Eduardo Garcia Frapolli

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México | UNAM · Ecosystems and Sustainability Research Institute

Sustainability in irrigation has become a major concern as water scarcity threatens sustainable development. In the present study, an Irrigation Sustainability Index (ISI) has been developed and proposed for application in agricultural basins. The ISI uses indicators of four dimensions of sustainability: economic, social, institutional, and environ...

Tropical agricultural frontiers are rapidly changing and present unique opportunities to reconcile ecosystem services (ES) provision, biodiversity conservation, and livelihood maintenance of rural communities. To understand the dynamics of these frontiers, we analyzed preferences, reasons associated with importance, and spatial perceptions of ES an...

“Eco-symbiotic complementarity” refers to mechanisms of reciprocal support among people settled in different ecological zones to access zone-specific useful products. We evaluated eco-symbiotic complementarity and how socio-spatial marginality influences the exchange of natural products between Nahua communities in the municipality of Coyomeapan an...

In many cultures, interactions between humans and plants are rooted in what is called "relational values"-values that derive from relationships and entail reciprocity. In Mexico, biocultural diversity is mirrored in the knowledge and use of some 6500 plant species and the domestication of over 250 Mesoamerican native crop species. This research exp...

Addressing vulnerabilities in small-scale fisheries (SSF) has been gaining increasing attention due to their role in securing livelihoods of millions of people in the world, even though when they are subject to susceptible scenarios. We reviewed the literature with the aim of shedding light on the distribution, coping strategies, and common drivers...

Objetivo: analizar las visiones de bienestar de una comunidad campesina y de la administración de la Reserva de la Biosfera Tehuacán-Cuicatlán donde ésta se ubica, a fin de brindar información que sirva para mejorar el manejo del área protegida. Metodología: se utilizaron métodos cualitativos para el estudio del bienestar subjetivo, tomando como re...

To examine the role of civil society organisations (CSOs), including non-governmental environmental organisations, in climate governance, a case study approach in the coastal zone of Quintana Roo, Mexico is utilised. Focus groups with key stakeholders, in-depth face-to-face, and online interviews were employed to examine key actor perceptions of cl...

Overfishing is taking place all over the world threatening marine ecosystems' health and associated livelihoods. Correctly identifying the drivers of overexploitation are crucial to guide effective fishery measures. In the present study the distinct contribution to overfishing of large-scale fisheries (LSF) and small-scale fisheries (SSF) in the Gu...

Global transformation involved key trade-offs, and inequalities, as growing interactions drove economic growth but also degradation. Accelerations in consumption and interconnection have had trade-offs.

Protected areas (PA) are effective means for protecting biodiversity, but less is known about their effect on the social-ecological system (SES). Using a semi-experimental approach and a descriptive case study based evaluation, we analyzed the effect of a PA in the Yucatan Peninsula on land-cover and household resource management strategies in time...

An unprecedented magnitude of land-use/land-cover changes have led to a rapid conversion of tropical forested landscapes to different land-uses. This comparative study evaluates and reconstructs the recent history (1976–2019) of land-use change and the associated land-use types that have emerged over time in two neighboring rural villages in Southe...

The goal of this investigation is to identify elements and attributes for the establishment of interinstitutional and intersectoral collaboration strategies based on the analysis of two biodiversity conservation case studies: COINBIO and the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Both cases highlight the importance of local adoption and cross-cutting im...

Peri-urban agriculture (PUA) plays a fundamental role in securing sustainable cities by providing food, cultural and environmental services. The ‘Huerta de Murcia’ in south-eastern Spain, is one of the most singular examples of PUA. With more than one thousand years of history, this traditional irrigated agroecosystem faces important threats, mainl...

The ways traditional rural communities conduct activities to meet their livelihoods commonly contribute to conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Traditional agroforestry systems (TAFS) are expressions of management that deliberately retain wild vegetation coexisting with crops to obtain multiple socio-ecological contributions. Howev...

La Agroecología y las Ciencias de la Complejidad surgieron en la segunda mitad del siglo XX. En tanto campos académicos en construcción y de frontera, ambas enfrentan los retos de continuar reflexionando sobre sus bases epistémicas, explorar enfoques metodológicos novedosos y robustecer sus corpus a través de casos de estudio de distinta naturaleza...

In this article, we explore why conservation schemes that have positive outcomes through the participation of local communities cannot necessarily be deemed as just. We observe that recognition (understood as inclusion and respect) of local communities’ value‐systems, a key factor towards environmental justice, is not often achieved in conservation...

In recent decades, we have witnessed a rapid increase in world aquaculture production, the so-called ‘blue revolution’. So as to provide a holistic overview of the socio-ecological threats coupled with this increase, a literature review has been conducted. The following seven major socio-ecological impacts were identified: (i) the damage and destru...

Butterflies are one of insect groups cherished by humans because of their spectacular colors and shapes. However, the ecosystem services and/or disservices they provide are less clear-cut, since they can be both important pollinators as adults and agricultural pests as larvae. In this study, we evaluated local perceptions about lepidopterans in “Lo...

Ecotourism, as a community development strategy, seeks to simultaneously achieve conservation and development, but its design does not usually consider the complexity of the local contexts where it is implemented. This study analyzes the role played by the configuration of the local and regional socio‑political context in the development of two eco...

Even though there is an increasing recognition of the importance of supporting local level adaptation to disasters associated to climate change, it is still not fully understood how communities cope with them. In particular, a key dimension that is less well understood is the importance of social capital and the role it plays in enabling communitie...

In any conservation programme, a variety of actors participate and interact in its different phases. They commonly have different perspectives and priorities regarding conservation, and diversity in the ensuing perspectives constitutes a barrier to effective conservation. In this paper, we analyse the different perspectives around the Programa de C...

As the world faces unprecedented ecological and social changes, there is a need to better understand the complex dynamics of social-ecological systems (SES) and the mechanisms that underlie their resilience. In Mexico, Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) constitute complex SES as they are generally established on territories that different peoples have...

As the number of world Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) has been steadily increasing in the last decades, confrontations within them may have followed the same path. In order to unravel worldwide conservation conflicts in MPAs, a literature review was done. By doing so, five lessons were learnt: (1) 87 MPAs in the five continents have reported conflic...

Traditional agroforestry systems (TAFS), which integrate crops with wildlife, are important reservoirs of human culture and technical experiences with a high capacity for biodiversity conservation. Our study aimed to evaluate the capacity of TAFS to conserve the floristic diversity of tropical dry forests (TDF) in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Mex...

The analysis of resource management strategies is considered to be relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems. In Mexico, ejidos are the most important of the land tenure institutions that grant access to resources inside communities. Although it is recognized that an ejido’s internal structure creates different social groups, f...

The economy is a system embedded in the biosphere that depends on the resources of the Earth for its reproduction. Economic activity affects the ecological processes that support not only the economy and the resources that are indispensable for the satisfaction of human needs, but the set of processes that sustain all life on Earth. In this chapter...

Coastal zones (CZ) are social-ecological systems where rapid forms of economic development are disrupting the existing patterns of relationships, raising challenges for governance. Institutional flexibility, broad participation, multilevel governance, and adaptability have been identified as critical conditions for the governance of social-ecologic...

Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) are the main biodiversity conservation strategy in Mexico. Generally, NPAs are established on the territories of indigenous and rural groups driving important changes in their local resource management practices. In this paper we study the case of Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh, an NPA in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, that h...

Community nurseries within natural protected areas (NPAs) represent an attractive option to link biodiversity conservation with socioeconomic development, yet their functioning lacks proper assessment. Here, we analyse the national context of community nurseries in Mexican NPAs and suggest a specific framework to evaluate their viability. First, we...

Management of conservation conflicts is a challenge of growing relevance for the effectiveness of protected areas worldwide, particularly in the case of socially inclusive areas such as biosphere reserves. For a successful management of the protected area, is critical to consider the social use of natural resources carried out by local populations...

In this chapter of the IBES Global Assesment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services we explored how global transformation involved key tradeoffs, and inequalities, as growing interactions drove economic growth but also degradation. Accelerations in consumption & interconnection have had tradeoffs.

In this Draft Chapter 2.1 of the IBES Global Assesment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services we explored how global transformation involved key tradeoffs, and inequalities, as growing interactions drove economic growth but also degradation. Accelerations in consumption & interconnection have had tradeoffs.

Since the 1940s, the Costalegre, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, has been recognized as having a high potential for tourism. The aim of this paper is to understand tourism governance in a place where past and emergent luxury tourism co-exists with small-scale tourism in a largely rural and ecologically important landscape. We conducted in-depth int...

Esta obra surge a partir de los resultados obtenidos en los Proyectos PE303115 y PE307116 del Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos para la Innovación y Mejoramiento de la Enseñanza (PAPIME) de la Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico (DGAPA) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). El objetivo central de ambos proyectos fue docu...

Stakeholder groups are not homogeneous across individuals and through time, especially in relation to the importance of ecosystem services. However, the approaches commonly used to characterize the average importance and values of stakeholder groups overlook the heterogeneity in the individual priorities. This heterogeneity is particularly relevant...

Values play an important role in farmers' land management decisions, becoming increasingly relevant when designing environmental policy. One key element that influences farming decisions is the land tenure under which farmers and their land are embedded, which represents different sets of rights for farmers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to...

In the Mexican countryside, communally organised institutions called ejidos are a very important for the management of natural resources. This study develops a typology through social and ecological data to characterize farm management strategies and the agroforestry systems in two ecologically contrasting ejidos within a highly biodiverse region o...

La investigación se orienta a entender la relación entre la sociedad y la naturaleza a través del manejo. Considerando la diversidad de prácticas de manejo e intensidad de manejo en relación con los conocimientos tradicionales y con las creencias, significados y valores dentro de un contexto cultural desde el enfoque etnoecológico. El estudio anali...

Conflicts are an inherent element in the establishment and management of protected areas. Even though there is ample literature about conflicts in protected areas and the field of conservation has investigated them for decades, no consensus exists about the object itself of analysis: the conflict. In this article, we describe three different approa...

Previous studies attempting to explain the factors that determine local participation in conservation initiatives have concluded that socio-political exclusion is the main barrier to being involved in such initiatives. Such studies have not differentiated between different types of conservation initiatives. In this paper, we contribute to the liter...

The gravity of hurricane effects on forests, livelihoods, and infrastructure is the product of social-political dynamics, land-use practices and decisions, and biophysical and meteorological factors that interact to make some societies more vulnerable than others to experiencing a hurricane event as a disaster. In this article, we discuss how three...

Background Interactions between societies and nature are regulated by complex systems of beliefs, symbolism, customs, and worldviews (kosmos), ecological knowledge (corpus), and management strategies and practices (praxis), which are constructed as product of experiences and communication of people throughout time. These aspects influence social re...

Background Identifying factors influencing plant management allows understanding how processes of domestication operate. Uncertain availability of resources is a main motivation for managing edible plants, but little is known about management motives of non-edible resources like medicinal and ceremonial plants. We hypothesized that uncertain availa...

Introducción. En la actualidad, la relación entre las sociedades humanas y el medioambiente precisa incorporar enfoques de sustentabilidad que garanticen la continuidad de ambos componentes. Por fortuna, aún existen formas de vida rural tradicional que logran satisfacer sus necesidades de subsistencia, así como la conservación de la biodiversidad (...

The design of strategies aimed at sustainable resource management requires an understanding of the trade-offs between the ecosystem services at stake, to determine appropriate ways in which to navigate them. We assess trade-offs between forage production for cattle ranching and the maintenance of carbon stocks or tree diversity in a Mexican tropica...

El cambio climático es un fenómeno complejo e incierto. Las fuentes de incertidumbre van desde la comprensión del sistema climático y los modelos predictivos, hasta su interacción en el futuro con otros procesos sociales y ambientales. Altos grados de incertidumbre pueden generar estimaciones imprecisas de la magnitud de los cambios y como consecue...

Analysis of social-ecological systems is becoming increasingly used since the framework provides a valuable set of variables for understanding relationships between people and ecosystems. This interaction focuses on the use and management of natural resources that, in many cases, are common-pool resources. In Mexico, common-pool resources have long...

The Mayans of the Yucatán Peninsula, together with their environment, conform social-ecological systems with adaptation and resilience to natural, political and economic disturbances. In this study, we use the framework of social-ecological systems for describing a mechanism that allows a Mayan community and its natural environment to respond to di...

Based on qualitative research and a case study analysis, this article describes how a local conservation initiative grounded on the potential to trade carbon offsets in the voluntary market has triggered a multipurpose scheme for community conservation in the ejido of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Mexico. We describe how the Felipe Carrillo Puerto has en...

Under the assumption that local participation can contribute toward conservation, various policies have sought to increase the participation of local communities in conservation, but not always with success. Despite this failure, the drivers that explain local participation remain unclear and few studies have attempted to understand the motivations...

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus mexicanus) use regulations were implemented by the ejido Ajuchitlán Santiopan, since 1997. In parallel, the ejidatarios registered a Management Unit for the Conservation of Wildlife (UMA), seeking its sustainable hunting. This involved a co-management between local and federal regulation. The knowledge on t...

Forest ecosystems, as part of land systems, are strongly determined by governance structures that are linked at different spatio-temporal scales. The Yucatán Peninsula is an important region in which to study processes affecting forest conservation, as its geographical extent and differing local histories produce specific land use and vegetation tr...

In Mexico, biodiversity conservation is primarily implemented through three schemes: 1) protected areas, 2) payment-based schemes for environmental services, and 3) community-based conservation, officially recognized in some cases as Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas. In this paper we compare levels of local participation across conservation...

Traditional ecological knowledge plays a crucial role in managing and conserving Mexican biodiversity. In this article we analyzed the ecological knowledge of a Mayan community from the Yucatan Peninsula. We described forest succesional dy-mamics according to local people's view during the years 2011 and 2012 by combining ethnographic and qualitati...

In this research we show the way in which a small Yucatec Mayan community conducts a diversified management strategy of its natural resources, as well as how this strategy is supplemented and financed by microfinance. The local description of the ecological process of succession was used for describing the strategy of nature appropriation. Network...

In this commentary we critically discuss the suitability of payments for ecosystem services and the most important challenges they face. While such instruments can play a role in improving environmental governance, we argue that over-reliance on payments as win-win solutions might lead to ineffective outcomes, similar to earlier experience with int...

The designation of state-managed protected areas has become the main instrument for conserving biodiversity worldwide. However, it is widely argued that its success is limited to understanding its social-political domain, in which human customs, relations, motivations, and the political institutions and structures that determine them drive the inte...

Punta Laguna is a small Yucatec Mayan community situated in the northeastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula. This community has more than 30 years of experience in community conservation through the development of activities related to ecotourism. During this period, the community has consecutively employed different ecotourism management approaches...