Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín del Instituto de Geografía,UNAM ISSN 0188-4611, Núm. 73, 2010, pp. 41-56

Ecological land management in the oil municipalities of Region V North, : limits and perspectives of participatory community workshops

Received: 19 August 2009. Final version accepted: 19 August 2009.

Omar Rojas García*

Abstract. The present article discusses the importance of discusses the lack of action on the part of the various go- community participation in workshops conducted in the vernmental agencies in resolving the social, economic and oil municipalities of Region V North, Chiapas, as part of environmental problems associated with the municipalities; the process of drawing up an environmental agenda for the this lack of action can affect the implementation of an region. The main concerns of the population are analysed, environmental proposal. including those relating to changes in land use caused by livestock production and their effects on the environment, Key words: Environmental land use management, partici- as well as those related to the oil industry. The article also patory planning, environmental agenda.

El ordenamiento ecológico territorial en los municipios petroleros de la Región V Norte de Chiapas: límites y perspectivas de los talleres de participación comunitaria

Resumen. En este artículo se discute la importancia de petrolera. Asimismo, se discute la falta de acción por parte los talleres de participación comunitaria, realizados en los de las diferentes instancias gubernamentales para resolver municipios petroleros de la Región V Norte de Chiapas, los problemas sociales, económicos y ambientales inherentes como parte del proceso para obtener una agenda ambiental a los municipios y que, por ende, puede repercutir en la de dicha región. Se analizan las principales inquietudes de instrumentación de alguna propuesta ambiental. la población, en las que se incluye lo relacionado al cambio de uso del suelo ocasionado por la ganadería y sus impac- Palabras clave: Ordenamiento ecológico del territorio, tos al ambiente, así como los relacionados con la actividad planeación participativa, agenda ambiental.

*Departamento de Geografía Económica, Instituto de Geografía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica, Cd. Universitaria, 04360, Coyoacán, , D. F. E-mail: [email protected] Omar Rojas García

Introduction A basic element in achieving these objectives was the setting up of participatory workshops with The government of the State of Chiapas, through the various stakeholders involved in the use, exploi- the Institute of Natural History and Ecology tation and management of the land in the study (IHNE), decided to promote a project designated area, as will be explained in more detail below. ‘Ecological territorial regulation of the oil-pro- ducing zone of Region V in northern Chiapas’, Geographical characteristics of the study area which was assigned to the Institute of Geography Region V North of the state of Chiapas comprises (IG) of the National Autonomous University of 23 municipalities with a total area of 6098.5 km2, Mexico (UNAM). This proposal stemmed from a equivalent to 8% of the surface area of the state need identified by the Inter-institutional Com- of Chiapas (IHNE, 2005). Within this economic mission on the Environmental Problems of the oil region of the state are five oil-producing munici- zones of the state of Chiapas created under the palities adjacent to the state of Tabasco that are in- auspices of the Governor in December 2003. The cluded in the OET, namely , Ostuacán, proposal of Ecological Territorial Regulation (OET) Reforma, Juárez and Sunuapa (Figure 1). The total that was drawn up included among its objectives area of the land relevant to the OET is 2 456.88 km. the formulation of a Territorial Agenda in which The city of Pichucalco is the socio-economic capital would be identified areas for priority attention of the area studied, with a population of 324 273, from the environmental point of view; this would representing 8.27% of the population of Chiapas. contribute elements identified by consensus for the definition of a Model of Ecological Territorial Regulation (MOET).

Figure 1. Study area in Region V North of the state of Chiapas. Municipalities involved:1. Refor- ma, 2. Juárez, 3. Pichucalco, 4. Su- nuapa and 5. Ostuacán.

Source: Santana, 2009.

42 ][ Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 Ecological land management in the oil municipalities of Region V North, Chiapas: limits and perspectives of participatory...

At the municipal level, the capitals of Reforma, have already begun to attract attention, with in- Pichucalco, Juárez, Ostuacán and Sunuapa1 toge- dications of a fairly severe ecological deterioration ther constitute the urban system of the region; the through pollution of the water and sedimentation rest of the localities are rural and are classified as of hydrocarbons, provoked by the functioning and such according to their resources of public services marked development of the oil industry, as demons- in the areas of education, health, commerce, su- trated by results of studies undertaken in Laguna pplies and public administration. Of these, the mu- Limón3 (Leal, 2009) and in the San Miguel lake nicipal capitals of Reforma and Pichucalco, which system (CINVESTAV-IPN, 2002). In the study area are the most important urban centres, contrast at present there are 18 oilfields with plants for the with the infrastructure and services of the other separation and production of petrochemicals, with localities of the region. This urbanization process some 5–25 wells per oilfield for the extraction of has given rise to problems such as the pollution of crude oil and natural gas (PEMEX, 1998, 2005). The water bodies and soil contamination through the public have no access to information regarding the discharge of municipal discharges or sewage and existence of treatment plants for residual waters in of municipal wastes, as well as by openly exposed these fields, nor to the chemical analyses of ground rubbish dumps. waters in the areas occupied by this industry. The principal economic activity has for decades been agriculture, and this has in the past 20 years Environmental planning in Mexico begun to undergo considerable change as a result Environmental politics —in particular, territorial of the expansion of livestock production over crop planning— appeared in the Mexican national de- land, and of the environmental damage produced velopment systems in the 1970s. At the beginning by oil activities. As an alternative to the issues of that decade, actions directed at dealing in an confronting the crop production sector, livestock comprehensive manner with the demands of the production represents the best option for part of populace (civil associations and non-governmental the population. However, the expansion of lives- organizations) began to take shape in relation to the tock production has incorporated considerable deterioration of natural resources and the pollution areas at the expense of forested areas and those de- of air, water and soils, in both urban and rural areas dicated to crops, and these areas are not always the (INE, 2000). In particular, the first actions with most suitable in terms of their physico-geographic respect to territorial planning focused on human characteristics; this has implications in the deterio- settlements, such that in 1976 the General Law of ration and degradation of the natural resources. In Human Settlement (LGAH) was enacted, and the cocoa production, yields have fallen during the past term ‘territorial regulation’ appeared for the first 20 years owing to the misuse of agrochemicals, to time, in a reference to an instrument of territorial the ageing of the plantations (50–60 years), to the regulation applied to the urbano-rural environment lack of organization and of competitive commer- (INE, 2006). In 1982 the Law for Environmental cialization and entrepreneurial vision, and to the Protection arose; this included for the first time spread of Monilia disease2. the concept of ‘ecological planning’, related to The quality of surface and ground waters in the environmental diagnosis and to the management territory was at an ‘acceptable’ level in the 1980s, and conservation of natural resources. The Federal with their composition being within the permit- Law for Environmental Protection and the Law of ted standards. However, the first ‘warning lights’ Planning (1983) formed the basis for the creation of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA) of 1988. This 1 The total population of the municipality of Sunuapa approaches 2800 inhabitants. According to INEGI, a popu- 3 Information obtained from ‘Ecological planning in the lation is considered to be rural when it has fewer than 2500. oil-producing zone of Region V North in Chiapas’, Stage 2 A fungal disease, caused by Moniliophthora roreri, which II. Integrated diagnosis of the territorial system, economic affects the cocoa plantations. subsystem.

Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 ][ 43 Omar Rojas García

law represents the central legal basis of national in order to impose their vision and their desire environmental politics, with general powers as re- to conserve their territory and their living on its gards planning and coordination in environmental natural resources (Bray and Pérez, 2005). To cite matters (Rosete, 2006). some examples, the authors mention the practices accomplished in Oaxaca, Michoacán, Quintana Social participation in decision making Roo and Puebla, which have demonstrated that LGEEPA establishes in article 157 the obligation this approach is valid for defining internal politics of the federal government to promote the active of land use at community level, for segregating participation of society in the planning, execution, areas for production and protection in a consensual evaluation and monitoring of environmental poli- manner, and for reaching agreements in order to tics and of natural resources. Article 158 establishes give viability to the decisions that are taken. The that to comply with the obligation above, the participatory planning of the use of the territory has Secretariat of the Environment, Natural Resources evolved by a route of its own, focusing basically on and Fisheries (SEMARNAT) is authorized to con- developing the social instruments of environmental vene diverse sectors of society. Article 159 antici- management that make most democratic and just pated the integration of consultative organs that the form in which decisions are taken with respect function in assessment, evaluation and pursuance to land use (Corbett and Keller, 2006). as regards environmental politics, and which can Therefore, the objective of a statute will not issue opinions and observations that are considered only be to make ‘legitimate’ a decree of the same, pertinent. but also that, as noted by Azuela (2007), the stake- In Mexico the link between planning bodies holders who take relevant decisions or who can and those responsible for the implementation of influence others can formulate their expectations programmes of regulation has frequently been on the basis of those stipulated by OET, or where weak or absent. Hence, these are normally devi- appropriate some other decree. sed as a requirement for justifying investments, receiving budgets, loans, etc., but not as a guide The participatory workshops conducted in the for achieving the fulfilment of these. This is one study area of the great risks that face the politics of territo- The procedure that the Institute of Geography at rial regulation, since, although the plans may be UNAM developed for the formulation of a Model technically well formulated, they are not carried of Ecological and Territorial Regulation (MOET) out and, also, they do not have administrative or at the municipal level comprised five consecutive legal means that sanction this non-fulfilment; in stages: Stage I, Characterization; Stage II, Inte- addition, they suffer from democratic processes grated diagnosis; Stage III, Prospective phase; Stage of planning, and the participation of the society IV, MOET proposal; and Stage V, Implementation. is limited to innocuous consultations, these being The proposed method was in accordance with demagogic acts (Massiris 2003). For this reason, the the regulations established in the ‘Términos de Refe- OET is a challenge for Mexico and other countries rencia para la elaboración del Programa Municipal of Latin America (Rodríguez et al., 1996; Medina de Ordenamiento Ecológico y Territorial (PMOET)’ and Espinosa, 1998). [Terms of reference for elaboration of the municipal programme of ecological and territorial regulation], Participatory planning which was published by SEMARNAT-INE-SEDESOL In contrast to this type of planning, there are in May 2005. In the present case it was decided examples of successful community participation to conduct the participatory workshops between in planning; here, in the face of governmental Stages III and IV, since it was necessary to integrate policies that have deliberately opposed the para- the results of these in the MOET proposal. Eight digm of community forestal development, it is workshops took place in the five municipalities stakeholders who have had to fight against these, involved, Reforma, Ostuacán, Sunuapa, Juárez

44 ][ Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 Ecological land management in the oil municipalities of Region V North, Chiapas: limits and perspectives of participatory...

and Pichucalco, with the installation of 16 work between 0 and 1, with 1 being the value that indi- groups (Table 1). The invitation to the workshops cates that the criterion is the most important, and was issued by means of the municipal presidents, in with the value nearest to 0 indicating the criterion conjunction with the Institute of Natural History with the least importance. In this way, the problems and Ecology of Chiapas. are first arranged in a hierarchy and then placed in The workshops involvedSMART (Simple multi- a scale of 0 to 100. attribute rating technique; Goodwin and Wright, It must be emphasized that the analysis is per- 2000). This technique consists in listing the pro- formed on the basis of the perception of the po- blems that arise in the zone (the participants define pulace regarding the inherent problems of the them in work groups), and these are organized municipality in question, and of the productive according to various criteria (social, environmen- necessities of the sectors involved. For each mu- tal, economic and political context). Then the nicipality the reports and the results of the work problems are classified according to the frequency groups are reviewed, and the tables of results are with which they are mentioned and each is assigned drawn up. On the basis of the table of weighting a weighting according to its importance. The most of each work group, the most important problems important problem is given a weight of 100, and are selected (social, environmental, economic), in- the least important a weight of 0. Subsequently, the dependently of the group that has proposed them, weights obtained are summed and normalized, and and for each municipality are obtained weights and a standardized weight is obtained, which oscillates frequencies that reflect its specific situation. The

Table 1. Workshops conducted during the public consultation

No. participants Municipality Sector Date Group No. Workshop Municipality Important themes

Cocoa Economic Social Social Social Economic Social Livestock Economic Crops & Livestock Economic Crops & Livestock Environmental Environmental Social Environmental Economic Institutional Environmental Social Crops & Livestock Environmental Economic Crops & Livestock Social Environmental

Source: Rojas et al., 2006.

Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 ][ 45 Omar Rojas García

present article describes the discussion of the most that is proposed for the study zone took into ac- frequent results from the work groups, with the count the Methodology Guide for the preparation aim of demonstrating the local perception of the of State Programmes for Territorial Regulation general problems of the study zone. It is considered developed by the Institute of Geography of the that the analysis of frequencies helps to identify the Autonomous University of Mexico in 2002, as well problems that most preoccupy the inhabitants of as the methodological experiences of the Group the region, without distinguishing the productive of Geo-ecology and Landscape of the Faculty of sector, community, religion, socio-economic level Geography of the University of Havana (personal or any other type. communication5), which has worked on various Projects for Ecological Regulation and Territorial Social participatory workshops and the Regulation in Mexico and other countries of design of the Model of Territorial Occupation Latin America. One of the analyses employed (in (MOET) addition to the social participation workshops) for The design stage of the MOET considers the en- drawing up proposals for use of eco-geographic vironmental issues of the municipalities at the landscapes was the spatial interpretation of diffe- level of landscapes or unities of environmental rent social and economic indicators of Stages I and management4, as the point of departure for set- II of this project of territorial ecological regulation. ting out preventive or corrective proposals during Table 2 presents a comparative overview of the prescription of the various scenarios of spatial those problems identified on the basis of the deli- reorganization but, above all, for the formulation berations during the social participation workshops and design of the desired viable scenario, as the that do not conflict with those obtained by means point of departure for drawing up the proposal of of analysis and diagnosis performed during Stages the model of occupation of the territory. Of course, I and II of the MOET. The social, environmental this environmental issue needs to remain based and economic problems are not the same for every on the present model of use; the main conflicts of municipality, but they do offer a comprehensive the multidirectional interactions between nature overview of the local in the context of the regional and society that have become clear during the generality. discussions in the social participatory workshops, whether these were municipal or sectorial, are re- called as criteria for the execution of this final stage DISCUSSION of the process. The perception of the communities concerning the state of the environment not only Although it is true that territorial regulation is a enriches by its objectivity the detection of the pro- function whose impetus, planning and manage- blems and situations of conflict, but also constitutes ment is appropriate for public administration, it one of the main requisites of a study for the OET, is pertinent to involve in this process the needs where the satisfaction of the expectations of the identified by the stakeholders themselves whose population of the territory studied becomes one activities affect the territory; hence, it should be of the key objectives of the success of the proposal developed in a concerted and participatory manner and application of the model of regulation. (Vega 2008:3). However, as noted by Negrete and The design of the Model of Territorial Deve- Bocco (2003:9), this process still requires much lopment or Model of Occupation of the Territory effort in order to achieve a participatory planning that integrates all sectors of a population and that 4 A UGA is the minimum territorial unit for which apply both considers the great cultural and eco-geographic environmental features and strategies –of territorial politics– diversity that characterizes our country. The pro- combined with schemes for management of natural re- sources, i.e. criteria or fine features of management of these cess of translating these theoretical postulates into resources, oriented to the development that progresses to sustainability. 5 Dr. José Manuel Bollo Manent, UNAM.

46 ][ Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 Ecological land management in the oil municipalities of Region V North, Chiapas: limits and perspectives of participatory... MOET Control of the number of head of livestock of the number head livestock Control to the carryingaccording capacity. of pastures. Improvement pasture. by the encroachment Arresting of draining wetlands the process Halting with secondaryand clear felling of forests vegetation to augment soil improvement Organic of compost. Use fertility. in land used area a 10% forested Achieving production for livestock in limitation of cultivation control, Flood places susceptible to unseasonal flooding. and incentivisation of Promotion subjects, of into environmental investigation urbanism and of territorial regulation. through agriculture by encroachment Halting or clear felling of forests draining wetlands with secondary vegetation. the application of fertilizers and Regulating pesticides to established limits. of felling for wood. Control with local timber species on Reforestation and gullies. banks of streams of lands for conservation. Proposal Evaluation Reserve and possible Ana Nature of the Santa of the study in the south-west new areas region. of the local people in economic Involvement and conservation activities for the proposed Reserve. Nature Solution set out in the MOET Solution • • • • • • • • • • • • • Problem identified in the MOET Problem the identification of environmental For in the sectors of eco-geographic problems the social or economic landscape of the territory, are activities that generate these problems identified; among the economic activities appear or plantations, such as cocoa cropping intensive or crops commercial extensive production; and extraction drilling of wells subsistence crops, production, of oil and natural gas, livestock forestry extraction; and among the activities of a of urbanization was the process social character, in each sector of the eco-geographic considered landscape. Problem identified in the municipal workshops Problem to change in owing in the zone Deforestation in water quality and problems land use; erosion; contamination of water bodies. Table 2. Correlation between the results obtained in the social participation with inputs for the design of workshops the results between 2. Correlation Table

Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 ][ 47 Omar Rojas García Facilities for the construction and Facilities of services in housing, improvement families. particular those of the lower-income of urban waste Channelling and treatment waters. surface waters for and ground Monitoring nutrient content (nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates, sulfates, pesticides, etc.). of surface and and recycling Treatment with possible waters for industry, ground effects of urban liquid wastes. surface waters and ground Monitoring by solid wastes. possibly affected of collection and disposal solid Control of tips that comply with waste and creation established technical standards. the burning of solid waste and Prevent fly tipping. control Selective felling of species for wood and Selective timber. species for shade. with tree Reforestation livestock of the plantations by Replacement production. cocoa by of agriculture replacement Gradual and fruit plantations. of technologies and training Development of personnel for disease eradication in cocoa plantations. fight against diseases in cocoa Intensive production. opportunities and fewer for producers Market intermediaries in all economic activities. of the business culture. Improvement • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Domestic waste thrown directly into surface directly waste thrown Domestic waters, causing chemical and biological pollution. rubbishOpen tips. illegal rubbish tips. Uncontrolled of rubbish lack of through Accumulation a system of urban collection, also causing chemical and biological contamination of surface waters. waters and ground ). ( Monilia in the crop Diseases of the crop of commercialization Problems and of worthwhile prices. market of intermediaries. Presence for primaryLack of infrastructure industrial processing. • • • • Natural limiting factors: Natural • limitations: Socioeconomic • • • Problems associated with lines of communication Problems lack of management and the urban infrastructure; with the and disposal of solid waste, problems quality of drinking water and the contamination water bodies. Problems in cocoa production owing to moniliasis, owing in cocoa production Problems to soil degradation and intermediaries Table 2. Continuation Table

48 ][ Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 Ecological land management in the oil municipalities of Region V North, Chiapas: limits and perspectives of participatory... Increase general public awareness of the general public awareness Increase and of sustainable forms land environment means of the media and education use, by and health systems. of education the population, Raise the level illiteracy and encourage pupils to decrease at school for longer. remain the health services and access to Improve primary in particular for pregnant care, women and the elderly. for the construction and Facilities of services in in the dwellings, improvement families particular for low-income Monitor the quality of surface and ground Monitor to possible waters and the soils in relation in particular in the spillage of hydrocarbons, pumping stations and in the pipelines. to the the quality of air in relation Monitor pipelines or other emission of gases, in wells, installations. of compliance with the Constant control established for each technical standards installation of the oil industry in the territory. of extraction of the process Control wastes during drilling operations. dangerous any type of activity on the surface of Avoid pipes. are land under which there • • • • • • • • • Medium rate of general morbidity. Medium rate of access to medical services. Medium of household services,provision Insufficient to medium. low from of overcrowding. level Medium Exploitation of hydrocarbons by means of by of hydrocarbons Exploitation drilled wells. the extracted fuel. for recycling Installations of hydrocarbons. Processing Contamination of the soil and surface and (Intensity: hydrocarbons. waters by ground Medium.) gases into the atmosphere. Escape of toxic Medium.) (Intensity: into the of hydrocarbons Spillage Medium.) (Intensity: environment. • • • • Action: • • • problems: Environmental • • • Problems of insufficient medical services and rights Problems as a limiting factor of access to these; unemployment lack of education of the region; in the development awareness. and environmental Relation of the oil industryRelation with its environmental and social effects Table 2. Continuation Table

Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 ][ 49 Omar Rojas García ). ZPRVN Improve the planning and coordination the planning and coordination Improve stakeholders the diverse existing between and economic sectors that take part in the of the territoryregulation the and promote participationactive of the society in actions in this area. actions and shared Establish coordinated of levels the various between responsibility conservation for the protection, government of the natural capital and and rehabilitation natural resources. the generation of inter-institutional Promote actions and of the civil society for preservation of the flora and fauna both on land and in water. State, Search for the greatest efficiency in the for the greatest Search of supportapplication of programmes and agriculture production, for livestock aquaculture. with a decrease facilities for producers Market in intermediaries all economic activities. of the business culture. Improvement term. long the in aquaculture of Development of technical support systems for Development production. and livestock crop of the tertiaryDiversification sector in to environmental particular in relation services. in the territory. of investment Stimulation of the secondaryDevelopment sector in the industry and livestock linked to crop production. • • • • • • • • • • for the oil-producing zone of Region V North ( V North of Region zone for the oil-producing MOET Insufficient financial support of social and Insufficient agricultural projects. products. prices for livestock market Low the of milk and meat, reflecting productivity Low most in investment and mechanization of level low businesses. livestock in the zone. of investment level Low of marginalization to high levels Medium localities. of prices, intermediaries and markets, Problems and of organization. lack of business culture with a to medium productivity, Low and bananas. of maize predominance in conditions of agricultural development Present competition. low of the tertiaryLittle diversification sector. Source: personal derivation from the data from Stages III and IV of the Stages the data from from personal derivation Source: Participation of the organs of government and of the organs government Participation projects. in comprehensive involvement Problems related to the lack of finances for related Problems technical and crops; of livestock production technical projects; consultancy for productive training. Table 2. Continuation Table

50 ][ Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 Ecological land management in the oil municipalities of Region V North, Chiapas: limits and perspectives of participatory...

spatial reality for each society is not simple, since the regional atmospheric characteristics, and this the process of environmental planning is faced with also produces changes in the dynamics and in the specific environmental conditions and with diverse available volume of surface water (running water political, economic and social interests. and standing water bodies). This occurs above On the basis of our own experience, it is compli- all in the municipalities of Juárez and Reforma, cated to knit together the points of view of different where there are already considerable problems of economic sectors involved in the management of collection of water. Particularly in the municipality a territory to generate proposals for their use and of Reforma, the problem of contamination of the conservation. lakes is exacerbated by contamination by agro- In analysing the results of the workshops, it is chemicals and by waste waters from the populace. pertinent to stress the worrying aspect of requesting These above-mentioned processes of environmental more economic support for livestock production, change, as a result of the many diverse human ac- when the practice of this is in itself the cause of tivities that occur, can threaten the survival of the many of the impacts with which the region is con- various species (Dirzo and Raven, 2003). fronted. Livestock farmers who own large ranches There is a relationship between public policies and who operate mainly in the municipalities in and soil degradation, since in politics there is no the north of the state contaminate the rivers and analysis of the effect that these policies have on the the wells by their use of agrochemicals and also stability of the environment and, hence, on the loss by the wastes (dung) of the animals themselves. of animal and plant species. Many of the establis- Paradoxically, the greatest economic benefits of hed programmes, such as the spread of livestock livestock production are distributed mainly in production, the practice of monoculture with the large ranches of the municipalities of Juárez high consumption of agrochemicals and the in- and Reforma, and do not remain in Chiapas but tense deforestation, accentuate the problem of in Tabasco, the State of origin of the ranchers of soil degradation. As noted by Tarrio et al. (1985), the region. an advantage that permits livestock production This disparity in economic aid contrasts also to be competitive is the practice of extensive pro- with the component granted for a small number of duction, since it lowers the costs of production head of animals in the municipalities of Ostuacán and allows profits that correspond more to a rent and Pichucalco, and in Sunuapa, which is also a for the soil than to an investment. Nevertheless, reflection of the differences in the type of livestock it represents a considerable social cost, since with production that is practised in these, i.e. more the incorporation of a very small workforce (one capitalized and intensive in the municipalities in cowhand can look after more than 30 head of the north, mainly in Juárez, and more extensive cattle), it can achieve an increased productivity per or pastoral in the municipalities in the south of man employed as unskilled cheap labour in these the region. large operations. One of the conclusions of the Also, the natural grasslands have gradually participatory workshops alluded to this problem been replaced, above all in the municipalities of in mentioning, as has already been noted above, the north of the region, by pastures cultivated that many of the owners of extensive lands do not with species of higher quality, classified as good live in Chiapas but in Tabasco; taking advantage of rangeland, which makes them preferable for the de- the lack of employment within the region or of the velopment of livestock. The elimination of the na- low productivity of the land, they employ the local tural plant cover for the seeding of pastures has had populace who find themselves obliged to work as major ecological consequences for the region: in the cattle hands with low salaries. Some work groups first place, it decreases the collection of water that referred to this practice as ‘slave labour’. feeds the aquifers, and with this, the availability of Tarrio and co-workers noted that the displace- underground water resources; in addition, the gra- ment of staple crops by pastures, the replacement dual reduction in atmospheric humidity changes of staple crops by forage and oilseed plants, and the

Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 ][ 51 Omar Rojas García

confinement of crop production by livestock pro- nurturing thereby an unbalanced development duction are processes that mutually reinforce each of Mexican agriculture that leads to a progressive other and contribute in an important manner to deterioration in the productive conditions of the the agro-food crisis and to defining the underdeve- peasants (Mackinlay 1996). lopment of rural Mexico. On its part, crop produc- For example, for cocoa production there are tion requires the use of herbicides and fertilizers, three basic problems that work against family in- which has markedly transformed the landscape. comes and the standard of living of the producers, In conjunction with livestock production it has these being the current low price of cocoa, the eliminated almost all natural forests, so that the presence of intermediaries in its commercialization, biological system has partially lost the capacity to and the lack of a business culture, in addition to achieve its geo-ecological functions and has lowe- deficient organization of production and to the red productivity. According to Ortiz et al. (1994), problem of Monilia disease; this has led to a change this process has been defined as ‘the lowering or in the use of the soil to favour the elimination of destruction of the biological potential of natural the plantations in order to introduce livestock. A resources caused by the poor use and management situation that prejudices this sector economically of these, which has as a consequence degenerative is the absence of an infrastructure encouraging processes of the physical, economic and social processing, and this favours commercialization of environment of the populations involved within the product in its raw state, without added value. its confines’; according to testimonies of the local With respect to oil production, it is remarkable inhabitants, monilia disease has clearly intensified how this has had repercussions within the region, because the land does not have ‘the ability to fight not only through environmental impacts inherent it’. The area of labour has been reduced relatively, in the drilling and extraction of oil but also through above all by the expansion of the surface area oc- its influence on the dynamics of economic and cupied by pastures and the consequent spread of social activities. the area of livestock production at the cost of land In the environmental sphere, there is an ob- for both crop production and forestry. vious vulnerability to contamination of soils, and The abandonment of crop production in the in consequence of ground water, by the products Mexican countryside can be explained by the fact derived from the oil industry (by the infiltration of that the productive potential of the peasants has meteoric water, via the soil or by direct injection historically been underestimated within the agra- of the treated water) in the zones near the PEMEX rian politics of Mexico (Appendini, 1995), owing batteries. Particularly noticeable is the general to the predominating official vision which consi- perception of the contamination of the air, which ders the peasants as inefficient producers and not manifests itself in the form of acid rain, and in apt for modernization (Morett, 2003). The changes various lacustrine bodies6 that can not support any realized in the political and institutional context activity for man (provision of drinking water) or include the adoption of free trade, a reduction in beast (watering holes). subsidies, elimination of price control and reform In the economic and social sphere, the munici- of the legal framework that regulates the ownership palities have undergone a change in dynamic ste- of the land in the farming cooperatives (Fritscher, mming from the arrival of PEMEX; there has been 2004). The combined effect of the reforms together a markedly unbalanced development with a con- with the recurrent economic crises has put at risk centration of the oil industry in the urban centres. the productive viability of the peasantry as a whole On the basis of the growth pole theory of (Bartra, 1995). Perroux (1988), it can be seen principally in the The policies of subsidization and of productive modernization implemented since the second half 6 The highest contamination index is observed in the lakes El of the 20th century sidelined crop production by Limón, El Santuario and La Estancia Vieja and in the marshy peasants in favour of the private sector (Paz, 1995), soils of the Santa Teresa region of the first and third sections.

52 ][ Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 Ecological land management in the oil municipalities of Region V North, Chiapas: limits and perspectives of participatory...

Reforma municipality how the economic activities position in terms of incomes, and Ostuacán and organize themselves in the geographic space. Pe- Sunuapa, the most rural municipalities of the zone rroux argued that, like a force field, ‘economic space and with a greater proportion of work in the fa- consists of centres (or poles or foci) from which mily plot, have the lowest incomes and the highest centrifugal forces emanate and to which centripetal proportion of their economically active population forces are attracted, but with a development it is who are occupied without receiving income. thrown off balance’ (Ibid.:11). The focus of growth There is a cultural clash between the local popu- is defined principally by an industrial complex and lace and those who come in from the neighbouring dominated by a driving or propelling industry that states and from the other oil-producing regions ends up being the engine of development through of the country (the skilled workforce of the oil its capacity for innovation and stimulation, and industry). The arrival of this population, as well as for dominating other industries. In the words of bringing about an increment in the cost of living in Perroux: ‘Growth does not occur everywhere at the the oil-producing zones of Chiapas and Tabasco on same time; it appears in nodes or poles of growth of account of the higher wages of the PEMEX workers various intensities, it spreads by various ways and in relation to the average for the region, has also with differing effects on the economy as a whole’ favoured the proliferation of establishments such (Parr, 1999:17). as bars, restaurants, cafes, etc., which generate an The municipality of Reforma is characterized by economic turnover at the local level, to the detri- having grown as a consequence of the migrations ment of other types of services more necessary for to the region during the 1970s and 1980s, owing the populace (schools of various levels and types, to the existence of the sources of employment diverse health services, cultural and recreational generated by the presence of PEMEX. However, services for families, etc.). since the state-owned company relies on its own In the case of the oil-producing zone of Region permanent workforce, it only offers the local people V North of Chiapas, the social appropriation temporary, low-grade work since it maintains that of OET (Territorial Ecological Regulation) as a they do not have adequate qualifications for their political instrument has a long way to go, since employment in the oil industry. The nucleus of there has still not been an initiative on the part of development of the zone is centred on Reforma, the municipalities involved (Reforma, Sunuapa, which is the most dynamic, and which in con- Pichucalco, Juarez and Ostuacán) to take up any junction with Juárez and Pichucalco, which are in of the alternatives proposed by the government this same area, forms a north–south corridor and for ‘putting the land in order’. In addition, each represents a development potential for the zone. of these municipalities has very specific ‘priorities’ Ostuacán forms a weak nucleus in the territories in that need to be discussed at the local and then the south of these municipalities and has relations the regional level. This is a considerable barrier with the more disperse localities. With regard to encountered by the territory analysed here, since, the density of the population and the level of de- as mentioned above, its complexity is manifested velopment, the better equipped territories possess a not only in the diverse uses and priorities of land greater population density, while the municipalities use, but also in the social and economic disparity with very low densities are those that have a lower existing between one municipality and another, as index of social integration. well as in the participation of the various stakehol- According to Sánchez and Casado (2006:24), ders involved in the process of implementing any the Reforma municipality is classified as having MOET proposal. very high economic development (the highest in As noted by Azuela (2007), of the instruments the State), a level only achieved elsewhere in Chia- of environmental politics that the Mexican legis- pas by the municipalities of Tuxtla Gutiérrez and lation plans, it is difficult to think of any other , in that order; within the study zone, whose institutionalization requires social changes Pichucalco and Juárez occupy an intermediate as profound as those for OET.

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For the World Bank, participation requires that and urban services, nor the diversification and ame- the interested stakeholders take control over those lioration of the quality of the social and economic decisions that are going to affect them (World services; nor has it resulted in substantial impro- Bank, 1996); it is also a process of empowerment vement in the levels of wellbeing of the populace. of the communities that shows transparency in the The solution to these shortcomings is simply decision proposal (Xiaojun et al., 2008). However, the embodiment of the culture of planning and in practice, nearly all the decisions are inflexible execution of comprehensive projects of territorial and rapidly reached by high levels of government, regulation drawn up and applied with the partici- without sufficient consideration of the hetero- pation of all sectors of the society. geneity of the rural environment or the effective The subject of social participation has been dealt participation of the local population. with in the scientific literature in a wide variety Talking of participation is not exactly an ideolo- of disciplines, and the taking of decisions as an gical term in the sense that it deals with politics of outcome of public consultations can be defined public relations or of mechanisms for legitimizing as the essential manifestation of the exercise of a proposal without its necessarily being followed political power; hence the necessity of including through (Briceño, 1998). In this case, after more these procedures in the democratic system. The than three years of presenting the MOET before the participation of the citizens in the decision-making IHNE and the government of the state of Chiapas, acquires, for this zone, a special importance in the it has not yet been implemented. This is probably municipal environment because it is at this level because of the great economic and social complexi- that the process of social reproduction takes place ty of the zone and the interests of the strongest and where decisions are taken that have the greatest economic sectors which bring their influence to effect on the daily life of the citizens. bear in a decisive way by opposing the measures The participatory workshops that were conduc- proposed by the MOET. ted certainly achieved the objective of designing an Environmental Agenda that will serve as a basis for developing the corresponding MOET proposal. CONCLUSIONS However, there is still a long way to go before the MOET proposal is truly viable, by virtue of the fact In general, in the region there is a separation bet- that this tool of environmental politics considers ween the distinct levels of government in a vertical social participation as an indispensable element in sense and among the various entities of each of their implementing and making transparent the process dependencies in a horizontal sense. In addition, of territorial planning. there is a lack of coordination between the plans The SMART technique can be a useful tool for and the sources of finance needed to bring about communicating and directing the participation of the proposed actions; these are not focused on the people involved in a proposal for development; zones or problems worthy of priority attention, the organization and the participants are indispen- or else the authorities of the various levels of go- sable, since in order for the process to be valid it is vernment do not add efforts that allow a synergy essential that the various stakeholders who live in in the economic and human resources destined to a territory are represented. support and back up the work of the institutions. The formulation of the theoretical–conceptual The oil industry has left a negative imprint on platform and of the course via different disciplinary the territory, whether it be as impacts on the natural and interdisciplinary methodological proposals resources or on the health of the inhabitants: the developed during the process of characterization dynamics of oil production (phases of extraction (Stage I), of integrated diagnosis (Stage II) and the of hydrocarbons and processing of natural gas) has municipal and sectorial participatory workshops not strengthened the traditional regional economy; (Stage III), as well as their results, allows the esta- it has not uniformly consolidated the infrastructure blishment of a scientific base oriented to the de-

54 ][ Investigaciones Geográficas, Boletín 73, 2010 Ecological land management in the oil municipalities of Region V North, Chiapas: limits and perspectives of participatory...

velopment of Stage IV; finally, this leads to the del Instituto Politécnico Nacional-Unidad Mérida, formulation of the model of territorial ecological Departamento de Recursos del Mar, Mérida. regulation (MOET), the desired scenario that will Corbett, J. and P. Keller (2006), “Overview mapping for change - the emergence of a new practice in partici- be viable for a sustainable socio-productive reorga- patory learning action”, Participatory Learning and nization of the territory of the oil-producing zone Action, London, vol. 54, pp. 21-28. of Region V North of the state of Chiapas. Dirzo, R. and P. Raven (2003), “Global states of biodi- versity and loss”, Annual Review of Environmental and Resources, no. 29, pp. 137-167. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Fritscher, M. (2004), “Reorientación en la acción estatal del campo mexicano: un balance del periodo (1980- 1993)”, ALTERIDADES, no. 14, pp. 13-29. Thanks to the workshop participants and to the Goodwin, P. and G. Wright (2000), “Decision Analysis municipal presidents for their support in dissemi- for Management Judgement”, International Journal nating the invitations, and providing the premises of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, vol. for the workshops, the sound recording facilities 9(2), pp. 147-161. and the catering. In addition, thanks to the person- INE (2000), El Ordenamiento Ecológico del Territorio. nel of the Institute of Natural History and Ecology Logros y retos para el desarrollo sustentable. 1995 -2000, Instituto Nacional de Ecología, México. of the State of Chiapas, for logistic coordination INE (2006), Planeación territorial, México. and help both before and during the workshops. To INHE (2005), Bitácora ambiental. Programa de Orde- Dr María Teresa Sánchez Salazar for her invaluable namiento Ecológico Territorial del Estado de Chiapas help in the final revision of the document, and to [http://www.bitacora.ihne.chiapas.gob.mx/oet_reg_ Drs Atlántida Coll-Hurtado and José María Casado norte2.html]. Izquierdo of the Institute of Geography, UNAM. Leal, M.T., S. Miranda, E. Otazo, F. Prieto and A. Gor- dillo (2009), “Metals polution in El Limón Lagoon”, Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems, no. 10, pp. 415-421. REFERENCES Mackinlay, H. (1996), “El agro en México: un futuro incierto después de las reformas”, en Mackinlay, H. Azuela, A. (2007), El ordenamiento ecológico del territorio y E. Boege (coord.), El acceso a los recursos naturales en México: génesis y perspectivas, SEMARNAT, México. y el desarrollo sustentable, Plaza y Valdés, México, Appendini, K. (1995), “La transformación de la vida pp. 21-40. económica del campo mexicano”, en Prud’homme, J. Massiris, Á. (2003), Políticas latinoamericanas de ordena- (coord.), El impacto social de las políticas de ajuste en el miento territorial: realidades y desafíos, tesis de Doctor campo mexicano, Plaza y Valdés, México, pp. 31-91. en Geografía, México. Bray, B. and M. Pérez, (2005), La experiencia de las Medina, C. and M. Espinosa (1998), La toma de decisio- comunidades forestales en México. Veinticinco años de nes en un mundo posmoderno: de la racionalidad al caos. silvicultura y construcción de empresas forestales comu- Gestión y estrategia [http://www-azc.uam.mx/ges- nitarias, 1ª. reimp., Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y tion/ num8/doc10.htm. consulta diciembre 2007]. Recursos Naturales, Instituto Nacional de Ecología, Morett, J. (2003), Reforma agraria: del latifundio al neo- Consejo Civil Mexicano para la Silvicultura Sosteni- liberalismo, Plaza y Valdés, México. ble, Fundación Ford, México. Negrete, G. and G. Bocco (2003), “El ordenamiento Bartra, A. (1995), “Los nuevos campesinos”, en ecológico comunitario: una alternativa de planeación Prud’homme, J. (coord.), El impacto social de las po- participativa en el contexto de la política ambiental de líticas de ajuste en el campo mexicano, Plaza y Valdés, México”, Gaceta Ecológica, núm. 68, México. México, pp. 169-219. Ortiz S., M. L. M., M. Anaya G. and J. Estrada (1994), Briceño, L. (1998), “The political context for community Evaluación, cartografía y políticas preventivas de participation in Latin America Cad.”, Saúde Pública, la degradación de la tierra, en Becerra, A. (1998), Rio de Janeiro, 14(Sup. 2), pp. 141-147. Conservación de suelos y desarrollo sustentable, ¿utopía CINVESTAV-IPN (2002), Evaluación de la calidad ambien- o posibilidad en México, TERRA Latinoamericana, tal del Sistema Lagunar San Miguel (Fase II), Informe abril-junio, año/vol. 16, núm. 002, Colegio de final, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados Postgraduados-CONAZA, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, México.

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