Gender and Natural Resources

Article 27 of the Mexican Agrarian Law (1992)§modified property rights in land with the goal of§modernizing and developing the agrarian sector. In§order to determine changes in property rights, formal§and informal property rights institutions were§compared prior to and following the granting of legal§rights in land to women in 1971 and the alienation of§ejido land in 1992 subsequent to Article 27.§Productive spaces and forests (k ax) supply food and§products needed for survival in the region, as well§as natural resources with market potential.§Productive spaces, their users, and their purposes§are multiple. The relationships between productive§spaces, the family and the ejido are dynamic, and are§constantly constructed, maintained and negotiated.§Property rights in the ejido of Xmaben changed little§following the Agrarian Land Reform provisions§contained in Article 27. Women and men continue§working in a complementary manner while assuring the§sustainable use of their forests. The ejido resisted§parcelization, ownership continues under a communal§regime, and natural resource management exhibits an§orientation to conservation and sustainability.