Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve

The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (RBTC) is a Natural Protected Area (NPA) covering 490,186.87547 hectares, declared by decree of the head of the Federal Executive Branch on September 18, 1998, with the purpose of protecting the region's biodiversity and fostering processes that allow for the sustainable development of the communities located there.

In accordance with Articles 65 and 66 of the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection and Article 72 of its Regulations on Natural Protected Areas, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) will formulate the management program for the NPA in question, as the main instrument for planning and programming conservation actions. In this regard, and in compliance with the aforementioned legal framework, the Management Program (MP) for the RBTC is presented.

The Management Plan (MP) consists of several chapters. The first six address the physical, biological, and socioeconomic characteristics of the Protected Natural Area (PNA), analyzing the land tenure situation and outlining the conservation objectives of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve (RBTC). They also present the relevant characteristics of the area, which allow for the identification of the PNA's ecological, social, and cultural value. This value forms the basis for determining and diagnosing the environmental and socioeconomic problems that, in turn, determine the current soil condition and biodiversity conservation in the region. The latter is addressed in Chapter Six through the development of the Protection, Management, Restoration, Knowledge, Culture, and Management Subprograms, with their respective components, through activities and actions to be carried out in the short, medium, and long term.

The zoning of the MP is a dynamic and technical planning tool used in the management of protected natural areas to organize the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve Management Program in detail. Geographic units are identified that, due to their characteristics of uses, exploitation, and degree of conservation, are subject to different management policies, called subzones, establishing the permitted and prohibited activities for each one.

The administrative rules of the RBTC are formulated, based on the conservation objectives of the area and the activities, uses, and exploitation of the ecosystems and their biodiversity, which are intended to be regulated in strict adherence to current environmental legislation.

Chapter nine of the Management Plan provides a guide for the development, scheduling, monitoring, and evaluation of the RBTC's Annual Operating Program (AOP), based on the activities and actions proposed in the Subprograms and Components. It should serve as the short-term planning instrument, through which the objectives and goals to be achieved in a year are expressed.

Having a system for tracking and monitoring projects, encompassing both the biological and socioeconomic aspects of the protected natural area (ANP), allows for the evaluation of progress, effectiveness, and impact in the implementation of the Management Plan (PM).

Chapter 11 presents the Effectiveness Evaluation, which establishes the evaluation process for the reserve's PM, so that it can be reviewed and, if necessary, readjusted within five years.

The final chapters include the bibliography and appendices related to the flora and fauna lists distributed within the Tehuantepec Biosphere Reserve (RBTC) and its surrounding area, as well as the research conducted.

Background

The conservation history of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region dates back to 1995, when the Government of the State of Puebla declared the areas known as the “Valle de Zapotitlán” and the “Filo de Tierra Colorada” as Areas Subject to Ecological Conservation, with a surface area of ​​123,619.6025 and 20,689.1250 hectares, respectively. These areas encompass the municipalities of Atexcal, Caltepec, Coxcatlán, Coyomeapan, San Gabriel Chilac, San José Miahuatlán, Tehuacán, and Zapotitlán Salinas; Chapulco, Cañada Morelos, Santiago Miahuatlán, Palmar de Bravo, Tecamachalco, Tepanco de López, Tlacotepec de Benito Juárez, and Yehualtepec.

On May 28, 1997, the Government of the State of Puebla modified the previous declarations, unifying them into the Ecological Conservation Zone of the “Tehuacán-Zapotitlán” Region, with an area of ​​193,913.97027 hectares. This new area incorporated the municipalities of the repealed zones and added the municipalities of Ajalpan, Juan N. Méndez, and San Sebastián Zinacatepec (Official Gazette of the State of Puebla, June 18, 1997). On August 13, 1996, the Government of the State of Oaxaca declared the “Valle de Cuicatlán” Ecological Conservation Zone with an area of ​​296,272.9052 hectares, made up of 31 municipalities: San Pedro Jocotipac, Valerio Trujano, Santa María Texcatitlán, San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán, Concepción Pápalo, Santos Reyes Pápalo

Santa María Pápalo, Santiago Nacaltepec,

National Commission of Natural Protected Areas San Pedro Jaltepetongo, Teotitlán de Flores Magón, San Juan de los Cués, San Martín Toxpalan, San Antonio Nanahuatipam, Santa María Ixcatlán, Mazatlán Villa de Flores, Santa María Tecomavaca, San Miguel Huautla, Santa María Apazco, Santiago Apoala, Asunción Nochixtlán, Santiago Huauclilla, Santiago Chazumba, San Pedro y San Pablo Tequixtepec, Concepción Buena Vista, San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca, San Miguel Tequixtepec, Tepelmeme Villa de Morelos, Santa Catarina Zapoquila, San Pedro Coxcaltepec Cántaros, San Juan Tepeuxila and San Juan Bautista Atatlahuca (Official Gazette of the State of Oaxaca, November 22, 1997).

Given the ecological importance of the region, researchers from the Institutes of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Higher Studies Iztacala, belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM); the governments of the states of Puebla and Oaxaca; and several civil society organizations promoted the establishment of a Federal Protected Natural Area in the region, which would be named Tehuacán-Cuicatlán. This proposal was signed by the head of the Federal Executive Branch on September 18, 1998, through the declaration of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region as a Protected Natural Area with the status of Biosphere Reserve, covering an area of ​​490,186.87547 hectares (Official Gazette of the Federation, September 18, 1998). This declaration integrated the areas subject to ecological conservation of “Tehuacán-Zapotitlán” and “Valle de Cuicatlán” and did not modify the property regimes in the region since it was not of an expropriatory nature.