Forest Preservation in the Western Highlands of Guatemala
In contrast to most of highland Guatemala, much of the department of Totonicapan remains under a forest cover. The forests of Totonicapan have been preserved in spite of extreme pressures on the land resulting from the high rural population densities. Comparison of old and recent aerial photographs...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Geographical Review. - American Geographical Society, 1916. - 68(1978), 4, Seite 417-434 |
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| 1. Verfasser: | |
| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
1978
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Geographical Review |
| Schlagworte: | Biological sciences Physical sciences Social sciences |
| Zusammenfassung: | In contrast to most of highland Guatemala, much of the department of Totonicapan remains under a forest cover. The forests of Totonicapan have been preserved in spite of extreme pressures on the land resulting from the high rural population densities. Comparison of old and recent aerial photographs indicates that the boundaries between forested and nonforested land have remained remarkably stable despite the rapid population growth of recent decades. The preservation of the forests of Totonicapan is attributed principally to fortuitous historical-economic circumstances that led to an early recognition of the commercial importance of the forest resource, to development of a communal pattern of forest ownership of both pre-Hispanic and Spanish colonial origin, and to the realization by the Indian inhabitants of the importance of the income and products derived from the forest resource to their continued cultural independence. |
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| ISSN: | 19310846 |
| DOI: | 10.2307/214215 |