557
especially in regions under strong environmental, social and economic pressures, as
pointed by Bocco et al. (2000).
Moreover, it is recognized that economic development (e.g. productive projects
as alternative strategies) can provide protection for the environment and replace
human activities with the potential detriment of other more sustainable conferring
socio-ecological and cultural benefits (OECD 2001; Yáñez-Arancibia et al. 2013,
2014). In this sense, the WMU is recognized as one of the privileged instruments to
diversify rural productivity and generating income which allows avoiding compromising the resilience of natural ecosystems (CONABIO 2009).
The experiences concerning cases of crocodile WMUs operating in Mexico, suggest that they are achieving the production target (Serna-Lagunes et al. 2013). This
almost certainly with adherence to the guidelines established in the “Management
Plan Type” identified by the SEMARNAT (2014), with which the viability of the
harvesting of crocodiles such as C. acutus is demonstrated. Near the PVE there is a
WMU operated by a non-governmental organization (NGO) through “The
Tortugario” Cuyutlán Ecological Center (ECTC), which among its functions include
the PVE protection. From this fact arises the interest of proposing the installation of
a full cycle extractive WMU, attached to the same area as an alternative project by
extending the terms of operation of the existing WMU. This paper proposes by this
legal concept that the commercial harvesting of crocodile species C. acutus can be
achieved as a key factor for the declaration as Protected Area (PA) of the PVE,
which is a necessary and complementary tool for the rational use and conservation
of territorial biodiversity (Pereira-Corona et al. 2015) as a feasible project as a
response to the sustainable use of the PVE, consistent with the applicable legal
framework and from the perspective of the Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact
response model (DPSIR) (OECD 2001), which is analyzed in this paper.
18.1.1 PVE Features
The PVE (Figs. 18.1 and 18.2) is located in the coastal area of Colima state, Mexico,
between the coordinates 18°915′ and 18°89′N; 104°045′ and 104°015′W. It has an
area of 734,968.75 m
2
. It is part of the Cuyutlan Lagoon (LC) named Basin IV,
which has been fragmented and partially isolated by infrastructure (roads, railways
and hydraulic pathways) that negatively affect its natural hydrological flow in the
northeastern part of the PVE drastically reducing water circulation and increasing
the water residence time in the system. In the southwestern part it has sporadic communication with the Pacific Ocean through a natural opening of a sandbar as a result
of the increment of pressure due to the large volume of water coming from the basin
in presence of extreme weather events that burst in the region (Anguiano-Cuevas
et al. 2015).
The PVE functions as part of the biological corridor of resident and migratory
birds of the Mexican Pacific region (Mellink and Riojas-López 2009). It protects
flora and fauna under some protection status in the Mexican Environmental
18 Implementation of a Wildlife Management Unit as a Sustainable Support Measure…
especially in regions under strong environmental, social and economic pressures, as
pointed by Bocco et al. (2000).
Moreover, it is recognized that economic development (e.g. productive projects
as alternative strategies) can provide protection for the environment and replace
human activities with the potential detriment of other more sustainable conferring
socio-ecological and cultural benefits (OECD 2001; Yáñez-Arancibia et al. 2013,
2014). In this sense, the WMU is recognized as one of the privileged instruments to
diversify rural productivity and generating income which allows avoiding compromising the resilience of natural ecosystems (CONABIO 2009).
The experiences concerning cases of crocodile WMUs operating in Mexico, suggest that they are achieving the production target (Serna-Lagunes et al. 2013). This
almost certainly with adherence to the guidelines established in the “Management
Plan Type” identified by the SEMARNAT (2014), with which the viability of the
harvesting of crocodiles such as C. acutus is demonstrated. Near the PVE there is a
WMU operated by a non-governmental organization (NGO) through “The
Tortugario” Cuyutlán Ecological Center (ECTC), which among its functions include
the PVE protection. From this fact arises the interest of proposing the installation of
a full cycle extractive WMU, attached to the same area as an alternative project by
extending the terms of operation of the existing WMU. This paper proposes by this
legal concept that the commercial harvesting of crocodile species C. acutus can be
achieved as a key factor for the declaration as Protected Area (PA) of the PVE,
which is a necessary and complementary tool for the rational use and conservation
of territorial biodiversity (Pereira-Corona et al. 2015) as a feasible project as a
response to the sustainable use of the PVE, consistent with the applicable legal
framework and from the perspective of the Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact
response model (DPSIR) (OECD 2001), which is analyzed in this paper.
18.1.1 PVE Features
The PVE (Figs. 18.1 and 18.2) is located in the coastal area of Colima state, Mexico,
between the coordinates 18°915′ and 18°89′N; 104°045′ and 104°015′W. It has an
area of 734,968.75 m
2
. It is part of the Cuyutlan Lagoon (LC) named Basin IV,
which has been fragmented and partially isolated by infrastructure (roads, railways
and hydraulic pathways) that negatively affect its natural hydrological flow in the
northeastern part of the PVE drastically reducing water circulation and increasing
the water residence time in the system. In the southwestern part it has sporadic communication with the Pacific Ocean through a natural opening of a sandbar as a result
of the increment of pressure due to the large volume of water coming from the basin
in presence of extreme weather events that burst in the region (Anguiano-Cuevas
et al. 2015).
The PVE functions as part of the biological corridor of resident and migratory
birds of the Mexican Pacific region (Mellink and Riojas-López 2009). It protects
flora and fauna under some protection status in the Mexican Environmental
18 Implementation of a Wildlife Management Unit as a Sustainable Support Measure…