Final Remarks

Since the temperature regime is fairly constant, both across the peninsula’s regions and between years, the main difference from year to year is in rainfall. The occur-rence of different vegetation types is the result of the combination of precipitation and soil differences throughout the peninsula.

Accessibility of land and historical development of human activities have sub-stantially contributed to the decline of forest resources. Thus the regions located in the central and southern parts of the peninsula have the least disturbed biotic resources. These regions are also the least integrated into the regional economic system. Regions encompassing coastal areas have been paramount in both com-mercial and tourism activities. Because of the land–sea interface, these areas are also very important in terms of biodiversity. Therefore, tourism and other human activities, including oil extraction in the coastal area of Campeche and Yucat´an, ought to give due attention to the mutual interdependence of natural and human systems.

The urban regions encompass most of the peninsula’s economic and social re-sources. These regions also have the highest population densities. The advantages they offer in the form of positive synergetic effects (e.g., economies of scale, con-centration of mutually reinforcing socioeconomic activities resulting in productiv-ity and efficiency gains) contrast with their high consumption of resources and their threat to the stability of ecological systems. This is particularly relevant for pre-venting a worsening of problems concerning the availability of good-quality fresh

water. Undoubtedly, the evolution of the urban regions will, by and large, drive the peninsula’s future development.

Development has been regionally uneven. Canc´un, M´erida, and the city of Campeche are the most developed areas. The maize- and fruit-producing regions and the former henequen-producing region have relatively high population densi-ties, and their economies rely on agriculture-related activities.

Because of the increasing interdependencies between the rural and urban re-gions, an integrated planning approach may be helpful in dealing with regional development problems. Consideration of this interrelationship is also relevant for maintaining and enhancing the positive interactions between the regions’ coastal and inland areas.

The peninsula’s economic dependence on external markets has been impor-tant since the Classic Maya period (e.g., in carrying out commercial activities) and has continued more recently in the cases of the henequen- and tourism-based economies. Given the likelihood of an increase in the globalization process, the question of how to effectively steer development of the internal market remains to be answered. Current living conditions in most of the SERs suggest that there is not yet in place a continuous planning and acting process – at the inter- and intra-regional levels, at the peninsula level, and at the global level – that will ensure a certain quality of life for the majority of the peninsula’s population. Thus the challenge is to meaningfully link development at different spatial and social levels, integrating natural and human systems.

Notes

[1] The importance of the hydrological basin as a unit for planning and development purposes lies in its condition as a very specific natural geographic unit. The regional framework used in this document attempts to dovetail ecological and social systems.

[2] The categorization of the main hydrological flows was based on information from Butterlin and Bonnet (1963); Wilson (1980); Lesser and Weidie (1988); Duch (1988);

CNA (1995a, 1995b); and Perry et al. (1995). The description of vegetation types was based on information from Miranda (1958) and Flores and Espejel (1994). The description of population was based on INEGI (1991, 1996).

[3] Translator’s note: The municipios constituting each of the socioecological regions are listed in Appendix 2.A.

[4] This hypothesis is plausible considering (1) the alignment of the cenotes; (2) the results of measurements of the water table carried out in two north–south sites that cross the semicircle of cenotes and in one east–west site, which indicated that the water level diminishes toward the ring of cenotes; (3) the occurrence of freshwater springs where the ring of cenotes intercepts the coast; (4) the fact that the water flow (e.g., in the estuaries of Celest´un and Dzil´am) causes these barriers to be opened toward the sea, despite the strong flow of sand toward the Yucat´an coast, which forms

barriers; and (5) the high conductivity values found by Steinich and Mar´ın (1997), which indicate high permeability for the ring of cenotes.

[5] Translator’s note: References to vegetation types throughout the text designate the original vegetation. However, the original vegetation has suffered diverse degrees of disturbance in different areas of the peninsula.

[6] Translator’s note: The proportion or quantity of wells per municipio is used implicitly as a proxy for water extraction.

[7] From 1915 to 1918, during the governorship of General Salvador Alvarado, the Mex-ican state participated only in the distribution and sale of henequen.

[8] Translator’s note: In addition to the lack of bureaucratic integration, the ejidos did not take over ownership of the physical capital necessary to process the henequen leaves into fiber, nor did they have the financial capital or the management capability needed to significantly add value to henequen activities.

[9] Translator’s note: Evidence from elsewhere (e.g., central Mexico and the northern highlands of Guatemala) suggests that agriculture-based socioecological systems with limited or not very attractive migration opportunities have evolved toward small-scale horticultural production, self-employment (e.g., handicrafts or other labor-intensive production), and small-scale commercial activities carried out in regional markets.

This set of activities already exists in the Yucat´an peninsula; what remains unclear is the future configuration of the rural economy.

[10] In 1960, more than 30% of the total herd of the state of Yucat´an, estimated at 500,000 head of cattle, was concentrated in this region. During the first part of the 1990s, approximately 50% of the 900,000 head of cattle in the state of Yucat´an were con-centrated here. The region’s share of the state’s herd continued to increase, reaching 70% in 1993; however, the state’s total herd has decreased.

[11] During the past four decades, maize production in the state of Yucat´an has fluctuated widely. For instance, in 1981 maize production reached 150,000 tons as a result of the governmental program known as SAM (Mexican Alimentary System), whereas in 1988 maize production declined to 10,000 tons due to the devastating effects of Hurricane Gilbert. Average annual maize production in the state of Yucat´an amounts to approximately 100,000 tons. The maize production region provides about 50% of this production (INEGI, 1994).

[12] The program was initiated in 1964 using sprinkling irrigation. Prior to this program, 1,400 ha already used surface irrigation. As a result of this program, orange produc-tion in the state of Yucat´an increased from 20,000 tons per year in the first part of the 1960s to more than 100,000 tons during the last years of that decade.

[13] Population size might have been underestimated because a series of small human set-tlements dispersed in the jungle were difficult to access, not only because of the lack of roads, but also because a large proportion of these inhabitants were descendants of the Maya who fought in the Caste War and maintained their isolation well into the 1950s.

[14] Chicle was produced from the latex of a large tropical forest with Manilkara zapota.

Appendix 2.A: Socioecological regions of the Yucat´an peninsula and

Baca Hunucma Tekat de V. Yaxkukul

Bokoba Ixil Tekanto Yobain

Oth´on P. Blanco Felipe Carrillo Puerto Jos´e Mar´ıa Morelos