Introduction to the Biocultural Corridor Initiative
In recent news, the Mexican government announced a “Biocultural Corridor” spanning Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. However, the details surrounding this initiative remain unclear. There is uncertainty about its meaning, how it was decreed, the instruments to manage and conserve it, its budget, personnel, equipment, zoning, and regulations. This lack of clarity is particularly concerning given the practical incapacity of Mexico’s National Commission for Protected Natural Areas.
The Nature of the Biocultural Corridor
Essentially, this initiative is a rhetorical figure without legal support and not provided for in Mexico’s General Law on Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (LGEEPA). As such, it serves as a political and discursive tool without formal commitments to biodiversity conservation. It might be a symbolic gesture of remorse for the destruction of Quintana Roo’s jungle due to the Mayan Train and military tourism centers.
Contextual Background
This initiative echoes the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor promoted in the 1990s by the then National Institute of Ecology. The three nations share significant areas of tropical forests, including wet evergreen forests, dry forests, cloud forests, and other ecosystems. These areas could sum up to three or four million hectares, depending on whether secondary forests (in regeneration or ecological succession) are included. Notable archaeological zones from the Maya Classic civilization, such as Yaxchilán, Bonampak, Tikal, Calakmul, Mirador, Altar de Sacrificios, Uaxactún, El Caracol, and many others, are embedded within these tropical forests.
Despite their richness, these forests have been extensively destroyed by agricultural and livestock activities in all three countries, particularly in Mexico. Criminal organizations have intensified money laundering through narco-farming, while Mennonite groups have pushed commercial deforestation, especially in Mexico (in Campeche and Quintana Roo), and in Belize, acquiring large tracts of land.
Since 2019, Mexico’s governmental clientelism program “Sembrando Vida” has exacerbated deforestation of primary and secondary forests through direct grants for planting “fruit and timber trees.”
Current State of the Forests
The evidence of destruction is undeniable, both within and outside Protected Natural Areas. Under the vague “Biocultural Corridor,” the Mexican government threatens to extend the problematic “Sembrando Vida” program to Guatemala and Belize. It is hoped that their governments will not fall for this.
In Guatemala, the National Parks of Laguna de Lachuá, El Rosario, Sierra del Lacandón, Laguna del Tigre, and El Mirador exist, many encompassed within the vast Maya Biosphere Reserve in northern Petén. In Belize, prominent ANPs are Rio Bravo, Chiquibul, Columbia River, and Aguas Turbias.
It’s important to note that the “Biocultural Corridor” does not establish new Protected Natural Areas, connectivity corridors between them, or assign budgets, conservation instruments, management programs, or common regulations. Essentially, it adds nothing substantial and remains a general declaration of aspirations without addressing the region’s real issues.
Proposed Conservation Measures
A credible conservation policy among the three nations would involve declaring Tri or Binational Protected Areas, coordinating transboundary ANP operations, shared management programs, strategically applied budgets, and creating a new governance institutionality for territorial management. This would include strict Ecological Territory Ordinance, surveillance and law enforcement systems, land ownership regularization, and combating organized crime.
Additionally, a regional forestry carbon capture program at scale, along with specific policy instruments to halt deforestation by farmers, herders, and ranchers, is necessary. This would involve acquiring appropriate vehicles and aircraft for surveillance and monitoring, establishing outposts for surveillance personnel, hiring local residents as officials, park rangers, and social workers, and developing serious eco-tourism planning.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is the Biocultural Corridor? It’s a recently announced initiative by Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize with unclear details about its implementation, management, and conservation strategies.
- Why are there concerns about the Biocultural Corridor? The initiative lacks legal support, specific conservation measures, and clear implementation plans. Moreover, it seems to be more of a symbolic gesture than a serious commitment to biodiversity conservation.
- What is the current state of tropical forests in these countries? Extensive destruction due to agricultural and livestock activities, exacerbated by criminal organizations involved in narco-farming and large-scale land acquisition.
- What conservation measures are proposed? A credible policy would involve declaring Binational Protected Areas, coordinating transboundary ANP operations, shared management programs, strategic budgets, and creating a new governance institutionality for territorial management. It would also include specific policy instruments to halt deforestation and establish serious eco-tourism planning.
