Biological and Cultural Diversity in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico:

Strategies for Conservation among Indigenous Communities

Authors

  • Elí García-Padilla Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
  • Dominic L. DeSantis Georgia College & State University
  • Arturo Rocha The University of Texas at El Paso
  • Lydia Allison Fucsko Swinburne University of Technology
  • Jerry D. Johnson The University of Texas at El Paso
  • David Lazcano-Villarreal Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29105/bys5.9-5

Keywords:

biodiversity, cultural diversity, Oaxaca, Mexico, indigenous communities, community conservation initiatives, social tenure of the land

Abstract

Oaxaca es el estado de México con mayor diversidad biológica y cultural. Los pueblos originarios de Oaxaca son todos descendientes, total o parcialmente, de la antigua cultura madre Olmeca también conocida como “Pueblo del Jaguar”. Estos pueblos originarios actualmente están tratando de defender sus territorios y bienes naturales comunes de la explotación por parte de los gobiernos y las grandes empresas multinacionales. Oaxaca es el quinto estado más grande de México y comprende 12 regiones fisiográficas y 16 grupos etnolingüísticos originarios. La alta diversidad cultural que se observa en Oaxaca está interrelacionada con la considerable diversidad biológica y ambiental y debe entenderse que la protección de una depende de la protección de la otra. El conocimiento de la biodiversidad de Oaxaca continúa aumentando, especialmente entre los vertebrados tetrápodos. La diversidad cultural en Oaxaca, especialmente con respecto a los idiomas, es la más diversa en todo México. En varias comunidades, ejidos y con pequeños propietarios existe un sistema de Áreas Comunitarias de Conservación, que permiten la protección de diversas especies no incluidas dentro de las ANPs federales, así como cuerpos de agua y los bosques dentro del estado. Estas ACC son parte de un movimiento de resistencia contra la participación en el sistema formal de ANP por decreto. Los pueblos indígenas de Oaxaca son parte de una comunidad global de personas que se sabe que son responsables de la protección de alrededor del 80% de la biodiversidad remanente del mundo. Los propios esfuerzos del gobierno mexicano por la conservación se remontan a la administración del presidente Lázaro Cárdenas de Río. Los intentos de manejo forestal comunitario de los pueblos indígenas de todo el mundo han sido apoyados o no por los gobiernos federales. Los pueblos indígenas de la Sierra Madre de Oaxaca están utilizando el ecoturismo de bajo impacto como un medio adicional para conservar sus tierras y para apoyar estilos de vida sostenibles, al tiempo que se resisten a los esfuerzos de explotación de los grupos no indígenas de la sociedad. El Corredor Interoceánico constituye la amenaza más significativa para los esfuerzos de estos grupos indígenas, así como otras actividades comerciales a gran escala realizadas por grandes consorcios industriales suscritos por sus aliados políticos en el gobierno federal, cuestionando por qué las ANPs que existen realmente a qué personas se suponen un beneficio. A la luz de esta realidad, hemos realizado una serie de recomendaciones para el alivio de estos problemas a los pueblos originarios que permitan continuar con sus esfuerzos de preservación de la biodiversidad nativa y su propia diversidad cultural.

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Author Biographies

Elí García-Padilla, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

Elí García-Padilla is a biologist-herpetologist primarily focused on the study of the ecology and natural history of the Mexican herpetofauna. His research efforts have centered on the Mexican states of Baja California Sur, Tamaulipas, Chiapas, and Oaxaca. His first experience in the field was researching the ecology of the insular endemic populations of the rattlesnakes Crotalus catalinensis, C. muertensis (C. pyrrhus) and C. tortugensis (C. atrox) in the Gulf of California. For his Bachelor’s degree he presented a thesis on the ecology of C. muertensis (C. pyrrhus) on Isla El Muerto, Baja California, Mexico. To date, he has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications. One of his main passions is environmental education, and for several years he has been working on a variety of projects that include the use of audiovisual media as a powerful tool to reach large audiences and to promote the importance of the knowledge, protection, and conservation of the Mexican biodiversity. Elí’s interests include wildlife and conservation photography, and his art has been published in several recognized scientific, artistic, and educational books, magazines, and websites. Presently, he is focused in the study of the community conservation system and the evaluation of the jaguar (Panthera onca) as an umbrella species for the conservation of the Mesoamerican herpetofauna.

Dominic L. DeSantis, Georgia College & State University

Dominic L. DeSantis is currently a Ph.D. candidate and National Science Foundation-Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Texas at El Paso in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program. He received his Bachelor’s degree at Texas State University where he also completed multiple research projects on the antipredator behavior of the critically endangered Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum). His ongoing dissertation research integrates radio telemetry with recent advances in animal biotelemetry technologies to study movement and behavioral ecology in Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox). Dominic accompanied Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García-Padilla, and Larry David Wilson on survey and collecting trips to Oaxaca in 2015, 2016, and 2017 and is a co-author on numerous natural history publications that were produced from those visits. Overall, Dominic has authored or co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Arturo Rocha, The University of Texas at El Paso

Arturo Rocha is a herpetologist from El Paso, Texas, USA, whose interests include the biogeography and ecology of amphibians and reptiles in the southwestern United States and Mexico. A graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, Arturo’s thesis focused on the spatial ecology of the Trans-Pecos Rat Snake (Bogertophis subocularis) in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. To date, he has authored or co-authored over 10 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Lydia Allison Fucsko, Swinburne University of Technology

Lydia Allison Fucsko who resides in Melbourne, Australia, is an environmental activist and amphibian conservationist. As a photographer with international publications, she has taken countless amphibian photographs, including photo galleries of frogs mostly from southeastern Australia. Dr. Fucsko has a Bachelor of Humanities from La Trobe University (Bundoora, Victoria, Australia) and a Diploma in Education from the University of Melbourne (Parkville, Victoria, Australia). She has postgraduate diplomas in computer education and in vocational education and training from the University of Melbourne (Parkville). Additionally, Dr. Fucsko has a Master's Degree in Counseling from Monash University (Clayton, Victoria, Australia). She received her Ph.D. on Environmental Education, which promoted habitat conservation, species perpetuation, and global sustainable management, from Swinburne University of Technology (Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia), while being mentored by the late Australian herpetologist and scholar Dr. Michael James Tyler (Order of Australia recipient). Dr. Fucsko, a sought-after educational consultant, has academic interests that include clinical psychology, focusing on psychopathology, neuroscience and empathy, environmental education for sustainable development, sentient ecology, academic writing, and creative writing, which includes poetry and creative non-fiction books for children and young adults. Dr. Fucsko is also the senior author (with Boria Sax) of a chapter in the 2019 Springer Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education entitled “Learning Activities for Environmental Education for Sustainable Development.” In 2020, the species Tantilla lydia, with the suggested common name, Lydia’s Little Snake, was named in her honor.

Jerry D. Johnson, The University of Texas at El Paso

Jerry D. Johnson is Professor of Biological Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso, and has extensive experience studying the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica, especially that of southern Mexico. Jerry is the director of the 40,000-acre “Indio Mountains Research Station,” was a co-editor on Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles and co-author of four of its chapters. He is also the senior author of the recent paper “A conservation reassessment of the Central American herpetofauna based on the EVS measure” and is Mesoamerica/Caribbean editor for Geographic Distribution section of Herpetological Review. Johnson has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers, including two 2010 articles, “Geographic distribution and conservation of the herpetofauna of southeastern Mexico” and “Distributional patterns of the herpetofauna of Mesoamerica, a Biodiversity Hotspot.” One species, Tantilla johnsoni, has been named in his honor. Presently, he is an Associate Editor and Co-chair of the Taxonomic Board for the journal Mesoamerican Herpetology.

David Lazcano-Villarreal, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

David Lazcano is a herpetologist who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical science in 1980, and a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1982. In 1999 he earned a master’s degree in wildlife management and later a PhD degree in biological sciences with a specialty in wildlife management (2005), all gained from the Facultad de Ciencias Biólogicas of the Universidad Autonóma de Nuevo León (FCB/UANL), Mexico. Currently, he is a full-time professor at the same institution, where has taught courses in soil sciences, herpetology, herpetological ecology, animal behavior, biogeography, biology and diversity of chordates, and wildlife management. He is also the head of the Laboratorio de Herpetología since 1993 and Coordinación de Intercambio Académico de la Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas at UANL. Since 1979, he has been teaching and providing assistance in both undergraduate and graduate programs. In 2006 he was honor to receive the Joseph Lazlo award for his herpetological trajectory, from the IHS. In October 2017 he was awarded national recognition by the Asociación para la Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios y Reptiles (AICAR), due to his contribution to the study of ecology and conservation of herpetofauna in northeastern Mexico (Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila). Participated in the elaboration of the Program of Action for the Conservation of the Species (PACE) Rattlesnakes (Crotalus spp.). His research interests include the study of the herpetofaunal diversity of northeastern Mexico, as well as the ecology, herpetology, biology of the chordates, biogeography, animal behavior, and population maintenance techniques of montane herps. He has been thesis advisor for many Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD degrees dealing with the study of the herpetofauna of the region as well as nationally. David has published more 250 scientific notes and articles in indexed and general diffusion journals, concerning the herpetofauna of the northeastern portion of Mexico. His students named a species in honor of his work Gerrhonotus lazcanoi. 

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2022-01-31

How to Cite

García-Padilla, E., DeSantis, D. L., Rocha, A., Fucsko, L. A., Johnson, J. D., & Lazcano-Villarreal, D. (2022). Biological and Cultural Diversity in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico:: Strategies for Conservation among Indigenous Communities. Biología Y Sociedad, 5(9), 48–72. https://doi.org/10.29105/bys5.9-5

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Vol. 5 No. 9 (2022): Enero-Junio 2022

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