Linking social-ecological knowledge with rural communities in Mexico: lessons and challenges toward sustainability

For decades, ecologists have stressed the need to establish and strengthen the exchange of knowledge between scientists and different stakeholders in order to construct better management practices that mitigate or provide solutions to environmental problems. Using a framework that links knowledge generation with social appropriation processes, we present an 18 yr' experience of social-ecological research and outreach activities carried out in a place where scientists have generated a great amount of knowledge: the Chamela Biological Research Station. This site was created in 1971 as a place for research, teaching, and to conserve tropical dry forests in Mexico, and it has played a relevant role in the advancement of tropical science as well as in undergraduate and graduate education. For many years, researchers and students from Mexico and many other countries have used the facility that is part of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Here, we measured the extent to which social-ecological knowledge responds to information needs of rural people and found that very little of it has been shared with the local inhabitants. Local needs regarding pasture and forest management are covered by local people's own knowledge. In order to help bridging the gap between social-ecological knowledge and rural inhabitants, we describe and evaluate ongoing communication and educational projects. We propose a model that shows how knowledge generation, exchange, and use processes can be linked to facilitate the work of scientists and their institutions. Our aim is that the experience contributes to promote and strengthen linkage processes between scientists and rural people around the world in order to better transit toward sustainable social-ecological systems.