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Who Harvests and Why? Characteristics of Guatemalan Households Harvesting Xaté (Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti)1

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Abstract

Who Harvests and Why? Characteristics of Guatemalan Households Harvesting Xaté (Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti). Cultivation of harvested species is frequently proposed as a conservation strategy to reduce wild harvesting pressure and improve local livelihoods. The success of this approach is likely to be influenced by harvesters’ socioeconomic characteristics. Our study focuses on illegal harvesting of a palm species (Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti, locally known as xaté), by Guatemalans in the largely Belizean Greater Maya Mountains. We surveyed 222 households in nine Guatemalan villages close to the Belize/Guatemala border. With this sample we estimated the current intensity of illegal harvesting by Guatemalans in Belize, the characteristics of harvesting households, and their perceptions of the enforcement level of harvesting laws. We estimated that 26 % of households in the study area actively harvest. Harvesting households owned less land than non-harvesting households. Harvesters are aware that harvesting in Belize is illegal and of the sanctions for harvesting. However, incomes from xaté harvesting were favorable compared to alternative available activities and there were few barriers to entry. We conclude that successful conservation interventions promoting cultivation need to take account of existing harvester characteristics and constraints. Lack of secure land tenure means that cultivation is not a feasible alternative for many harvesting households.

Quién cosecha y porque? Caracteristicas de los hogares Guatemaltecos que cosechan xaté (Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti). Se ha propuesto con frecuencia el cultivo de las especias silvestres sobre-cosechadas como una estrategia de conservación para reducir la presión de la cosecha silvestre y para mejorar las oportunidades económicas locales. El éxito de este medio probablemente será influido por las características socio-económicas de los cosechadores. Nuestro estudio se centra en la extracción ilegal de una especie de palma (Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti, localmente conocido como xate), cosechada por guatemaltecos en las Montañas Mayas que son en gran parte beliceños. Se llevó a cabo una encuesta con 222 hogares en nueve aldeas de Guatemala en la región cerca de la frontera con Belice. Con esta muestra se estimó la intensidad actual de la cosecha ilegal de los guatemaltecos en Belice, las características de los hogares de los cosechadores, y sus percepciones sobre el nivel de ejecución de las leyes de la cosecha. Se estimó que un 26 % de los hogares en el área del estudio actualmente son cosechadores. Cosechadores poseían una cantidad menor de tierra propia que los que no cosechan. Cosechadores son conscientes de que la cosecha en Belice es ilegal y de las sanciones que se imponen contra cosechadores. Sin embargo, los ingresos de la cosecha de xate eran favorables en comparación con otras actividades económicas disponibles y habían pocas barreras para cruzar la frontera. Llegamos a la conclusión de que para que sean exitosas las intervenciones conservacionistas que promueven el cultivo han de tomar en cuenta las características de los hogares cosechadoras actuales y sus limitaciones. La falta de tenencia formal de la tierra significa que el cultivo no es una alternativa viable para muchos hogares cosechadores.

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to village leaders, survey respondents, and key informants, Belize Botanic Garden, and Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP) in Guatemala. Thanks to Tom Pienkowski, Judith Kettner, Mario Estrada, and George Boburg Castroconde (INGUAT—Guatemala Tourist Assistance) and staff at Finca Ixobel for field assistance. Data layers for map were provided by Steffi Schliep, Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Guatemala (GIZ), and the Belize Environment Resource Data System (BERDS). The Natural Resources International Fellowship, Bentham-Moxon Trust, and Bangor University financially supported this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Bangor University, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK

    Sophie J. Williams, James M. Gibbons & Julia P. G. Jones

  2. Conservation, Living Collections and Estates Directorate, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK

    Sophie J. Williams & Colin Clubbe

  3. Asociación Comunitaria para la Integración Humana a la Naturaleza, San Luis, Petén, Guatemala

    Amanda Dibble & Adolfo Marroquín

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  1. Sophie J. Williams
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Correspondence to Sophie J. Williams.

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1Received 8 June 2012; accepted 6 September 2012; published online_________.

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Williams, S.J., Gibbons, J.M., Clubbe, C. et al. Who Harvests and Why? Characteristics of Guatemalan Households Harvesting Xaté (Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti)1 . Econ Bot 66, 357–369 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-012-9214-3

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