Ecological, Cultural, and Geographical Implications of Brahea dulcis (Kunth) Mart. Insights for Sustainable Management in Mexico

Abstract

Palm plants provide important benefits for rural communities around the world. Of the 95 native palm species in Mexico, Brahea dulcis (Soyate palm) has been tagged as an important resource for many Mesoamerican ethnical groups. Scientific and empirical knowledge concerning Soyate is thematically fragmented and disassociated, meaning that sound sustainable management is far from established. Research of over 20 years has permitted us to document ecological, cultural and geographical outcomes of B. dulcis; thus, the present paper aims at compiling all knowledge on Soyate to eventually guide its long-term management. It was conducted in two stages: firstly, it comprised a thorough review of previous studies on the management of B. dulcis in Mexico; secondly, we integrated unpublished outcomes obtained from fieldwork, including participatory ground-truth validation and semi-structured interviews obtained from local ethnic groups. Five factors guided our compilation effort: (i) biological and ecological information, (ii) cultural importance, (iii) economic triggers, (iv) traditional management, and (v) ecological and ecogeographical implications of Soyate palm management. The present paper confirms that B. dulcis is an important cultural resource whose utilization can be traced back over 10,000 years. The leaves of Soyate are the most useful part of the palm and were profusely used in the past for thatching roofs and weaving domestic and agricultural objects. Currently, however, palm-leaf weaving is primarily oriented toward satisfying economic needs. We depicted ten management practices aimed at favoring palm availability. Most of these management practices have enhanced sustainable palm leaf harvesting; however, these practices harbor spatial trends that turn highly diverse habitats into Soyate-dominated spaces. To conclude, we propose a framework to describe sound and sustainable Soyate management in the light of the current long-term Soyate–human relationship. It is here acknowledged that Soyate has played and continues to play a critical socioeconomic and cultural role for many ethnical groups in Central Mexico. Nonetheless, emerging challenges concerning the sustainability of the whole socioecological system at a landscape level are yet to be overcome.