ANÁLISIS DE LA POLÍTICA FORESTAL EN MÉXICO

Abstract

Seventy eight years after the implementation of the first Forest Law and the establishment of the first foundations of forest policy, results of application of the latter ar9 not encouraging. The behavior of ten strategic forestry variables r.iationwide, reveal inefficiency or lack of impact of Mexican forestry policies along the last half century. The present work is intended to examine why forest policies in Mexico have not been able to succeed. To this purpose five scenarios are examined: (a) Decreed policies that are never implemented; (b) lnefficient, incorrect or discretional application of forest policies; (c) Restricted, limited or even cancelled application of forest policies by the application of other sector policies; (d) Brief duration of forest policies; (e) Lack of mechanisms for evaluation of policy impacts. The discussion is illustrated with examples and situations occurred along the forestry history of the nation. Even though Forest Policy is a relevant concept in the national context and dynamics, almost no attention from the scientific point of view has been given to it. For this reason, to set Forest Policy as a strategic topic in forestry research and to design and implement criteria and indicators to measure the impact of forest policies through time is highly recommended.