Abstract

In this paper, we present some strategies to improve community work that resulted from 24 small projects in 14 communities distributed through 7 States of Southeast Mexico. The proposal recovers views and opinions of local populations about technical and social factors that shape community action. We obtained people’s input through a series of participatory evaluation workshops carried out during 10 consecutive years by a non-governmental organization called "Programa de Acción Forestal Tropical A.C”. Findings allow us to propose four different strategies: 1) the reinforcement of self-sufficient development; 2) the enhancement and rescue of traditional and conventional capitals for social and rural reconstruction; 3) the application of the self-development process, and; 4) the use of local indicators as a strategy to follow up and monitor successful cases for resource management. These strategies involve a process of evaluation to have a more sensible assessment of local natural resource management and to improve the basis in social and participatory learning. They also provide some tools for building resilience and sustainability to develop self-sufficient projects.

Key words: Development, resource management, social capital, sustainability.