On today’s episode, a special report on the community-based conservation and agroforestry operations known as ejidos in Mexico.

I traveled to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in February to visit several ejidos in the states of Quintana Roo and Campeche. Ejidos are lands that are communally owned and operated as agroforestry operations, and they’ve proven to be effective at conserving forests while creating economic opportunities for the local rural communities who live and work on the land. But ejidos have also faced a threat to their own survival over the past decade, as younger generations, seeing no place for themselves in the fairly rigid structure of ejido governance, have moved out of the communities in large numbers. At the same time, the lack of inclusion of women in the official decision-making bodies, known as ejidatario assemblies, has also posed a challenge.

In order to find out how the ejidos of the Yucatan Peninsula are dealing with these problems, I spoke with a number of ejidatarios and youth from a variety of different ejidos, as well as Rainforest Alliance’s director general for Mexico and an academic who is an expert on Mexican community forestry.

Here are the lyrics to the “Rap de Calakmul” performed by 18-year-old Espiridion Gomez Jimenez, as well as a rough translation:

Calakmul es una zona de mayor diversidad
Flora y fauna y bellas ruinas que son de antigüedad
Habitadas por personas increíbles que tenían capacidad
De crear arquitectura de mayor diversidad
Calakmul es el hogar de muchos animales
Por montón y cantidad
Que se encuentran alejadas de la gente por causas sorprendentes
Como el gusto de matar
O el trafico ilegal y otros
Porque no tienen cerebro
Que son peor que el animal

Calakmul is an area of ​​greater diversity
Flora and fauna and beautiful ruins that are of antiquity
Inhabited by incredible people who had ability
To create architecture of greater diversity
Calakmul is home to many animals
By lot and quantity
Who keep away from people for surprising reasons
Such as the pleasure of killing
Or illegal traffic and others
Because they have no brain
They are worse than the animal

Here’s this episode’s top news:

• ‘Rainbow’ chameleon among three new species described from Madagascar
• Venezuela’s hungry hunt wildlife, zoo animals, as economic crisis grows
• African vultures under the gun as lead ammunition takes a toll
• How an island of mice is changing what we know about evolution
• Sifaka lemurs listed as “critically endangered” amid mysterious die-off
• Humans are leaving their mark on the world’s protected areas, study finds
• Scientists highlight 9 potentially new reef fish species off West Papua

If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, we ask that you please consider becoming a monthly sponsor via our Patreon page, at patreon.com/mongabay. Just a dollar per month will really help us offset the production costs and hosting fees, so if you’re a fan of our audio reports from nature’s frontline, please support the Mongabay Newscast at patreon.com/mongabay.

Mongabay now has a free news app for Android users available in the Google Play Store. The app makes it easy to read and share Mongabay news features on Android devices, just look for “Mongabay Environmental News” inside the Google Play store.

Apple customers can also now receive Mongabay stories on iPhones and iPads, via Apple News, just search for Mongabay after launching Apple News on your Apple device.

You can subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast on Android, Google Play, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, RSS, and via Spotify. Or listen to all our episodes via the Mongabay website here on the podcast homepage.

Follow Mike Gaworecki on Twitter: @mikeg2001

FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.