This research was conducted in Lagunas de Montebello National Park (PNLM) in Chiapas, the sourthernmost state in Mexico. PNLM is a small (6,022 ha) protected area situated in south-central Chiapas, along the border with Guatemala in the ecological transition zone between the central highlands and the lowland tropical rainforests of this state. These forests experienced extensive and severe fires in 1998, due to drought conditions following the El Nino event of 1997. This study documented forest status and analyzed common property forest management institutions following severe fires that threatened forest conservation. This paper argues that forests managed by the common property regime are less intact than federal foersts, yet still moderately conserved, and many attributes necessary for common property management are functional, despite the recent fire crisis.

This case was part of a study to determine whether the institutional design principles of Ostrom were, in fact, related to "governance success" by Cox et al.  In that analysis, this case was classified as a success.