title: Tropical montane cloud forests: current threats and opportunities for their conservation and sustainable management in Mexico.
abstract: Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) are among the most threatened ecosystems globally in spite of their high strategic value for sustainable development due to the key role played by these forests in hydrological cycle maintenance and as reservoirs of endemic biodiversity. Resources for effective conservation and management programs are rarely sufficient, and criteria must be applied to prioritize TMCF for conservation action. This paper reports a priority analysis of the 13 main regions of TMCF distribution in Mexico, based on four criteria: (1) forest quality, (2) threats to forest permanence, (3) threats to forest integrity, and (4) opportunities for conservation. Due to the diverse socio-environmental conditions of the local communities living in Mexican TMCF regions, their associated social characteristics were also evaluated to provide a background for the planning of conservation actions. A set of indicators was defined for the measurement of each criterion. To assign priority values for subregions within each main region, an international team of 40 participants evaluated all the indicators using multicriteria decision-making analysis. This procedure enabled the identification of 15 subregions of critical priority, 17 of high priority, and 10 of medium priority; three more were not analysed due to lack of information. The evaluation revealed a number of subjects that had hitherto been undetected and that may prove useful for prioritization efforts in other regions where TMCF is similarly documented and faces equally severe threats. Based on this analysis, key recommendations are outlined to advance conservation objectives in those TMCF areas that are subjected to high pressure on forest resources.
authors.affiliation: Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), Av. Liga Periférico-Insurgentes Sur 4903, México 14010, D.F., Mexico. tarintoledo@gmail.com
authors.forename: Tarin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toledo-Aceves
authors.forename: Jorge A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Meave
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González-Espinosa
authors.forename: Neptalí
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Marcial
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D008800:Mexico; D014197:Trees; D014329:Tropical Climate