Uxpanapa

The Uxpanapa region of southwestern Veracruz originally contained one of the largest expanses of tropical forest in Mexico. Between the years of 1974 and 1976, over 85,000 hectares of forest were cleared as part of a plan to resettle Chinanteco communities that had been displaced by the construction of the Cerro de Oro dam in Oaxaca.  Unfortunately, the deforested areas proved unsuitable for mechanized agriculture and the land was subsequently abandoned. A lot of lessons here. [NOTE: I was visiting a student's research site in Uxpanapa when I happened on these guys. They had just stopped cutting to have their lunch].