Deforestation
The deforestation of the Lacandon in Mexico has been dramatically high, with the rate increasing over the past decades. It is estimated that only 10% of virgin rainforest still exists with the rest having been strip-mined, logged and more. Most of what is left hugs the Guatemalan border. Of the remaining forest, about 5% is still lost per year in spite of conservation efforts.
This deforestation began in the mid 19th century by loggers and “chicleros” who tapped trees for sap to make chewing gum. By the 1940s, much of the old growth forest had already been destroyed. Illegal logging is still a serious concern. Twenty one municipalities in Chiapas have significant problems with illegal logging, most of which are in or near the Montes Azules Reserve. While migration of people into the lowland rainforests had been going on since the 1930s, it accelerated in the 1960s and 1970s, as there was high population growth in the highlands areas. The government encouraged people, especially the indigenous, to move to the lowlands and claim lands there. During the 20th century, the population of municipalities in this area, such as Altamirano, Las Margaritas, Ocosingo and Palenque has risen from 11,000 in 1920 to over 376,000 in 2000. In 1990, a World Bank study declared that the following decade would make or break the Lacandon Selva's chances for survival as the rainforest had been "reduced to the minimum size essential for the integrity of its ecosystem." The destruction of the jungle has been such that satellite photos show the Mexico-Guatemalan border where the deforestation on the Mexican side stops.
Much of the destruction of the rainforest has occurred through slash and burn farming, which allows for little to no fallow time and creates soil erosion. It also depletes what little nutrition there is in the soil, which is then also polluted by the use of fertilizers and pesticides. As of the first decade of the 21st century, it is estimated about two thirds of the Lacandon outside the main biosphere reserve has been converted into pasture or cropland. Once this land has been cleared and used, it is very difficult to revert it to rainforest, even after it has been abandoned. Grass for pasture is particularly problematic because after it takes hold, does not allow natural vegetation to compete with it. In addition, the soil becomes compacted by the trampling of livestock. This degradation causes streams to dry up as evaporation rates rise from the lack of shade.
In the latter 1970s, the government changed its policies in regards to the Lacandon, establishing the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve. It evicted some squatters, and granted the tiny group of Lacandones ownership of huge tracts in the reserve. That caused resentment in some indigenous communities, and would be a factor in the Zapatista uprising two decades later. However, even with the establishment of the reserve, the government did not sufficiently protect it, and many squatters made their way onto the lands, creating patchworks of squatter camps. Even today, there are only about twenty forest rangers for the entire reserve.
Read more about this topic: Lacandon Jungle