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Abstract
Mexico's wildlife has been impacted by human land use changes and socioeconomic and political factors since before the Spanish conquest in 1521. Presently, it has been estimated that more than 60% of the land area has been severely degraded. Mexico ranks in the top 3 countries in biodiversity, is a plant and faunal dispersal corridor, and is a crucial element in the conservation and management of North American wildlife. Wildlife management prerogatives and regulatory powers reside in the federal government with states relegated a minimum role. The continuous shifting of federal agencies responsible for wildlife management with the concomitant lack of adequate federal funding has not permitted the establishment of a robust wildlife program. In addition, wildlife conservation has been further impacted by a failure to establish landowner incentives, power struggles over user rights, resistance to change, and lack of trust and experience in protecting and managing Mexico's wildlife. We believe future strategies for wildlife programs must take into account Mexico's highly diversified mosaic of ecosystems, cultures, socioeconomic levels, and land tenure and political systems. The private sector, along with communal properties, in cooperation with federal and municipal governments, nongovernmental organizations, corporations, and international agencies may have the greatest potential of sustainable management of Mexico's wildlife. The present federal wildlife management strategy is an initial positive effort because it promotes participatory wildlife conservation by key stakeholders. We identify the aspects of this strategy that we believe will be needed to establish a sustainable program to manage Mexico's wildlife. (WILDLIFE SOCIETY BULLETIN 34(2):270-282; 2006)
Key words biodiversity, conservation, laws, Mexico, policy, wildlife management.
The United Mexican States encompass un area ot 1,972,000 km* and are comprised of 31 states and a federal district. Mexico is hounded in the north by the United States of America (USA) and in the south by Guatemala and Belize. The boundary with the USA extends 3,115 km. It is bordered in the east by the Gulf of Mexico and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Mexico is divided into almost equal north and south parts by the Tropic of Cancer. It is the world's largest and most populous Spanish-speaking nation with an estimated population of 104,960,000 in 2004 (McGeveran 2004). It is the 14th-lurgest country but ranks...