ABSTRACT
This chapter describes population dynamics and in-migration around the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (CBR) located in the southern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The administration of the CBR has long noted the importance of understanding and monitoring the population dynamics of the rural communities located in and around the reserve. Stakeholder debate will generate the foundation for the formulation of appropriate policy responses to migration and shape the form of culturally and politically appropriate land-use planning in the communities around the reserve. Although most of the farmers in the economically marginalized communities of the region practice subsistence and small-scale agriculture, migrants from central and northern Mexico have a propensity to employ mechanized agriculture and agrochemicals for cash crop cultivation. Conservation programs in the communities focus on stabilizing land use and curbing the expansion of agricultural and pasturelands by improving incomes from forestry-based enterprises such as sustained-yield timber harvesting, chicle extraction, apiculture, and agroforestry.
