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Bats provide important ecosystem services for agriculture, such as pest control, a function that is particularly relevant for small-scale farmers. However, climate change is causing a decrease in bat populations. To assess the potential impacts of climate change on insectivorous bats and the implications on small-scale farming of indigenous communities in the Chiapas Highlands in southern Mexico we developed a three-step protocol: (1) projecting distribution shifts of insectivorous bats under climate change scenarios using non-dispersal and limited-full dispersal assumptions, (2) using official information to estimate the average economic value of conducting chemical pest control in crops at a state level, (3) surveying small-scale farmers to estimate the local economic value of pest control and determine how bats are perceived by small-scale farmers. Our models project shifts in bat species due to climate change. Given that new suitable climatic areas are also projected, if we assume a limited-full dispersal scenario, bats might not be as at risk by climate change, but shifting their distribution to more suitable habitats will probably affect the dynamic of the ecosystem service they provide. The official estimated value of chemical pest control is $15.15 USD/ha, while the estimated cost resulting from a hybrid survey with small-scale farmers was $47.53 USD/ha. The difference in cost could be related to an overuse of insecticides for pest control or an increase in price due to reduced accessibility. Sixty percent of surveyed farmers perceived a decline in bat populations, 68% were unaware of the benefits that bats provide to their crops, 51% believe that bats are mainly hematophagous, and 10% recognize that people harm or kill bats. A new approach including communicating small-scale farmers in their native languages the benefits that insectivorous bats provide along with a pest management strategy for the efficient use of insecticides needs to be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the experience of Indigenous peoples in the highlands of Guerrero, Mexico, as they organize to defend their territory against mining exploitation. This struggle evinces the different dimensions of territoriality that are mobilized in the process of anti-mining resistance, with particular emphasis on the collective structures of organization and government. My ethnographic findings and anthropological analysis problematize the concepts of common goods and dispossession, in which Indigenous territoriality and the processes territory defense against material and cultural dispossession are framed. El presente ensayo discute la experiencia de organización para la defensa del territorio de los pueblos indígenas en la Montaña de Guerrero frente a proyectos de explotación minera, exponiendo las distintas dimensiones de la territorialidad movilizadas en el proceso de resistencia antiminera, con particular énfasis en las estructuras colectivas de organización y gobierno. A partir de los hallazgos etnográficos y del análisis antropológico, se problematizan los conceptos de bienes comunes y despojo, en los cuales se enmarcan la territorialidad indígena y los procesos de defensa del territorio frente al despojo material y cultural. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present essay discusses organizational experience for the defence of the territory belonging to the indigenous people in the Montaña region of Guerrero, in the face of open pit mining exploitation projects. Different territorial dimensions are characterized and mobilized in the process of anti-mining resistance, with a particular emphasis in collective structures of representation and communal government; since the meanings granted to the territory are assumed as the foundation and the reason for the organizational process. Starting from the ethnographic findings and the anthropological analysis, the problem is defined by the concepts of commons and dispossession, in which are framed indigenous territoriality and the processes of defence of the territory, facing material and cultural dispossession. The conceptual contribution is considered of particular interest for the anthropological debate, of which the narrative utilizes repeatedly such concept, but without an adequate problem formulation from the perspective of our discipline. Drafting a parallel between the complex indigenous territoriality and the communal assets, characterized locally and emphasizing the centrality of the cultural and symbolic dimension, which makes of these communities' epistemological references in the political debate on this topic. In that sense, my conclusion indicates the need to think about commons and dispossession, in anthropological and political terms, in combination with the process of exclusion and construction of societal inequality (economic and of power) in order to account for the processes of erosion or cultural dispossession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the social, political and cultural aspects of mass media directed by and for indigenous peoples, with a focus on radio stations directed by indigenous communities in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, Mexico. The author discusses the challenges involved relating to the legalization of community radio stations in Mexico, and how it reflects the struggles of the Indians of the country in receiving legal recognition as an autonomous people. The author emphasizes that the mass media is a method of self-expression and cultural re-affirmation for the indigenous peoples, as well as a medium of resistance to cultural domination.

The Community Security and Justice System. Guerrero Community Police is an autonomous institution that maintains security and imparts justice, in a historically violent and discriminatory context for the indigenous people. Many researchers confirmed the legitimacy of this organisation; however, the State doesn't recognize the Community Police as an exercise of rights to autonomy. The academy could play an important role: demonstrating the efficiency of the System to guarantee access to justice for the natives of the region, and press for the setting of a legal framework that could permit the recognition of such autonomous practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]