1. Land use changes and transnational migration in western Mexico PhD researcher: Silvia Hostettler (EPFL/ENAC/INTER/LaSUR) PhD supervisors: Dr. Jean-Claude Bolay (EPFL) Prof. Hans Hurni (University of Berne)

2. Conceptual framework
Research
Provisional results
Conclusion

3. 1) Conceptual framework: Human-nature interaction model
Model taken from « A review and assessment of land-use change models:
Dynamics of space, time and human choice » CIPEC, 2002.

4. 2) Research
Objective
This research project aims to find out (1) which land use changes have taken place in the municipality of Autlán and (2) what are the underlying driving forces.
Questions
1) What are the land use changes in one municipality in the watershed over the last 20 years?
2) What are the main driving forces of these land use changes?
3) What is the influence of remittances on land use changes?
4) How are the municipalities implementing ecological land use planning?
Methodology
1) Qualitative (semi-structured interviews) with key persons and quantitative (survey in 3 case study areas)
2) Land use/land cover classification based on satellite image analysis (IDRISI and ArcView 3.2)
3) Review of secondary literature and maps.

5. Study area: Municipality of Autlán, western Mexico (927km2)
Legend: Composite RGB of Landsat bands 432 of the year In this picture red areas show irrigated agricultural fields and forest.
Circles represent case study areas; yellow circles indicate communities (El Jalocote, Chiquihuitlán, Mezquitán, El Volantín, Chacalito) and green circles private landowners (Rancho Noria, Rancho La Lima, Rancho Tecomatlán).

6. 3. ) Provisional results - PhD research 3
3.) Provisional results - PhD research 3.1 What are the land use changes in one municipality in the watershed over the last 20 years? Rural context: - Land use change from rainfed maize to cultivation of agave azul for the production of tequila. - Land cover change from forest to agriculture and pasture. Urban and peri-urban context: - Urban land cover has increased 12 times between 1966 and  Next step: Quantification of changes based on classified satellite images.

7. 3) Provisional results – PhD research 3
3) Provisional results – PhD research 3.2 What are the main driving forces of these land use changes? - Economic - Environmental - Political and institutional - Demography 3.3 What is the influence of remittances on land use changes? - Remittances are predominantly used for subsistence and improving housing % of all households have, or had, a family member in migration in the USA - On average, remittances represent 46% of total household income.
« Tienen dinero porque tienen familia en el Norte »
(Ejidataria, 81 years old, interview in El Jalocote, 22 March 2004)
3.4 How are the municipalities implementing ecological land use planning? It is not being implemented. Corruption, an ineffective legal frameworkand insufficient financial and human resources hinder the implementation of effective land use policies.

8. 3) Provisional results
At the level of Key Issue 4: What are the effects of urban-rural interactions on natural resource management?
Urban-rural interactions: flows of people, goods/services, finances and information
 Different interactions have different effects on natural resource management.
With regard to the research questions at the different levels, I will take up the questions where I feel I have something to contribute. I address 3 questions: 1 at the level of the research project, 1 at the level of the key issue 4 and of course the key question of IP5: Social practices and the transformation of space.
The other questions that are NOT addressed in the framework of my PhD research are:
At the level of the research project:
What are the perceptions, interests and strategies of relevant actors?
At the level of key issue 4:
What are the social practices that (rural and urban) actors implement with regard to natural resource management?
How do these social practices relate to public policies and sustainable regional development initiatives?
What is the potential of discussion platforms for reaching concensus among the stakeholders concerning sustainable regional development priorities?

9. 3) Provisional results At the level of the resesarch project: What are the concrete effects of rural and urban development policies on natural resource management? - Rural development: Subsidies can drive deforestation and expansion of agave cultivation (e.g. PROCAMPO) - Urban context: The failure to implement urban development plans leads to urban encroachment on agricultural land and on protected areas.

10. 3) Provisional results At the level of the research project: What are the core problems [related to urbanisation and natural resource management]? Political & institutional 4. Inadequate legal framework and regulations, lack of enforcement and means. (>50%) 7. Unequal distribution of power and resources, corruption. (>50%) Socio-cultural & economic 8. Social, cultural and ethnic tensions and insecurity. (>50%) 9. Prevalence of crime, violence and violent conflicts. (>80%) 10. Unused or restricted innovative capacities and knowledge (>80%) 11. Great socio-economic and gender disparaties. (>50%) 12. Incompatible and fragile economic systems with limited market and employment opportunities. (>50%) Population & livelihood 15. Poverty and livelihood insecurity. (>80%) 17. Population pressure and multidimensional migration. (>50%) Infrastructure and land use 19. Poor water supply and environmental sanitation. (>50%) Bio-physical & ecological 25. Inadequate availability of freshwater. (>50%) 26. Degradatation of land, soil and vegetation cover. (>50%) 27. Degradation of forests and other natural habitats.(>80%) 28. Pollution and overuse of renewable and non-renewable natural resources. (>50%) 29. Loss of biological and agrobiological diversity. (>50%) 30. Risks of natural and human induced hazards and climate change. (>80%)
The final list of core problems from SPSP project (30 in total) were weighed in the framework of comparative project on migration with IP6 and IP7. The importance of the core problems was evaluated with an identical questionnaire applied in Mexico (Jalisco), India (Kerala) and Kyrgyzstan (Batken).
Each problem could be rated as a) problem doesn’t exist, b) it is a small problem, c) it is a big problem, d) no answer/doesn’t understand question.
In this overview only the core problems that were considered a « big problem » by more than 50% of all interviewed people are listed. The problems in bold are considered a « big problem » by more than 80% of the people. The core problems rated as a «big problem by less than 50% of the people are not listed in this slide.
The main problems are situated in the bio-physical and socio-cultural realm. One reason is certainly that people are more directly concerned by problems linked to their livelihoods and since many are farmers, important problems for them are linked to the bio-physical realm.

11. 3) Provisional results At the level of IP5: Social practices and the transformation of space. According to the current definition as used by IP5, the practise of sending remittances can be considered a social practice. Remittances can transform space into « remittances landscapes ». The following definition has been developed: « An emergent landscape that is driven by the investment of remittances » In a rural context: - From an agricultural to a periurban landscape - From a forested to a pastoral landscape In an urban, peri-urban context: - Construction of houses driving urban expansion. - Migrants opening businesses transforming residential into commercial areas.
Social practices and the transformation of space:
The practise of sending remittances can be considered a social practice. Remittances can transform space and result in remittances landscapes which are defined as: «An emergent landscape that is driven by the investment of remittances » (E.g. From agricultural to a peri-urban landscape or from a forested to a pastoral landscape.) 
Current definition of „social practices“ not entirely useful:
Social practices are the smallest eaningful social activities based on collective attitudes (like mutual belief or joint institution). They are maintained (upheld, renewed, and changed) on the basis of their success. IP5, Social practices, NCCR N-S, dialogue paper, p. 12)

12. 4) Conclusions 1. The concept of social practices needs a clearer definition. 2. Land use/cover changes seem to be driven more by the dynamics at play between the different driving forces than by one specific driving force. 3. International migration is an important livelihood strategy in the region. Roughly 50% of all families depend on remittances for subsistence Remittances can transform space into « remittances landscapes ». A remittances landscape is defined as « An emergent landscape that is driven by the investment of remittances ».
Definition of social practices needs to be improved. As it is, almost everything can be considered a social practise. A further point to be clarified: social practices transform not only urban space but also rural areas, transformation of space from a sociological or a geographical point of view (land use/cover perspective). Comparison of the indicators used by researchers from different disciplines to evaluate transformation could be interesting.
Migration as a mitigation strategy. We investigated whether migration (through remittances) mitigated the core problems that were driving migration. Result: Remittances are an important source of income, mitigates poverty but not long-term structural poverty and none of the other core problems driving migration.
3. With regard to the influence of migration on land use change, a review of the different transformations observed have led to the following definition: « An emergent landscape that is driven by the investment of remittances ». (Includes for instance emergence of a peri-urban landscape due to the house construction by migrant families or the emergence of a pastoral landscape due to the investment in cattle. This definition does only partly include the restauration of infrastructure and landscape due to remittances after natural disasters (e.g. hurricanes).