title: Local participation in biodiversity conservation initiatives: a comparative analysis of different models in South East Mexico.
abstract: 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 schemes. Through a survey applied to 670 households across six communities in Southeast Mexico, we document local participation during the creation, design, and implementation of the management plan of different conservation schemes. To analyze the data, we first calculated the frequency of participation at the three different stages mentioned, then created a participation index that characterizes the presence and relative intensity of local participation for each conservation scheme. Results showed that there is a low level of local participation across all the conservation schemes explored in this study. Nonetheless, the payment for environmental services had the highest local participation while the protected areas had the least. Our findings suggest that local participation in biodiversity conservation schemes is not a predictable outcome of a specific (community-based) model, thus implying that other factors might be important in determining local participation. This has implications on future strategies that seek to encourage local involvement in conservation.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: María Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Méndez-López
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Patzcuaro 8701, Col. Ex-Hacienda San Miguel de la Huerta, CP 58190 Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. Electronic address: garcia.frapolli@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: García-Frapolli
authors.affiliation: Global Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
authors.forename: Diana J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Históricas y Sociales, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico.
authors.forename: María Consuelo
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sánchez González
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Mallén
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Porter-Bolland
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reyes-Garcia
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003256:Community Participation; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016730:Program Development; D011639:Public Opinion
keywords: Community-based conservation; Local participation; Mexico; Payment for environmental services; Protected areas