Targeting conservation interventions. Understanding drivers of adoption of Wildlife Management Units (UMAs) in Mexico

This study focuses on the Wildlife Management Units in Mexico (UMAs), a market-based policy instrument with coupled objectives of biodiversity conservation and rural development through the sustainable use of wildlife. UMAs have been a success story in terms of number of registrations at the national level, but adoption is unevenly distributed across the rural community in Mexico. We use diffusion of innovation theory - the study of how, why and at what rate ideas and practices are adopted by individuals, groups, organizations, or countries [1]- as the theoretical framework to understand drivers of adoption of UMAs by the rural community in Mexico. We ask: what are the characteristics of UM…