Abstract:

The impact of modernization on the sociocultural valuation of ecosystem services in rural landscapes has been little studied. We propose a three-step strategy to evaluate the impact of agricultural mechanization on the sociocultural valuation of landscapes with traditional milpa agriculture. The method entailed the application of semi-structured interviews to 60 settlers from two Mayan communities with different agriculture’s mechanization history. Each interview included general information collection of the respondents as well as three ecosystem services valuation techniques: a free listing, an assessment matrix, and the ranking of the landscape units. These instruments were applied to 60 participants in two Mayan communities differentiated by 30 years from the beginning of agriculture mechanization. The results highlight a similar valuation of ecosystem services in both communities. Communities share 58% of the landscape services listed. Participants in both communities recognize the multifunctional character of the forest. Nevertheless, greater importance was assigned to food provisioning areas: milpa in the traditional community and to mechanized lands in the modernized community. This most significant difference found between communities is explained by the economic income associated with the sale of surpluses in mechanized agriculture. In conclusion, agricultural modernization has not had an important impact on the sociocultural valuation of ecosystem services, but in the importance of the landscape units. In addition, we capture the local recognition of each unit on the provision services relevant for the Mayan way of life, which explains the persistence of these heterogeneous and multifunctional landscapes.