Conservation of Ceratozamia in Mexico 951


FIG. 2 Modelled potential geographical distribution for Ceratozamia: (a) northern area, (b) southern area, (c) central area, (d) Ceratozamia species and subregions of cloud forest in Sierra Madre Oriental.


that started in 2006 and ceased to operate around 2014. In the case of Tachinola nursery, the conservation actions taken involved seed collections in the wild and transplanting of parental plants from wild populations, to protect them from potential destruction of their habitat. Both nurseries had three goals: (1) conservation of C. tenuis,(2) awareness- raising through social outreach and (3) contribution to the community’s economy. Economically, Tlachinola provided benefits in the form of cash payments to community mem- bers who participated in cultivation and plant care, and Dos Cerros provided cash payments to community members for helping to transplant Ceratozamia plants, and to nursery managers for carrying out organizational tasks. In both Tlachinola and Dos Cerros, local informants re-


ported difficulties in the commercialization of plants (few or no sales of cycads) as a cause for the decline of the nurseries. Other reasons included low prices of plants sold, and exces- sive investment of time in relation to perceived benefits, which is in part because of the slow growth of the spe- cies. Overall, attitudes of local people towards Ceratozamia conservation through nurseries were negative. In response


to our questions about future development and further outcomes of nursery management, most community infor- mants recognized the failure of these initiatives. We found three additional problems: (1) organizational difficulties caused by lack of agreements between technical researchers and members of the community regarding the sale of plants, (2) lack of direct involvement of the communities in the management and operation of nurseries, and (3) absence of a marketing strategy to commercialize the cycad plants grown in nurseries. Several conflicts within and outside the community affected the work. For example, information on the progress of plant sales was not shared with all members of the community, and restrictions on the use of natural resources were imposed by authorities (use of the species is prohibited, except as ornaments on Catholic altars, and the use of seeds for food). Our interviews showed that community members and


the conservation researchers promoting and implementing conservation through nurseries differed in their concep- tual framing of Ceratozamia conservation. Local people per- ceived conservation as protection of the natural resources


Oryx, 2021, 55(6), 947–956 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605320000204


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