PERSPECTIVAS DEL MANEJO FORESTAL EN MÉXICO

Abstract

Mexican forest management necessarily bears the effects of international trends, shaped by the local history and the unique mission that the Mexican society has imprinted into its forest endowment. The main features of today's scenario include the disappearance of theoretical models used far forest regulation, harvest scheduling and multiple resource management. Since features in a regulated forest are no longer in agreement with today's social demands, and today's forest structure is so impoverished, interest in the customary forest management tasks dwindles, and there is no longer a demand far forest plans. Even regulations have weakened to the point where a forest plan is a mere casual schedule of silvicultura! activities assembled to comply with the mínimum legal requirements about protecting the forest and the environment. New forms of specialized forest management domínate the international scene: plantations, multiple use natural forests, land reclamation, community forestry, international forestry, urban arboriculture, and recreational management. Few of these tapies have any meaning in Mexico. Mexican forest are in a competitive disadvantage, partly because of their complexity and diversity, but mostly because of long standing mismanagement. The Mexican condition is no longer suitable far efficient production but far landscape management under broad mandates with little reference to traditional forest products.