Deforestation rates in San Luis Potosí, México (1993-2007)

It is important to know the deforestation rates for the design of regional programs under the particular approach of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiative. In order to evaluate the current deforestation rate in San Luis Potosi state, a spatial intersection analysis of land use and land cover maps (series II, 1993; series IV, 2007) was done. This study focused on four biogeographical zones: 1. Altiplano, 2. Centro, 3. Media and 4. Huasteca. The annual deforestation rates were calculated for each biogeographical zone: Altiplano (0.11 %), Media (0.16 %), Centro (-0.12 %, recovering) and Huasteca (0.51 %). A change from shrubland to grassland was more evident in arid and semiarid zones whereas rainforest was the most affected vegetation in the Huasteca zone. The annual deforestation rates obtained were lower than the national average value (0.43 %, from 1976 to 2000), except for the Huasteca zone. These results provide valuable information when focusing initiatives oriented to stop deforestation process in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.