HISTORIA AMBIENTAL DE LA REGIÓN DE LA RESERVA DE LA BIOSFERA LOS PETENES EN CAMPECHE, MÉXICO

Abstract

A large part of the north coast of Campeche was declared as Los Petenes Biosphere Reserve (LPBR) in 1999, mainly to protect the unique ecosystem of the petenes. Its Management Plan broadly covers ecological aspects but not so many historical ones. This article investigates the environmental history of the region. An extensive literature review was conducted, fieldwork, and diverse historical sources were consulted. We found two characteristics of the environment that greatly influenced the history of the region: the shallow depth of the seafloor near the coast and the type of coastal terrain that includes mangroves, petenes, savannas, and forests, that develop in a variable flood regime, making it very difficult to transit. We identified several issues at the coast along the time: Pre-Hispanic settlements, fishing and salt extraction, logwood extraction, haciendas, intensive fishing, municipal limits change, and the Natural Protected Area (NPA) declaration. We concluded that the territory of the LPBR has had a long history of use. Finally, we reflected on how environmental history can pose useful questions for NPA management.