Overall Analysis and Options Most of the problems with Mexican forest laws are not evident from the laws as written. They are apparent from the laws as implemented. Good forest legal systems need to be built on a base of scientific knowledge of the forest. As is true in all countries, we only dimly grasp the complex workings of the forest and its connections to forest-dependent communities. Mexico needs the continued help of the international community and its own universities, scientists, and researchers to build up that knowledge base.
Many needs compete for limited resources in Mexico.
Some laws are unenforceable because basic implementation investments, such as surveying property lines, have never been made. Mexico needs to take a hard look at its budget for forest protection to consider whether it deserves additional resources and how it can best allocate its resources for implementation and enforcement of laws. The failure to respect the rule of law and the resulting official corruption is a general problem with which Mexico is bravely beginning to come to terms. In the forest arena, Mexico needs to consider options like increasing the pay of forestry enforcement officials to make them less vulnerable to bribery. Another way to promote the rule of law is to build support for the law among those it most closely affects.