PERCEPTIONS OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE SIERRA DE HUAUTLA BIOSPHERE RESERVE: TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ESTRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE A PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT

The Biosphere Reserves have had wide acceptance as an effective instrument for biological management and conservation and seek a sustainable development; however, there are few studies that evaluate whether or not such areas fulfill their conservation and, social development objectives, considering the fact that the availability of financial resources as well as the local participation strategies are keys in the success of conservation schemes. An informative alternative to evaluate the work of these protected areas is to analyze the perceptions of their inhabitants regarding the implemented strategies for conservation and social development. This will allow the fulfillment of biological protection and community welfare objectives. In this work we analyze the Sierra de Huautla Biosphere Reserve (REBIOSH) and analyze the perceptions of six communities regarding conservation of natural resources, sustainable harvesting and development of the population in a 10 years lapse. Our work contributes to understand some of the problems faced by these communities and identifies the socio-economic problems of the Reserve. These results will contribute to determine conservation priorities, as well as to plan and execute actions to adjust and make more efficient the management of REBIOSH.