Climate Change, Communities and the Commons: Lessons from Mesoamerica

SPEAKERS: Leticia Merino, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

DATE: 22 March 2013

ACTIVITY: CEDLA LECTURE

The challenges posed by climate change are closely tied to mitigation measures that operate within the complex nature of socio-ecological systems, characterised by multi-scale and nested interactions. Approaching climate change from a commons perspective shifts the assumptions that underpin conventional theories of collective action, as well as the scale at which actors, actions and policies are conceived.

In Mexico, and in other Latin American countries, climate policies aimed at strengthening mitigation through forest conservation must recognise local rights and the long-standing experience of community-based forest management as key assets for polycentric climate governance. Recent research demonstrates clear positive links between local governance, community forestry economies, forest conservation and the maintenance of carbon stocks and carbon balance. However, these successful experiences are highly vulnerable to over-regulation and to the erosion of local incentives and rights—sometimes even as an unintended consequence of conservation and climate policies themselves.

This lecture will focus on the Mexican case, where approximately 75% of forest cover is legally owned by local communities. The discussion will explore how forest rights are continually contested, as control is claimed by central governments, international conservation organisations, urban stakeholders and diverse corporations involved in forestry, agriculture and mining.