ABSTRACT
As the custodian of some 50 percent of the croplands and up to 80 percent of the forests in the country, the ejido sector clearly has vast implications for Mexico's rural environment. Any changes in the laws that regulate access to land of this sector could have a potentially enormous impact on Mexico's soils, forests, and waters. What is not so obvious is what the nature of that impact might be and how much credit should be given to the reforms for any emergent changes in land use. This brief essay will not attempt to resolve that issue, but will only sketch out some of the major issues to be monitored in the relationship between land tenure and the environment in Mexico.
