Luis A. Bojórquez-Tapia

GIS-based approach for participatory decision making and land suitability assessment

The objective of this paper is to present a GIS-based multivariate application for land suitability assessment with a public participation base. The approach takes into account the issues and concerns of the stakeholders, and employs a multivariate statistical procedure for classifying land units into land suitability groups, according to sectoral interests. Sets of spatial algorithms are incorporated into a GIS database to identify such groups. A participatory planning workshop was carried out to define the set of environmental attributes that determine the land-use pattern, in conformity with the interests, objectives, and values of the stakeholders. The approach allows experts to interpret the information generated by the stakeholders under methodologically rigorous conditions, with a minimum of spatial data, and with relatively low cognitive processing level demanded to the representatives of socioeconomic sectors, interest groups, and authorities.

IDENTIFYING CONSERVATION PRIORITIES IN MEXICO THROUGH GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND MODELING

Environmental assessments of regional development projects have been used in Mexico to determine where conflicts between conservation of biodiversity and resource extraction are likely to occur. Species-rich areas have been acknowledged as a priority for conservation. However, biological information is incomplete and biased toward accessible sites, so species-rich areas cannot be depicted directly from current biological knowledge. An alternative approach to predicting species-rich areas is presented in this article. It is based on the gap analysis technique and involves the use of ordination analysis and generalized linear models integrated with a geographic information system. This approach was used for locating species-rich areas in the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, where a regional forestry development project was proposed. Baseline information consisted of geo-referenced collection sites of terrestrial vertebrates. Thirty-two species assemblages were identified by the ordination analysis, as well as by 25 generalized linear models. Validation of six of these models showed no significant differences between observed and predicted species frequencies. Results demonstrated that species-rich areas could be depicted even under the constraints of environmental assessment in Mexico. A large number of species could be used in this analysis due to the minimal information required for each species record. This predictive approach optimized available biological information for the integration of conservation into regional development planning.

An approach for evaluating EIAs -- Deficiencies of EIA in Mexico

Abstract An approach is presented for evaluating the contents of environmental impact statements (EISs) for decision-making. This approach is presented through the review of a set of EISs of highway projects in Mexico. Since the highway projects were already approved, the basic premises of the study were that the EISs were accurate and comprehensive, and if so, the EIS should not differ significantly in achieving at least a minimum quality standard. We focused on the following points: (1) organization of reports, in terms of clarity and coherence; (2) scientific and technical rigor of the data and the performed analyses; and (3) usefulness for decision-making, as a function of the relevant issues’ treatment. The evaluation was carried out in two ways: conformity of contents with respect to official guidelines, and the examination of the quality of data, analyses, and conclusions. Results showed that, in general, the EISs tended to contain rather inadequate descriptions, and a biased and subjective assessment of impacts. The EIA reflected implicit values and failed to focus on the environmental conflicts likely to be generated by the projects. Consequently, the approach presented here provides a precise framework for judging the worth of EISs as decision-making tools. This study challenges the notion that EIAs are valuable tools for improving the decision-making process in Mexico, and it depicts the problems to be addressed for improving EISs in the future.

Biological inventories and computer data bases: Their role in environmental assessments

An important goal of biological inventories is to provide information for environmental assessments of development projects and biodiversity conservation. Likewise, computer data bases have been proposed for efficient compilation and management of biological information. However, the attributes of biological inventories and computer data bases have not been examined with respect to environmental assessments. This article presents a case study in Mexico to analyze the current limitations of biological inventories for successful environmental assessments and biodiversity conservation in developing countries. Results demonstrate that, considering the objectives of environmental assessments and information constraints, computerized biological inventories should be assembled with a minimum of record fields: taxonomic data and georeferenced collection localities. Furthermore, it is proposed that environmental assessments should become a feedback to biological inventories and an important financial support to universities and research institutions in developing countries.

Opinion: Urban resilience efforts must consider social and political forces

Environmental disasters, ranging from catastrophic floods to extreme temperatures, have caused more than 30,000 deaths per year and more than US

Adaptive Capacity and Social-Environmental Change: Theoretical and Operational Modeling of Smallholder Coffee Systems Response in Mesoamerican Pacific Rim

250–300 billion a year in economic losses, globally, between 1995 and 2015 (1). Improved infrastructure and planning for extreme events is essential in urban areas, where an increasingly greater fraction of the world’s inhabitants reside. In response, international governmental and private initiatives have placed the goal of resilience at the center stage of urban planning. [For example, The 100 Resilient Cities Initiative (www.100resilientcities.org/); the Global Covenant of Mayors (https://www.compactofmayors.org/globalcovenantofmayors/); and the recent UN Habitat III (https://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda)]. In addition, scientific and policy communities alike now recognize the need for “safe-to-fail” infrastructural design, and the potential role of green and blue infrastructure in mediating hydrological and climatic risks in cities (2). Fig. 1. Improving urban resilience could help cities better cope with natural disasters, such as neighborhood flood events in Mexico City pictured here. Data source: Unidad Tormenta, Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de Mexico. Nevertheless, the social and political norms, values, rules, and relationships that undergird and structure the myriad decisions made by public and private actors—what we call “socio-political infrastructure”—are likely to be as influential in urban vulnerability dynamics as “hard” infrastructure and environmental management. Urban planning for enhanced resilience and sustainability is ultimately a complex social and political process. Socio-political infrastructure creates patterns of behavior and action that shape the built environment. Developing more sustainable pathways of urban development hinges on making this socio-political infrastructure transparent and legible in the tools and approaches available for risk management. We argue that sustainability science is in the position to create the tools, methods, and strategies to identify, represent, and communicate the significance of these social and political processes to decision makers at all levels. In doing so, we can help … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: Hallie.Eakin{at}asu.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Agro-environmental sustainability assessment using multicriteria decision analysis and system analysis

Communities who rely directly on the natural environment for their survival typically have developed risk management strategies to enable them to avoid dangerous thresholds of change to their livelihoods. Development policy appropriate for natural resource-based communities requires an understanding of the primary drivers of social-ecological change, the ways in which affected households autonomously respond to such drivers, and the appropriate avenues for intervention to reduce vulnerability. Coffee has been, and still remains, one of the most important commodities of the Mesoamerican region, and hundreds of thousands of smallholder households in the region are dependent in some way on the coffee industry for their livelihood stability. We used the Analytical Network Process to synthesize expert knowledge on the primary drivers of livelihood change in the region as well as the most common household strategies and associated capacities necessary for effective response. The assessment identified both gradual systemic processes as well as specific environmental and market shocks as significant drivers of livelihood change across the region. Agronomic adjustments and new forms of social organization were among the more significant responses of farmers to these changes. The assessment indicates that public interventions in support of adaptation should focus on enhancing farmers’ access to market and technical information and finance, as well as on increasing the viability of farmers’ organizations and cooperatives.

Utilizing international networks for accelerating research and learning in transformational sustainability science

Abstract Transparency and reproducibility remain challenges for sustainability assessment, particularly in developing world contexts where formal scientific information is often limited. We posit that even in such contexts, sustainability assessment can be productive and informative if the underlying assumptions about sustainability are made transparent. Thus, the process of assessment can be as instructive as the results, if not more so. In this article, we describe and discuss how we combined multicriteria decision analysis and system analysis as a unified approach to sustainability assessment. This approach is transparent, practical, flexible, and reproducible; it also facilitates the development of recommendations for enhancing sustainability. We illustrate the approach with examples from a recent environmental sustainability assessment of irrigated commercial maize production in Sinaloa, Mexico.

Connotative land degradation mapping: A knowledge-based approach to land degradation assessment

A promising approach for addressing sustainability problems is to recognize the unique conditions of a particular place, such as problem features and solution capabilities, and adopt and adapt solutions developed at other places around the world. Therefore, research and teaching in international networks becomes critical, as it allows for accelerating learning by sharing problem understandings, successful solutions, and important contextual considerations. This article identifies eight distinct types of research and teaching collaborations in international networks that can support such accelerated learning. The four research types are, with increasing intensity of collaboration: (1) solution adoption; (2) solution consultation; (3) joint research on different problems; and (4) joint research on similar problems. The four teaching types are, with increasing intensity of collaboration: (1) adopted course; (2) course with visiting faculty; (3) joint course with traveling faculty; and (4) joint course with traveling students. The typology is illustrated by extending existing research and teaching projects on urban sustainability in the International Network of Programs in Sustainability, with partner universities from Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. The article concludes with challenges and strategies for extending individual projects into collaborations in international networks.

International lending and resource development in Mexico; can environmental quality be assured?

Land degradation mapping is a problem-solving task that aims to provide information for allocating budgets and materials to counter the deterioration of land resources. Typically, it entails the implementation of a set of indicators in a GIS to appraise the severity of land degradation across a territory. Nevertheless, the selection of these indicators has proved to be challenging in practice and often this selection reflects one particular and thus limited perspective of land degradation. Because land degradation is intrinsically complex and involves decisions by many agencies and individuals, land degradation mapping should be used as a learning tool through which managers, experts and stakeholders can re-examine their views within a wider semantic context. In this paper, we introduce an analytical framework, called Connotative Land Degradation Mapping, which aims to depict the meaning of a multiplicity of interacting drivers and effects The CLDM entails the implementation of (1) geographic information systems and multicriteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA), and (2) geo-visualization. The approach is illustrated through a case study of two urban watersheds in central Mexico. Results showed that the main land degradation drivers in the study area were related to natural processes, which were exacerbated by human activities. The output of the CLDM enabled a better communication of the land degradation issues and concerns in a way relevant for policymakers.