CHAPTER 5: “CASE STUDIES: OVERVIEW”
5.5 Local communities
The present communities of both regions under study date from at least the 17th century.
Their populations are descended from Mayans who settled in the area due to its potential for salt extraction and the associated trade, particularly in salt and salted meat;
but also to a lesser degree in feathers, shells and seafood (INE & SEMARNAP, 1999).
From colonial times, Mayans appear to have become mixed to some extent with people of Spanish decent. In Ria Lagartos, the Spanish influence may have been specifically enhanced by immigration from the Canary Islands during the 19th century (SEMARNAT & CONANP, 2006).
The two local communities under study in Ria Celestun are the township of Celestun, where 90 per cent of the total population of Ria Celestun lives; and Isla Arena, which is home to the remaining 10 per cent. The three communities under investigation in the Ria Lagartos are San Felipe, Rio Lagartos (hereby referred to as ‘Rio’ as it is commonly known and to avoid confusion with the name of the reserve) and El Cuyo. In Ria
Lagartos, the population is distributed more evenly, San Felipe containing 28 per cent;
Rio (including the salt mining community called ‘Las Coloradas’) containing 46 per cent; and El Cuyo containing 26 per cent (INEGI, 2000). When information is presented at biosphere reserve level, data for Ria Lagartos is a combination of that collected separately from the townships of San Felipe, Rio and El Cuyo. With regard to Ria Celestun, information includes the combination of that collected from Celestun and Isla Arena, except when official information from Isla Arena is unavailable due to its population being below the norm for the generation of official statistical information;
this, is noted accordingly.
As shown in Figure 5.5, except for Isla Arena, all the coastal communities under study experienced significant population growth in the last three decades of the 20th century.
For example, Ria Celestun town increased 140 per cent from 2,520 to 6,065 inhabitants during the period 1980–2000 (INEGI, 1980, 1990, 2000), and the communities in Ria Lagartos increased on average by 56 per cent over the same period, from 4,226 to 6,620 inhabitants (INEGI, 1980, 1990, 2000).
Figure 5.5 Changes in the populations of the communities under study for the years 1980, 1990 and 2000.
Source: INEGI, 1980, 1990, 2000.
Decades of high levels of population growth in Celestun resulting from the expansion of the fisheries industry have had significant consequences for local development. Figure 5.6 illustrates the poor living conditions in Celestun. This is evidenced by the fact that approximately 20 per cent of houses are built of discarded waste materials (INEGI, 2000). This is significantly higher than in Ria Lagartos where only three per cent of
houses are made of such materials (INEGI, 2000). Basic services are, “deficient but widespread,” in Celestun, with 93 per cent of households enjoying an electricity supply and 96 per cent drinking water (SEMARNAT, 2000b: 32). However, houses are very crowded, with 47 per cent having only one room for the multiple occupancy of an average of 4.4 people (INEGI, 2000).
Figure 5.6 Percentages of housing constructed from waste materials in Ria Celestun and Ria Lagartos respectively. Source: INEGI 1990, 2000.
Housing in Celestun is unplanned and in some areas of the town appears disorganised.
As a consequence of 60 per cent of houses being built on flood-prone land, hygiene is poor, with 41 per cent of families having no sanitary toilet and the resultant exposed faecal matter is a source of pollution (SEMARNAT, 2000b). Thus, the development of irregular settlements has resulted in an accumulation of waste that adversely affects the landscape and the water quality, and diseases such as cholera and gastrointestinal infections proliferate (Andrews, Migoya Von Bertrab, Rojas, Sastré Méndez et al., 1998).
All the communities under study are provided with health centres, but from 1995 to 2000, the child mortality rate increased in Celestun. In contrast, in Ria Lagartos, child mortality rates remained constant in the communities of Rio and El Cuyo, and actually decreased in the community of San Felipe (CINVESTAV, 2007).
The physical appearance of Ria Lagartos suggests that local communities here are not subject to the same degree of mismanagement as Celestun town. Whilst the
communities of Rio Lagartos and El Cuyo experience problems with waste management and water pollution, San Felipe stands at the opposite end of the aesthetic spectrum and the village is proud of its tidiness having received awards for the cleanest municipality in Yucatan in 2003 (Local government, 2007).
The education levels of all the communities under study are generally low with a slightly higher rate of illiteracy in Celestun. As Figure 5.7 shows, during the period between 1980 and 2000, an average of nine per cent of the population of Celestun could not read or write. This is higher than the average illiteracy level in Ria Lagartos for the same period of seven per cent of the population, but the difference between the two study areas has narrowed significantly since 1980 (INEGI, 1980, 1990, 2000).
Figure 5.7 Percentage of illiteracy in people older than 15 years.
Source: INEGI, 1980, 1990, 2000.
Higher levels of education in Ria Lagartos are illustrated by the health centre census of 1997, showing 53 per cent of the population of Ria Celestun could read and write, but only 24 per cent finished primary school, and only 2 per cent finished high school or other technical studies (SEMARNAT & CONANP, 2006). In Ria Lagartos, 58 per cent of the population over the age of 15 years could read and write, but only 14 per cent completed primary school, although 7.4 per cent completed secondary school (INEGI, 2000). An update from the 2010 Census shows illiteracy levels in the population of 15 years old and over at municipal level. This shows Celestun having the highest level of illiteracy of the municipalities, with 9.6 per cent Municipalities in Ria Lagartos show
6.9 per cent illiteracy in Rio and 6.0 per cent in San Felipe (INEGI 2010). Online official information (accessed for an update of information) is provided at municipal level only.
The dynamics of formal education being interrupted at a young age to engage in fishing activities has traditionally been a common occurrence in the coastal communities of Yucatan, where fish stocks were abundant and practices largely unregulated. However, as a result of the depletion of fish stock and the consequent restriction of the activity by regulation, this dynamic seems to be changing. Local communities now encourage their children to continue with their schooling in order to explore other livelihood possibilities (Fraga, Echeverría, Ricci, Herrera et al., 2000).
Alongside poor living conditions, negative social indicators such as high levels of alcoholism and drug abuse have been documented in the local communities. Such indicators are highest in Celestun and lowest for San Felipe in Ria Lagartos (Fraga, Echeverría, Ricci, Herrera et al., 2000). In Celestun, the main cause of death is related to alcoholism-induced illnesses and other hepatic problems (CINVESTAV, 2007).