The owners of the land: the case of Mexico

Mexico, like most countries, is made up of private land and public land. However, our country is an interesting case because public lands (federal and state) are really few and there is a third category that blurs the lines between private and federal. If we could talk about a land where social property is above private property, we are in the semantic field of what we know as Ejido. This is equivalent to a moral person who is satisfied with collective action. If you live in Mexico, you've probably visited ejidos -intentionally or unknowingly-, perhaps on a beach vacation or during a walk in the woods. More than half of the Mexican territory belongs to ejidos and agrarian communities, which means that most forests, material banks, bodies of water, mountains, and others, are socially owned. Talking about natural wealth in Mexico is equivalent to talking about ejidos, since 83% of biodiversity and more than two-thirds of the country's water are found in these lands. Our country's protected natural areas are mostly made up of ejido land.

Which brings us to the question: What are ejidos, and why should we keep them more in mind?

The existence of collective lands dates back to pre-Hispanic times (pre-Columbian America): back then The Aztecs they had a class division and according to what class or hierarchy they belonged to, they separated private property from collective land. In this way, the Mexica acquired more land for the monarch. The lands called Tlatocalli were the property of the king and the Pill them they were the lands that were divided between warriors and nobles. There were also tracts of communal land where heads of families divided land to cultivate it, they called them Calpulli. The monarch had the power to withdraw or grant land that was under his power (Chavez, 1997). Then came the Colonial phase and during this period there was no drastic change in the organization of land distribution, since indigenous society could not have its own land; only if it was allocated by the Spanish caste.

The ejido as we know it today is the result of one of the social demands derived from the demand to return land to the people who work it. Once the country achieved independence in 1821, Mexico did not focus on land regulation. It was until 1856 that the “Lerdo Law” was enacted, giving rise to the struggle for land distribution in the country. In 1992, the agrarian distribution was terminated with the Agrarian Law.

The ejidal configuration can be contextualized with the following main characteristics:

It is understood that the ejido occupies a large and extensive space in Mexican geography.

It is considered to be an agrarian nucleus that is created for production and quality purposes to provide and guarantee the food base in the country.

It can be seen as the agrarian nucleus that supports a community's way of life, where families and producers are integrated, thus creating an ejidal population where more social phenomena are derived.

The climate emergency we are experiencing today due to the excessive growth of industries cannot be separated from the land use of land, both private and ejido. There is no doubt that the greatest damage has been caused by industries that can easily acquire private property and degrade the ecosystems that were found in them.. On a smaller scale, in many cases ejido land has played an important role as part of the problem due to the conversion of forests and other ecosystems to agricultural land. However, ejido lands are also part of the solution, since the concentration of natural wealth is mostly found within them. The National Agrarian Registry (RAN) mentions that in 2020, 29,793 ejidos were registered in the country, more than 5.6 million ejidatarios, communeros and possessionaires. These are mostly made up of families that belong to the rural region, which accounts for 23% of the population, creating a sense of identity and belonging despite the limitations that exist for the development of agriculture. Ironically, the most significant environmental impacts are reflected in the agricultural sector, due to how sensitive crops are to changing temperatures, directly affecting the population (Fetzek, 2009). The relevance of these lands transcends agrarian boundaries as they are one of the fundamental pieces of the country's social and environmental structure; the integrity of ecosystems and collective lands are not isolated because their relationship is direct.

The FAO study “Trend and Perspective of the Forest Sector in Latin America” in 2020 points out that in Mexico there are more than 64 million hectares of forests and jungles, however, the country has one of the first places of deforestation in the world. The concentration of natural resources, such as forests and jungles, on collective lands is immense and encompasses all ecosystems, thus deriving the importance of implementing environmental projects developing nature-based solutions (SBN). This refers to actions or policies that take advantage of the nature model to address urgent issues such as droughts, deforestation or climate change. For example, to address the problem of soil erosion and its consequences -such as landslides that may affect villages or the sedimentation of water reservoirs-, a nature-based solution could be the improvement and restoration of native vegetation in the area to increase soil permeability, allowing better infiltration of rain; if the soil holds water well, it does not erode as easily.

The implication of these solutions is to protect, restore and manage lands in both a socially and environmentally sustainable way, increasing resilience and the capacity to address the challenges facing planet Earth.

In Toroto, different socio-environmental projects are being developed aimed at mitigating ecosystem impacts that are based on the participation of ejidatarios from the intervened areas. One of the projects being carried out is the protection of the high jungle of Chiapas, the “Lacandon Jungle” as it is popularly known, in the El Pirú ejido. This area is one of the last places in Mexico where there are still tall evergreen jungles along with the remnants of jungle from the Yucatan Peninsula, northern Guatemala and Belize. Together, these areas make up the most important rainforest massif in Mesoamerica, known as the Mayan Jungle.

For years it has been threatened by various factors, such as the case of land use change, where it is deforested to make room for extensive livestock farming or palm plantations. Although government support exists and has existed, such as the National Forestry Commission's Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) program, it's often not enough to dissuade communities from intensive livestock practices, for example, which can yield more economic benefits in comparison.

The Lacandon Jungle protection project is aimed at working hand in hand with the ejidatarios in the area so that they have an economic alternative that does not degrade the jungle. The first stage of the project involves an ejido that has a preserved jungle area of more than 2,000 hectares. It seeks to generate carbon credits through the conservation and restoration of the jungle using SBN and environmental management plans that contemplate additional sustainable activities to the carbon credits project. This type of project will not only promote the conservation of existing jungle fragments, but will also increase the forest cover of the ejidos involved.

Collaboration with these social groups is essential for sustainable development in Mexico. The role that ejidos play in land use, as well as the actions they may take in the future, become key actors for change with great potential for environmental mitigation. Because of their potential to reactivate or boost the economy of these communities in a sustainable way, it is essential to develop long-term projects together with them, where these territories are used in a conscious and beneficial way for the common good, that is, for ecosystems and for those who inhabit them.

Current responses to climate change must focus on inclusion and on reversing social and environmental vulnerability. It is therefore appropriate to focus on managing environmental adaptation and mitigation programs where actions can be articulated with policies to reduce environmental risks, but also broader economic and social policies, where it is easier to manage solutions for the improvement of the system in which we operate.

Together we can seek, insist and find solutions.

References

Chavez, M. (1997). Agrarian Law in Mexico.Mexico, D.F.: Porrua.

The College of Jalisco. (2010). Confiscation and Secularism.Zapopan, Jalisco: The College of Jalisco.

Fetzek, S. (2009). Climate-related Impacts on National Security in Mexico and Central America. First Report. Royal Institute of United Services-FUNDAECO. Great Britain.

Red, J.M. (2020). Study of trends and perspectives in the forestry sector in Latin America in 2020. FAO.