Community Ecotourism and Organic Agriculture
Sustainable Development for Maya Communities at Lake Miramar, Chiapas
by Ronald Nigh and Fernando Ochoa

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One of the principal conclusions of the Workshop for the Evaluation of the Conservation of the Maya Forest, held in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas in August 1995 was that equitable and sustainable socioeconomic development of the region is necessary to detain the destruction of the Maya Forest. The issues of sustainable development and conservation cannot be addressed separately. After a detailed discussion by representatives from the entire Maya region, it was agreed that the sources of such economic development could be:

• Agroforestry production systems
• Marketing of forest products
• Ecotourism

• Development must be based on local resource management, whether it be= for development or conservation goals.
• Projects should reinforce Maya community organizations and consult traditional local authorities on all decisions.
• It is important to foster self-management and autonomy, avoiding the creation of dependence on external financial sources.
• Technical assistance is needed to encourage the development and improvement of traditional agricultural technology (e.g. organic= agriculture)
• Communication and regional level organization and cooperation should be encouraged among individual community projects.
• Regional food security should be an integral part of development= planning to avoid dependence on monoculture commercial crops.
• To encourage this model, communities need technical assistance and training in production, tourist services and marketing, financial and administrative skills in order to fortify their business capacity.

Lake Miramar is one of the most valuable natural and cultural sites in the Lacandon region. It is also a strategic region, in many senses, and the relationship that is established between the local population and its resources will serve as a model, for good or for ill, for the possibility of harmonizing conservation and development goals in the neighboring Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve and throughout the Chiapas Maya Forest. In discussions with the community Assemblies, Dana has proposed a sustainable development strategy based on community ecotoursim and organic agroforestry. The communities have agreed to a trial of this strategy and some progress has been made in the construction of institutions and practices that assure the ecological integrity of the region as a natural and human system.

Lake Miramar

However, the original vegetation has been severely perturbed in the surrounding region. By agreement of the four ejido communities whose lands border the lake, a band of 1km from the shoreline has been declared a reserve, free of any human extractive activity or settlement. As people become convinced of the tourist value of their natural resources we hope that this area will be greatly expanded. Thanks largely to this agreed reserve area, a significant large fauna can still be found, including tapir (Tapirus bairdii), howler monkeys (Allouta pigra), jaguar (Felix onca) and crocodiles (Crocodylus moreletti). The lake retains its transparent blue clarity and native fish populations, though recent invasions of Tilapia (released from government sponsored fish culture projects in the region) have begun to change the lake environment, threatening native species.

Besides its natural attractions, the lake offers a number of historical and cultural resources, such as the Lacam Tun Island archaeological site. The Island is completely covered by Mayan constructions dating from the pre-Classic period until the 16th century. The island was the site of the last stand of the Lacandon-Chol Maya, not conquered until 1585.

Conservation and Development

The next step is to carry out a series of detailed holistic planning exercises with all four communities, separately and jointly, in order to develop a detailed regional plan and formalize an agreement among the four ejidos to respect the resulting plan. This would include identifying investment needs and possible partners. Dana seeks limited financial aid for a three-year planning and implementation phase to provide technical assistance and training to the four ejido communities leading to the formation of businesses fully owned and controlled by the communities.

Ecotourism

The community members have expressed their desire to make tourism an activity that spreads its benefits widely among all sectors and have initiated the formation of a community enterprise for this purpose. However, it is urgent to provide orientation and training in an area where the communities have little or no experience. In particular, it is important to involve all members of all four ejidos in a general planning process so that common goals can be defined and the role of tourism in the local economy can be seen in perspective. Experiences in other communities of Chiapas and elsewhere in the region indicate that unplanned tourist development, even when the communities are directly involved in "eco" tourism, can have negative social and environmental effects and create false expectations of instant prosperity that are difficult to achieve.

Apart from the attraction of the Lake itself, two rivers--the Jatat=E9 and the Perlas--converge on and join at the ejido of Emiliano Zapata, gateway to Miramar. These rivers offer exciting canoeing and rafting opportunities for people of all levels of experience. These resources provide an ideal attraction for a the wilderness tourist who is accustomed to low-impact areas in the US. Appealing to this group will bring the kind of quality tourism of respectful visitors truly concerned with the conservation of nature that this project needs to be successful.

Organic Tropical Agroforestry

The only intensive agriculture introduced in the region since the Spanish conquest has been coffee, promoted for many years by the Mexican Coffee Institute (IMECAFE). This government program introduced and supported coffee production in many regions of Mexico, far beyond the areas considered ideal for that crop. They provided technical assistance, credit, marketing support and other services to small producers. As a result many small farmers became highly dependent on coffee as a sole source of income. When coffee prices collapsed in 1989, coinciding with economic reforms that withdrew government support from IMECAFE, much of rural Chiapas entered a severe crisis that still persists. Many growers abandoned coffee and returned to more extensive agriculture, clearing more land better left in forest. A few producers who organized to grow and export organic coffee directly managed to maintain good prices and a reasonable livelihood, which has aroused the interest of many campesinos in this alternative.

Unfortunately, Miramar, with coffee fields at around 300 to 400 meters above sea level, is not in an ideal quality coffee growing area. It is unlikely that Miramar farmers could based a successful marketing strategy on their coffee alone as some coops on higher lands have done (e.g. ISMAM). Nonetheless, due to farmers familiarity with the crop and since it is currently the only crop with an established market that actually brings in some desperately needed cash income to the community, we began the organic farming program with a coffee workshop in June of 1996. During the workshop, however, both the need and the possibilities for diversifying production were widely recognized by the farmers. The major obstacle is marketing.

Thus, to complement organic coffee production and improve land use on more lands, we are currently exploring three such alternatives:

1. Rice - The community currently grows rice of two varieties--called "white" and "red"--brought with them from their communities of origins. Farmers report that the crop does very well--four to sic tons per hectare with no chemicals--on wetlands where no other crop will grow. At present only small amounts are planted for family consumption and to maintain seed, for lack of market. We have explored marketing possibilities both within the state and in Mexico City, for organic whole brown rice and the farmers agree that prices are attractive. We are currently exploring the option for installing a rice huller, as the hand method currently used is time-consuming and= wasteful.
2. Cacao - Cacao has been grown as a commercial crop in the region for at least two thousand years. Modern plantations grow a hybrid of lower quality but hardy enough to stand the virtual monocrop conditions. Yet, grown under traditional methods, Creole varieties were produced commercially for centuries by the Maya. Creole varieties still exist in the area and organic multicropping, combining cacao with tropical fruits, vanilla and other plants could be an excellent strategy for renewing the production of these high quality varieties, now in danger of extinction.
3. Milpa and Botanicals - Maya subsistence and self-sufficiency are based on the milpa, the traditional maize multicrop that is rotated with secondary vegetation and forest. Intensive versions of milpa involved incorporating commercial crops such as tobacco, careful regrowth management and forest regeneration. Introducing organic medicinal and cosmetic and other plants (e.g. Neem) of commercial value into this cycle will permit ecological control and intensification and provide an economic incentive for a return to more sustainable practices.

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