ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTIONS AND SOCIAL-RELATIONS IN THE MAPIMI BIOSPHERE RESERVE

Biosphere reserves were developed in part to integrate conservation with regional development objectives and thereby to include protected areas within the resource management of inhabited areas. The Mapimi Biosphere Reserve of Durango, Mexico, provides an example of the difficulties confronted by protected-area managers in implementing the biosphere reserve concept, especially when groups with vested interests in the site perceive the same environment differently. The reserve supports a long-term research program on the ecology of the Chihuahuan Desert and has succeeded in protecting an endangered species of tortoise with the cooperation of the local residents. However, coexisting forms of land tenure and resource management, including extensive cattle grazing, prevent complete protection of the core zone, and the gap between basic and applied research has hindered the reserve's managers and researchers from developing their good public relations into a plan for regional conservation.