Ana Patricia Méndez Linares

The state of the environment in Mexico

The present work evaluates the state of the environment in Mexico based on indicators of the present status of the country’s natural resource management, social and economical conditions and anthropogenic modifications. The Mexican environment is interpreted as a spatially open system having a historical character that is essentially determined by the continual interaction between nature, society and economy. The landscape approach is followed, considering as units of territorial analysis each one of the 145 biophysical environmental units included in the national physiographic regionalization. The assessment of 16 indicators for each biophysical environmental unit was made considering their regional environmental integrity problems, the degree of disarticulation of their structure and function, and the alteration of their territorial structure, all of which determine whether or not they accomplish their environmental functions and achieve environmental stability. The classification of the state of the environment included 5 categories in 8 combinations represented in the map of the state of the environment in Mexico for the year 2008. The map shows that nearly 47.10% of the country’s surface has an environmental status ranging between unstable and critical, the problematic areas being mostly concentrated in the southeast and center of the national territory.

Ordenamiento ecológico general del territorio mexicano: enfoque metodológico y principales experiencias

El presente trabajo presenta los resultados del programa de ordenamiento ecológico general del territorio mexicano (caracterización, diagnóstico, pronóstico y formulación del modelo de ocupación sectorial). Para el análisis territorial y la evaluación del estado medioambiental actual, se empleó la regionalización ambiental biofísica de López-Blanco (2008), integrada por 145 regiones. El pronóstico contempló el análisis de conflictos y sinergias intersectoriales, la realización de talleres de consulta y validación, y la construcción de los escenarios contextual (2008) y tendenciales (2012, 2023, 2033). El modelo de ordenamiento ecológico territorial incluyó 5 niveles de atención prioritaria, 80 regiones ecológicas, 34 tipos de actividades rectoras del desarrollo, 10 lineamientos ambientales generales, 44 estrategias ecológicas y 273 acciones de implementación.

Geomorphic compatibility of agricultural land use in the upper basin of the Lerma River, Mexico

Abstract Please click here to download the map associated with this article. A method for assessing land sustainability that has emerged in recent years is the application of quantitative spatial indicators, using simple methodologies, and reliable data to determine and monitor trends, as well as to provide accurate cartographic representations. The present work defines geomorphic compatibility coefficients for agricultural land use in the upper basin of the Lerma River in Mexico. The methodology identifies geomorphic processes and, based on the lithologic susceptibility of the substrate and slopes, assesses their potential intensity. This analysis allows us to determine which areas are incompatible with agricultural land use, as a percentage of the total area of cropland in the zone under study, based on grouping geomorphic processes into different compatibility categories. The resulting coefficients are a valuable aid for land use planning and sustainable regional development, as they make it possible to identify areas in which existing agricultural land use is incompatible with the geomorphic processes active at the site.