La evaluación de la gestión del riesgo de los incendios forestales en áreas naturales protegidas tropicales: el caso de la Reserva de la Biosfera Los Tuxtlas (México)

Abstract

One of the main strategies to conserve the planet’s tropical rainforests is the declaration of protected areas. Nevertheless, it has been questioned if these areas are effective in mitigating one of the rainforest’s major risks: forest fires. The present study analyses this situation in a specific protected area, the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve (Mexico). The research starts with a revision of the relevant normative framework and the management instruments and their implementation by local actors, based on semi-structured interviews. Subsequently, it evaluates the effectivity of this management, based on official statistical data and the analysis of satellite images. Although the available data lack continuity and precision, it can be recognized that the management activities have been successful in avoiding large scale impacts, which had been occurring previous to the protected area’s declaration in 1998, and a lowering tendency has been observed from 2005 to 2020. Even so, the number of hectares affected every year is still worrying. It is indicated that this is principally due to the limited budget of the involved organisms, restricting their temporal and spatial scope.