Forests of Mexico

In the late nineteenth century, during the Proficiat (1876-1910), the national government ignored previous practices of leaving many forested areas in the hands of indigenous communities began implementing forest management policies and unfettered exploitation of woodlands for their timber and water resources.

One scholar argues that the change in practice politicized the forested landscape and was an aspect of the commodification of nature, with liberal economic policies undermined collective indigenous rights to land and its resources.

[6] Rainforests are found predominantly along the southeastern Atlantic coast, in regions with frequent rain and warm temperatures that allow for plants to retain their foliage year-round.

[7] The Lacandon Jungle is an area of rainforest which stretches from Chiapas into Guatemala and into the southern part of the Yucatán Peninsula.

The heart of this rainforest is located in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas near the border with Guatemala in the Montañas del Oriente region of the state.

The reserve is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests ecoregion on the border of Michoacán and Mexico State.

[9] Many trees here drop their leaves during the dry season but warm temperatures help to nurture plant life, which in turns supports a large number of animal species.

[9] Five environmental requirements seem to govern the presence of cloud forests in Mexico: high relative humidity, montane environments, irregular topography, deep litter layer and temperate climate.

[2] The 2003 law assigns specific responsibilities to the competent authorities at local, regional and national levels, and seeks to regulate and promote the conservation, protection, restoration, production, organization, agricultural activity, and management of Mexico's forests in order to secure sustainable forest development.