Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

This research evaluates the practices and perceptions related to pesticide use, as well as its risks and health consequences, in the Colombian and Venezuelan páramos. The methodology is based on ethnographic work with 128 farmers and 42 external actors. The results show that: 1) farmers perceive and interpret the risks related to pesticide use, yet tend to deny them because they are the only alternative they have to continue their work, 2) there are numerous obstacles to changing practices, particularly those linked to the social-technical blockade and a weak presence of the state and non-governmental actors in both countries. Finally, this article suggests that the study of the perceptions of the risks related to pesticide use is useful for designing and implementing awareness strategies about this problem, adapted to the context of each community.

Peasant producers from rural territories compete for access to water resources with business, private, and government sectors. This dispute does not necessarily occur in a belligerent way, and it also manifests itself in water technology designs that reflect the organization, social participation, and management, but what is the social and environmental estimation of hydraulic technology inserted in rural production systems? The objective of this work is to analyze artificial aquatic ecosystems from a perspective that understands their social and environmental components to redefine their biological diversity and their socio-productive importance. With the support of interpretive and critical ethnography, social interactions that contribute to outlining criteria for the environmental, productive, and social estimation of rural hydraulics in the metropolitan area of ​​the state of Mexico were recorded and analyzed. The use of geographic information systems helps to represent the spatiality of these hydro-systems. The results indicate that peasant hydraulic technology, which belongs to spaces influenced by the commercial valuation of water, is an alternative for the continuity and security of food production. Peasant organizational capacity is the basis that contributes to improving the panorama of limited access to water.

In the present time, ecological restoration is considered a priority facing the global environmental crisis. Despite the importance of scientific narratives in the development of this field, the analysis of its constructions has been neglected. This text analyzes the notions of ecological restoration within the Mexican scientific community, from the perspective of social science and the analysis of discourses. The findings show that the notions are the result of the articulation of different ways of understanding nature, human societies, and the relationships between them, to build a role of ecology in society as guidance in the construction of such relationships; particularly, from the ways in which nature is valued and conceived. Strengthening the legitimacy and epistemic authority of ecology is part of this process.

Reseña del libro: Naturaleza y neoliberalismo en América Latina (México: Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias-UNAM, 570 pp).

The evaluation of the effectiveness of Protected Natural Areas represents a learning process aimed at reinforcing, emphasizing the design and fulfillment of the committed actions. This article addresses the case of the Arrecife Alacranes National Park (PNAA, by its initials in Spanish), which has had a Conservation and Management Program (PCyM, by its initials in Spanish) since 2007 that to date has not been evaluated or updated. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the PCyM on the management of fisheries in the PNAA and identify the main administrative problems. The evaluation covers 54 actions and ten years of operation of the PNAA, recovered from primary and secondary sources in four stages. The results indicate that 55.6 % of the analyzed actions are from the utilization policy. The critical points of the PNAA were identified, especially the lack of continuity of the proposed actions, which leads to the low effectiveness of the direct conservation policy. Likewise, the reduction of 11 % of the total budget is an obstacle that the administration must face in the management of fisheries. We conclude that efforts should be directed to the Management and Restoration Subprogram, both related to fishing activity and governance.

Urban areas generate more stormwater runoff than natural areas because waterproofing of surfaces reduces water infiltration. Given this, the trend of sustainable management of natural resources has created new approaches to urban design and planning that include the use of innovative drainage systems. Therefore, the present study aims to determine the viability for the creation and implementation of infiltration wells as a sustainable storm drainage system, at the household level, in urban areas of the municipality of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. The viability results indicate that people's interest in adopting and investing in infrastructure for storm drainage (66.67 %), its low cost (75 %), as well as the physical characteristics of the areas (83 % in stable areas) are relevant in the application of this type of project, without neglecting the environmental benefits (91.67 %). The technical characteristics (the soil, geotechnics, infiltration capacity) are a priority for the use of alternative storm drainage in houses in Xalapa. With this, the construction and use of alternative storm drainage systems are a measure applicable to houses in the urban area of ​​Xalapa, which can be a complement to the traditional drainage system.

From the formation of an extractive front of natural resources and the subsequent organization of agricultural colonies, the landscape transformations in the territory of Alto Paraná-Misiones were multiple. The present work analyzes the impact of the different migrations and particularly that of swiss to the organization of the missionary agricultural landscape. Regarding the time frame, we include the end of what was known as the extractive front and the years immediately after the regulation of the cultivation of yerba mate in 1935. Within this framework, two were the determinant moments for the arrival of swiss: during the 1920s, and between 1935 and 1939. The transition from exploitation to the implantation of wild herbs was a process of high importance, not only for the configuration of the missionary landscape but also for the consolidation of the settlements of European immigrants. The methodology used in this study is essentially qualitative, as it analyzes interviews and documents - letters, memories, and travel stories - produced by the protagonists of the migratory phenomenon or their descendants. By sections, the article seeks to analyze the traces left in the landscape by the Swiss immigrants who arrived in the National Territory of Misiones during the first half of the 20th century.

The designation of Natural Protected Areas is an important strategy within environmental policy for species conservation. Protected areas are subject to external and internal human actions that jeopardize their conservation. In the strategies for strengthening protected area policy and management, enforcing the law is essential. Inspectors authorized to apply the law help reduce illegal activities within protected areas. Continuously verifying compliance with the law is crucial to mitigating the negative impacts within these areas. The purpose of this document is to analyze the number of inspectors by size of protected area by state. Using databases from government institutions, it was found that there is an insufficiency of personnel to cover the largest size of protected areas. Moreover, in many cases, an increase in the size of protected areas is not accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number of inspectors. States with larger protected areas have the same number of or fewer inspectors to monitor compliance with the law than those with smaller ones.

Colta and Guamote are two cantons in the province of Chimborazo that together form one of the microcenters with the greatest biodiversity of high Andean tubers native to Ecuador. The study focused on establishing the socio-environmental factors that encourage in-situ conservation of this type of agrobiodiversity in the area. The techniques used to gather information were participatory workshops with producers and in-depth interviews with both producers and qualified informants. The results showed that in-situ conservation of native varieties depends on four factors: seed availability, the management provided throughout the crop cycle, uses within farms and the influence of market demand. The author concludes that producers prefer to conserve native varieties that are also required in the market in their plots and that interventions to promote the reintroduction of native varieties should include adaptation measures to climate change as a transversal factor.

Nowadays, both public and private organizations seek to implement strategies to achieve a healthy work environment, in order to increase the productivity, motivation, satisfaction, and quality of the work-life of their employees. One important aspect are the physical workspaces and environment within buildings, where air quality is an environmental problem in that it affects the health of their occupants. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the work environment and workspaces, and the symptoms and disorders of workers at a higher education facility in Mexico, which will make it possible to identify Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) in two buildings comprising several sections. Data were collected by an instrument that makes it possible to determine the perception of working conditions. The study population consists of two groups of employees at the educational institution: Full-time Professors (FTP) and Administrative Personnel (AP). Data analysis made it possible to identify problems with the noise level, indoor air quality (perception of unpleasant odors) and the thermal comfort of the ambient temperature, estimated using a logistic regression model. The most frequent eye symptoms affecting workers were also determined. Finally, four sections of a building were diagnosed with SEE characteristics and no significant differences were observed in relation to the length of operation of the buildings.