The dynamics of agricultural intensification and resource conservation in the buffer zone of the maya biosphere reserve, Peten, Guatemala

Efforts to stimulate move intensive land use must be based on a solid under standing of current farmer strategies and the factors that drive them. This paper discusses the influences on agricultural strategy among farmers in P eten, Guatemala, and more specifically, their adoption of move intensive pr actices Existing theoretical frameworks pertaining to agricultural intensif ication are based on a limited number of explanatory variables and thus pro vide an incomplete understanding of farmer strategy and of how and why it v aries among farmers and communities. A more useful analytical approach is t o consider the wide range of factors at both the regional/community scale a nd the farm/household scale that influence farmers' need, desire, and abili ty to alter their production strategies An analysis based on this approach indicates that conservation and development organizations in Peten should p lace greater emphasis on the rural economy and on fostering the conditions that would stimulate more intensive, sustainable land use.