Benefits of the parcellation of communal rangelands of the ejido El Castañón, Municipality Fourteen, San Luis Potosí, Mexico: 1993-2013 [Beneficio de la parcelación de los agostaderos comunales del ejido El Castañón, municipio catorce, San Luis Potosí: 1993-2013]
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abstract
Most of the communal rangeland of the Mexican highlands are under a desertification process due to animal overgrazing because of unrestricted exploitation with personal benefit. The goal of this study was to document, based on a survey, the process and current results of the parceling of the common use pastures of the ejido El Castañón y Anexos, in the Catorce municipality, San Luis Potosí, México, the only ejido in the San Luis Potosí highlands that has taken advantage of a constitutional reform to the article 27, in order to certify and legally entitle the livestock parcels, this endogenous initiative was carried out in spite of resistance and lack of government approvement, that allowed each and every ejidatario to decide how to use its resources. In this research we documented how the parcellation of common paddocks was decided and the level of satisfaction of the ejidatarios after 20 years of private management. Even though there are cases of abuse of the rangelands, other ejidatarios improved the conditions of its livestock parcels, to the extent of negotiating the entry of foreign livestock to avoid death by starvation during recent drought. Almost all ejidatarios acknowledge the rise in production and livestock stocktaking and improvement in their rangeland as a result of parceling. The sense of ownership of the land has led to care and proper handling of the livestock parcels and has generated the option of leasing as an economic activity that was impossible under the communal regime. The current contrast between the Castañon rangelands and the nearby ones is evident, because of that various ejidos of the region are already attempting to replicate this process in their communal areas.
