Written by Peter Larsen.


The Chalampas region is a rainforest located in the southern end of the Oaxaca state of Mexico, located between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before 1950, the Chalampas region was the heart of a much larger rainforest that was destroyed for exotic wood, lumber use, and cattle ranching (Doane et al. 2001). The remaining 600,000 hectares (1500 square miles) of the Chalampas region has been preserved due to the efforts of the residents of this region and non-governmental organizations (Doane et al. 2001, Bray et al. 2008).

The conservation of the Chalampas region is important because it has a huge number of different species of plants and animals. About 10% of the species on the earth live in Mexico, many of these in the Chlalampas region. 32% of mammal species are endemic, meaning that they can only be found in Mexico. A large number of the species in the Chalampas region are endangered as well. (Ceballos et al, 1998, WWF 2001).

However, building a fence around this forest will not solve any problems. The small-scale community logging of this area is critical to those who live there. It provides the bulk of the economy for the 40 or so small villages in the Chalampas region (Doane et al. 2001). Exotic timber has a high market value, and it is very profitable for the villagers to harvest a sustainable amount of trees (Anderson 1990). However, the high market value of the timber also attracts the eyes of clearcutting companies. Clearcutting is the process of systematically cutting every tree in a forest to use for wood. Research suggests that community logging can preserve the natural state of the forest while simultaneously relieving the poverty that many of these villages face. On the contrary, clearcutting turns a beautiful, sustainable forest into a wasteland. (Bray et al. 2008).

What is being done? Maderas del Pueblo del Sureste, a Mexican non-governmental organization, has implemented a plan to connect the 40 villages in the Chalampas region as the Campesino Ecological Reserve. The reserve is to be locally governed and created to sustain the rare and endemic species of the region, as well as sustain the economy and way of life for those who live there( Doane et al. 2001).








Want to Learn More?

Anderson, A.B. ed, 1990. Alternatives to deforestation: steps toward the sustainable use of the Amazon Rain Forest. Columbia University Press. New York.

Bray, D.B, et. al. 2008 Tropical deforestation, community forests, and protected areas in the Maya Forest. Ecology and Society 13: 56

Ceballos, G., et al.1998. Assessing conservation priorities in megadiverse Mexico: mammalian diversity, endemicity, and endangerment. Ecological Applications 8: 8-17

Doane, M. 2001. A distant jaguar: the civil society project in Chalampas. Critique of Anthropology 21: 361-382

World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 2001. Petén-Veracruz moist forests. Washington D.C. Available from http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/nt/nt0154_full.html

Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World

Freshwater Ecoregions of the World

Marine Ecoregions of the World







This page was created from an environmental education writing project generated in the Fall 2009 Bio245 Conservation Biology class. Content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Gustavus Adolphus College.

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