Traditional Timber Harvest and Urbanization Below the Harvest Area: Impacts to the Environment in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
Geography faculty and Stacey Antilla, an Environmental Science PhD student representing the Institute of Applied Science, have been awarded seed funding from the State of Mexico to conduct a joint research project with UAEM in Toluca, Mexico.
Nevado de Toluca National Park is a federally protected reserve on the western slopes of the Toluca volcano, southwest of the city of Toluca. The park contains dense forest and receives considerable precipitation in the form of snow and rain, which are a source of freshwater for growing populations at lower elevations. There are several rural communities living in this area who also rely on the park for sustenance and income. While traditional timber harvesting may not interfere with water provision to downstream urban areas, it increases the potential for soil erosion, flooding, carbon-sequestration loss, and other environmental impacts. In 2003, the Mexican National Forest Commission (CONAFOR) created the Payment for Hydrological Environmental Services (PHES) program to encourage rural communities in Mexico to conserve watersheds, and, in this case, improve timber harvesting techniques. However, the program has been ineffective in Nevado de Toluca National Park. Why are rural communities in this park not participating in the program?
Research by UNT faculty and Stacey Antilla will involve the development of maps of the area using a participatory mapping method to translate past and current land uses of these rural communities. Qualitative surveys will be administered to assess community members' perceptions and knowledge of the program and its effects upon their communities. The outcome will hopefully provide CONAFOR with information on how to increase local participation in the program and to improve the PHES program.
As this is a joint project, a similar method will be applied by UAEM researchers upon their trip to North Texas to evaluate environmental values surrounding drought in agricultural communities.
Team members include researchers with expertise in geography, biology, and GIS at UNT: Dr. Steve Wolverton, Dr. Matthew Fry, Dr. Bruce Hunter, Dr. Miguel Acevedo, and Stacey Antilla, PhD student.
