THE ENDURANCE OF MEXICAN AMATE PAPER: EXPLORING ADDITIONAL DIMENSIONS TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT DISSERTATION to obtain the doctor´s degree at the University of Twente, on the authority of the rector magnificus, prof.dr. F.A. van Vught, on account of the decision of the graduation committee, to be publicly defended on Monday, 24 March, 2003 at 15.00 hour by Rosaura Citlalli López Binnqüist born on 18 September, 1965 in Mexico City, Mexico This thesis has been approved by the promotor prof.dr. J.Th.A. Bressers and the assistant promotor dr. M.K. McCall In de reeks Schone Technologie en Milieubeleid worden milieuvraagstukken belicht vanuit wetenschappelijke visies op overheidsbeleid, technologie en management. Deel 1 De effectiviteit van gemeentelijke milieubeleidsplanning F.H.J.M. Coenen Deel 2 Bevordering van milieumanagement in organisaties T.J.N.M. de Bruijn en K.R.D. Lulofs Deel 3 The feasibility of Dutch environmental policy instruments J.J. Ligteringen Deel 4 25 jaar milieubeleid in Nederland; instrumenten, incidenten en effecten R.A. van de Peppel, P-J. Klok en D. Hoek Deel 5 The Endurance of Mexican Amate Paper R.C. López Binnqüist Redactie Dr. M.J. Arentsen Prof.dr. J.Th.A. Bressers Dr. F.H.J.M. Coenen Drs. S.M.M. Kuks (redactiesecretaris) Redactieadres Centrum voor Schone Technologie en Milieubeleid Universiteit Twente, Postbus 217, 7500 AE Enschede E-mail: [email protected] Een voorstel voor publicatie in de reeks kan via de redactiesecretaris aan de redactie worden voorgelegd. De redactie toetst of de voorgedragen publicatie binnen het doel van de reeks past. Vervolgens laat zij het voorstel inhoudelijk beoordelen door tenminste twee onafhankelijke wetenschappelijke referenten. Toelating tot de reeks is van deze wetenschappelijke beoordeling afhankelijk. ITC dissertation number 97 Druk: Océ Facility Services, Enschede Vormgeving omslag: Jo Molenaar, [deel4 ontwerpers], Enschede Opmaak binnenwerk: Widya Prajanthi Het boek is gedrukt op chloorvrij papier, BioTop 3 © Twente University Press, Enschede, 2003 P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands, www.tup.utwente.nl Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden vermenigvuldigd door middel van druk, fotocopie of op welke andere wijze ook zonder schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever. ISBN 9036519004 Preface In 1992 I participated with a research team in a project on the potential management of trees for producing bark used in the manufacture of the hand-made bark paper called amate, one of the Mexican handicraft products in most demand. The manufacture of amate is carried out in the state of Puebla and we were based in the neighboring state of Veracruz. At that moment there was information among governmental institutions about the scarcity of trees for bark supply and the frequent intrusion of bark harvesters into Veracruz - it was said that most of them performed illegal bark extraction. The team was composed of biologists, artists and anthropologists. As an anthropologist, I was in charge of the social and cultural aspects of amate. I started gathering historical information about it and later prepared the field program. The financial support for the project stopped quite suddenly, as sometimes occurs in countries such as Mexico, where uncertainty is always present. However, my personal curiosity about amate continued. When a new opportunity turned up to continue working on amate, some of my past motives were reawakened. The apparent scarcity of trees and the risk of over- exploitation were pointed out in some literature sources; the situation was vaguely described but it was generally assumed that the source of raw material was insufficient. Besides this, the most recent efforts of some institutions for rural development (INI and DGCP) had been oriented towards the implementation and coordination of tree nurseries where bark paper was manufactured. These projects had all failed. Overall, there was no clear understanding or knowledge of what was occurring as regards the resources used for bark. I picked up the topic again at this stage. This time the scope was enlarged by the idea of analyzing the whole situation of bark supply, considering such questions as: Who are the harvesters? where do they debark? which tree species are used? and how are extraction activities carried out? I also contemplated elaborating suggestions to improve the management of tree resources in order to guarantee their conservation and thus the conservation of amate production. Even without preliminary fieldwork, I assumed that intervention for sustainable tree management was needed. As in other research cases and projects for rural development, the goals were established without a preliminary and unbiased study of the ground conditions. It was assumed that the large amount of amate manufactured implied large amounts of bark; without this raw material there would be no such handicraft. On the other hand, it was astonishing that, although the bark raw material itself constitutes the main attraction of the amate handicraft for the consumer, there was no information about the resources employed, even though the scarcity or total depletion of these resources would mean the end of this handicraft. i The fieldwork lasted one year. As with other studies based on field observations, the original research questions and preliminary assumptions changed during the stay in the field. The supply of bark is based on diverse harvesting strategies, which include the expansion of the harvest area, the integration of more bark harvesters, the adoption of more tree species, and especially the recent adoption of a tree species of fast growth and wide distribution, occurring as part of the shade trees on coffee plantations. It became apparent that the problem regarding the supply of bark, which constitutes the first and main phase of the whole amate commodity chain, had basically been solved. In a practical short-term sense, the questions first raised were answered: the supply of bark to meet demand are up to now resourcefully achieved. However, during fieldwork, continuous observation of how amate production and bark supply are accomplished and of the many different factors conditioning the everyday work of harvesters and artisans raised other questions. In a wider context, the continuity of amate cannot be answered straightforwardly and exclusively on the basis of the existence of a secure stock of raw material. It is linked to the historical background of amate and the present cultural, economic, environmental and political factors occurring at local, regional, national and international levels, which are shaping the everyday production of amate and bark harvesting. The historical background and multi-scale factors of amate production emerged as central to this study. In this way the scope of the original idea that centered only on bark harvesting became definitely wider. ii Table of Contents Preface i Table of Contents iii List of Acronyms vii Acknowledgement viii Chapter 1. Amate paper case study 1.1 A local handicraft with a long history in the world market 3 1.2 Narrations from fieldwork 7 1.3 The case of amate: its place and aims within ‘sustainable development’ 11 1.4 Research questions 14 1.5 Notes on sources of information and fieldwork 15 1.6 Structure of the book 18 Chapter 2. Sustainable development and non-timber forest products 2.1 Introduction 25 2.2 Sustainable development 26 2.2.1 Brief overview of the sustainable development concept 26 2.2.2 Nature-society relations and local-global relations 28 2.2.3 The cultural dimension of sustainable development 32 2.3 Non-timber forest products 34 2.3.1 Brief overview of the development of NTFP approach 34 2.3.2 Evaluation and assessment of NTFPs 36 2.3.3 The role of non-timber forest products and handicraft production in 40 Mexico 2.4 Summary 46 Chapter 3. A framework for the amate case study 3.1 Introduction 51 3.2 Multi-dimensional framework 51 3.2.1 Sustainable development as point of departure 51 3.2.2 Linking social and environmental changes at different scales 54 3.2.3 Components of the multi-dimensional framework 56 3.3 Theories and concepts 60 3.3.1 Amate paper: commoditization and handicraft commodity chains 61 3.3.2 Bark trees: ethnobotany and ethnoecology 66 3.3.3 Regional landscape: land property rights and mountain ecology 69 3.4 Summary 75 Chapter 4. Amate paper: development throughout history 4.1 Introduction 79 4.2 Pre-Hispanic period and Spanish colonization 80 4.2.1 Origin of bark paper and its prosperity during the XVI century 80 4.2.2 Prohibition of amate paper during the Spanish colonial period 89 4.3 Otomi bark paper production 93 4.3.1 Antecedents of Otomi from 1100 A.D. till Spanish colonialization 90 4.3.2 Otomi ritual bark paper 97 4.3.3 Concurrent manufacture: commercial and ritual bark paper 102 4.4 Emergence and characteristics of a new handicraft 104 4.4.1 Amate, the fusion of two indigenous traditions 104 iii 4.4.2 New amate products, innovations and reinterpretations 109 4.4.3 Amate paper in San Pablito: social claims along with handicraft 113 production 4.5 Summary 114 Chapter 5. Amate paper production: context and conditions of present amate production 5.1 Introduction 119 5.2 Amate paper manufacture 120 5.2.1 Antecedents of manufacturing technology and work division 120 5.2.2 Paper manufacturing process and recent technological changes 123 5.3 Otomi artisans 130 5.3.1 Typology of Otomi artisans 130 5.3.2 Paper production calendar 135 5.4 Paper distribution and commercialization 136 5.4.1 The roles of artisans, traders and wholesalers 136 5.4.2 Overview of the present bark paper commodity chain 138 5.5 Beyond the locality: San Pablito in the municipal and regional context 142 5.5.1 Pahuatlán, the municipal head village 142 5.5.2 The expansion of Otomi livelihood strategies 144 5.5.3 The expansion of Otomi political actions 147 5.6 Summary 149 Chapter 6.