From coping to adaptation to economic and institutional change -Trajectories of change in land-use management and socialorganization in a Biosphere Reserve community, Mexico

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Smallholder farming communities are increasingly affected by local impacts of international marketdynamics, and (inter)governmental economic and nature conservation policies to which they respondthrough coping or adaptation. Although the attributes that underpin the capacity to adapt are widelyagreed upon in literature, empirical evidence on how rural communities can develop adaptations arestill scarce. Here, we provide such evidence based on a comprehensive driver-response reconstructionof a community in the buffer-zone of a Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. We found that coping(between 1990 and 2000) was gradually replaced by adaptations (1995-2010) based on: (i) diversi-fication of land-use, (ii) improved social organization, (iii) improved communal decision-making, and(iv) more sustainable forms of land management. The diversification of local farming systems throughinclusion of organic forest-based palm and coffee cultivation and the establishment of associated orga-nizations, formed the basis of these changes. These adaptations were mainly supported by improvedsocial, institutional and political capital. Communal forest resources, long-term support of an NGO anda highly motivated population, were essential circumstances that allowed these trajectories to develop.However, current unequal land and power distribution could undermine and debilitate adaptive capac-ity. Communities and supportive organizations need to be aware and capable to adjust continuously toprevent today's adaptation strategies from becoming tomorrow's coping responses. eng

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