| dc.description | An interdisciplinary study was undertaken on livelihoods of Mayan communities, their aquatic resource use and the non-monetary values of natural resources within The Mayan Zone of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The research used methods from both the social and natural sciences, including development studies, anthropology, economics, ecology and fishery science. With respect to Mayan livelihoods in common property lands (ejidos), these were found to be multiple, seasonal and dynamic, relying to a great extent upon the rainforest of the study area. It was noted that the study area is acknowledged as one in which people live under deprived conditions and therefore their livelihoods could not be considered as truly sustainable. The multiplicity of livelihoods is reflected in the finding that fifty-two sources of income were recorded in three Mayan ejidos. From the point of view of the field of development studies, income diversity was highest in ejido "Junp'eel" followed by "Oox p'eel" and "Ka'a p'eel", whereas from a functional resilience perspective, income diversity was slightly higher in ejido "Ka'a p'eel" followed by "Junp'eel" and "Oox p'eel". The contribution of fishing to Mayan livelihoods varied among ejidos but it was among the minor livelihoods in all cases. However, it was found that fishing was relevant to Mayan communities because it contributed to traditions, religious observances and recreation. The study results concerning aquatic resource use indicate the artisanal nature of inland fisheries of the study area with the use of hook-and-line as the main gear. Indigenous and non-indigenous people were the users of a fishery for which the fishing season was primarily during the dry season and for which no explicit management regulations were found. In this study, local and scientific knowledge were combined to study the fishing sites. Thirty-nine out of 58 interviewees reported changes related to fishing in 16 traditional fishing sites, some of which registered both relatively low (0.13) and medium (0.42) fish diversity indexes. The thesis also examined the relative importance of the different natural resources based on the stated preferences of the interviewees. All three community groups of a Mayan ejido studied considered "soils" (the key natural resource to undertake agriculture) followed by "woodsticks" (materials for hut construction and fuel) as their two most valuable out of seven natural resources. In fact, they emphasized that all their natural resources were important to them, but that "soils" was their most important because slash-and-burn agriculture was the most important activity to their communities. The implications of the overall results to both the Maya in Quintana Roo and conservation of the forests in the study area are discussed. | en_US |
