., et al. (1994). “Carbon pools and flux of global forest eco- tuations in price and patterns of trade exhibited by intermediaries in systems.” Science, 263(5144), 185. the region, charcoal will likely be spread by buyers and sellers, “El huracán Dean deja cinco muertos tras su paso por México.” (2007). which will in turn lead to others with mercantile interests. This was El País, Aug. 22, Internacional, base 6. shown in the summer and fall of 2008 in Zoh-Laguna with the short- Ericson, J. (2004). “Population and land use: An essential link for con- lived attempt by a Guadalajara-based charcoal intermediary to dilute servation in the calakmul biosphere reserve.” Rights, resources, culture, the power of its current coyote. and conservation in the land of the Maya, Praeger, Westport, CT. We remind readers that charcoal is inextricably linked to its base Ericson, J., Freudenberger, M., and Boege, E. (1999). Population dynamics, resource, timber, and that timber extraction and resale (illicit or migration, and the future of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC. otherwise) is ongoing. Charcoal, too, could increasingly be tied to Flynn, R. R. (1987). An introduction to information science, M. Dekker, these timber markets. Recent news reports of large illegal timber New York. and charcoal harvesting busts in June 2012 in and around CBR Garnett, S. T., Sayer, J., and Du Toit, J. (2007). “Improving the effectiveness (Yucatan a la Mano 2012), including a reported 131 t of finished of interventions to balance conservation and development: A conceptual charcoal, highlight this. framework.” Ecol. Soc., 12(1), 2. A natural hazard triggered the rapid expansion of this livelihood, Geist, H. J., and Lambin, E. (2001). What drives tropical deforestation? providing the opportunity for the creative destruction of the largely LUCC International Project Office, Univ. of Lovain, Louvain-la-Neuve, swidden agricultural system in northern Calakmul. Two things are Belgium. “ important to keep in mind, however: Ghilardi, A., Mwampamba, T., and Dutt, G. (2013). What role will char- fi 1. Hurricanes will not necessarily expand the reach of charcoal in coal play in the coming decades? Insights from up-to-date ndings and reviews.” Energy for Sustainable Development, 17(2), 73–74. the future, and “ ” fi Girard, P. (2002). Charcoal production and use in Africa: What future? 2. It is drought and perhaps wild res that could ultimately be Unasylva, 53(211), 30–34. responsible for greater charcoal yields. Gobierno de la República. (2009). “Asegura PROFEPA decomiso These focused livelihood adaptations emphasize the role of histórico de 200 toneladas de carbón vegetal en Campeche.” Æhttp:// scale often missing in climate change predictions (Morton 2007). www.youtube.com/watch?v5w0Qz0Agu1mQæ (Oct. 10, 2009). Respondents put little stock in storms or droughts as drivers of Haenn, N. (1999). “The power of environmental knowledge: Ethnoecology output, instead focusing on access to permits. This crystallizes why and environmental conflicts in Mexican conservation.” Hum. Ecol., the drivers of charcoal should be understood synergistically. Com- 27(3), 477–491. “ mentary always revealed that the hardwood species that were driest Hersperger, A. M., et al. (2010). Linking land change with driving forces ” before the burning cycle were the most ideal. Persistent drought, like and actors: Four conceptual. Ecol. Soc., 15(4). Hibajene, S. H., and Ellegård, A. 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