Mesquite management in the Mezquital Valley: A sustainability assessment based on the view point of the Hñähñú indigenous community

The indigenous community of El Alberto (Ixmiquilpan, Mexico), in the Mezquital Valley, has applied numerous uses of the mesquite (Prosopis laevigata) resources in their daily life for decades. Our objective was to understand the relationship between the rural community and this leguminous tree, to determine how sustainable their management is. For this purpose, we applied the Framework for the Evaluation of Management Systems using Indicators (MESMIS, Spanish acronym). Twenty-one indicators were identified, and a qualitative index was established to assign a sustainability value. The results identified fuelwood, fertility, forage and shade as the principal uses of mesquite nowadays. The local indigenous community does not promote the propagation of this leguminous tree but rather rely on its natural regeneration. However, the rate at which they cut down and exploit mesquite is higher than the natural regeneration rate, reflecting a low level of sustainable management. Strong equity was registered. First, there is a passive process associated with the construction of irrigation channels for agriculture, which resulted in the deforestation of the mesquite. Second, there is evidence of an active process where members of the community decide to migrate abandoning their indigenous worldview, which, consequently, has impacted negatively on the mesquite resource. Change processes caused a shift in the community’s worldview and led to cultural erosion. In conclusion, changes must be made to the community’s current social ecological system to achieve sustainable management, such as building a strong feeling of community identity, evolution of the community’s uses, customs, quality and lifestyle, and their collaboration with the scientific community.