Spatial information and its importance in land management

Mexico is a country renowned for its physiographic richness, with a great diversity of habitats and topoforms, which have given rise to numerous ecosystems. This has fostered a wealth of biodiversity, resources and natural services, as well as a great diversity of peoples and cultures that have used these resources for their supply and livelihood. This is the result of the geological history of the Earth, in which processes, multiple natural resources and services, both renewable and non-renewable, were distributed throughout the Mexican territory, although unevenly.

The social and environmental management of the territory

Knowing the location and distribution of resources allows us to analyze their volume and characteristics. This makes it possible to develop models and scenarios of concentration or scarcity, and the design of public policy instruments that correspond to the characteristics and aptitudes of each town and corner of the territory. Thus, comprehensive management of the territory is necessarily associated with the geographical information that characterizes it in all its dimensions: physical, natural, social and administrative. In other words, the spatial or geographical characterization of physical elements such as vegetation cover, biodiversity, soils, minerals, fishing resources, fossil fuel reserves, groundwater and surface water, among many others, must be combined with the geographical information of the social and cultural environment, so that the management and administration of the territory through public policy instruments are also expressed with the same cartographic precision: skills, zoning, contracts, permits of utilization, concessions, allocations, discharges, emissions, planning and urban development programs, to name a few examples. The territory is a multidimensional continuum, only a transversal vision of the territory allows for its comprehensive management: an optimal, organized, gradual and sustainable use of the environment, with respect for economic, social, cultural and environmental human rights.

Land management based on georeferenced public policy instruments also involves the prevention, identification and remediation of social and environmental impacts derived from the implementation of all types of productive and social projects (for example agro-industry, extractive activities, energy generation, large infrastructure projects or urban development), identifying the effects on the environment in terms of both availability and quality (hoarding, destruction of sources, depletion, transfer of pollutants to water, soil and air, effects on local ways of life), as well as in terms of the functionality and resilience of surrounding regional and global ecosystems, in the short and long term.

Knowledge of the territory and public administration, expressed in their spatial or geographical dimension, is also essential for the prevention of natural risks, in responding to emergencies and in avoiding humanitarian crises, so technological tools are used to obtain geographical information in all phases of risk management. This is the case of national and local risk atlases, which compile an analysis of scenarios in the face of a possible disturbing phenomenon, as well as the vulnerability and degree of exposure of the communities that could be affected. In this way, you not only have a map, but also a system for analyzing information that allows a more accurate view of risks and how to act in dangerous situations.

Public utility of geographical data

These are some of the aspects that illustrate the importance of recording, monitoring, analyzing and visualizing the configuration of the territory. Access to georeferenced information about the territory is a fundamental part of the exercise of the human right to a healthy environment, since based on it, decisions are made that impact the environment. By having these data available, citizens can indicate the risk of deterioration, promote preventive approaches, identify irreparable damage and monitor the effectiveness in the implementation of the corresponding instruments that, if not implemented, violate the balance and conservation of the environment. For its part, the availability of this information allows the public administration to plan the territory, strengthens citizen participation and awareness, encourages the construction of public policies with community perspectives, increases the number of successful cases (in social and environmental terms) of nature conservation strategies, allows us to have a historical overview of the use of resources, as well as to maintain monitoring and vigilance in their dynamics.

Currently, only a minimal portion of the information mentioned here is proactively public, although in most cases this is incomplete, and is not cross-related to each other. So even in cases where this information is public, it is not possible to comprehensively monitor the territory, much less identify trends at the national level. Of course, information alone does not solve a complex problem like this, but it does lay the foundations for participation and justice, as well as for allowing communities to understand the conditions under which other projects have been implemented in other territories, while allowing them to know at the national or regional level the resources, practices, and impacts, and thus be in a better position to inform themselves, negotiate or defend themselves.