THE 4 MOST IMPORTANT NATURAL RESOURCES OF QUINTANA ROO - GEOGRAPHY - 2025

The main natural resources of Quintana Roo are precious woods such as mahogany; common woods such as ebony and sapodilla; and agricultural crops such as beans, corn, and rice.

Quintana Roo is a Mexican state located in the Yucatan peninsula, in the southeast of the country. It is bathed by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

The main source of natural wealth in Quintana Roo is the production of precious woods

Quintana Roo is a reception area for tourists from all over the world, especially Cancun, the most populated city in the state and the tourist capital of the Caribbean. Tourism is the main source of income and the largest generator of jobs in the region.

This state has a population of less than one and a half million inhabitants. In demographic and geographic indicators, it is among the least populated and extensive states in Mexico.

Main natural resources of Quintana Roo

1- Precious woods

Quintana Roo leads the national production of precious woods. These are used for the manufacture of luxury furniture.

It is estimated that the southern state accumulates 40% of the national production of precious woods.

The beginning of logging in Quintana Roo dates from the end of the 19th century. However, it was in the mid-1980s when it reached its current importance, by allowing the exploitation of the ejidos located in the Mayan zone.

Among the main varieties of precious woods located in Quintana Roo are mahogany, red cedar and oak. The main market for high-quality timber exports is the United States.

2- The common woods

Quintana Roo's timber wealth is not limited to the highest quality. The region also produces and markets others of less exuberant quality.

Among them, ebony stands out, which is used to make furniture and / or decorative elements of great beauty and value in the market.

3- The sapodilla

Name by which the tree from which the resin is extracted for the manufacture of chewing gum is known. Quintana Roo is one of the corners of the world where this universal sweet is considered to originate.

Chicle production has always been very important to the rural communities of Quinta Roo.

Thus, these communities were constituted by migrants from other neighboring states who came to work in the fields.

Being such an important resource for the subsistence of these communities, it became an incentive for forest conservation.

4- Agricultural crops

The main agricultural crop in the region is corn. Beans are also cultivated - their cultivation increased by 273% in Quintana Roo since the 1970s -, soybeans, rice and some fruit trees, mainly for self-consumption.

Some of them are: orange, lemon, avocado, mango or pineapple. Quintana Roo's low agricultural production is due to the scarcity of available farmland.

In this way, it is not a basic or fundamental activity in the economic development of the region.

References

1. Quintana Roo on Nations Encyclopedia at nationsencyclopedia.com/mexico/Michoac-n-Zacatecas/Quintana-Roo
2. "Wood anatomy and uses of eight tropical trees from Quintana Roo, Mexico". S. Rebollar & Alejandra Quintanar Isaías. (1998).
3. New business concept of organic farming in Quintana Roo, published by Riviera Maya News. (July 21, 2015).
4. Chewing gum. The fortunes of taste ». Michael Redclift. Routledge, New York & London. (2004).
5. «Deforestation Processes in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The Role of Land Use and Community Forestry ». Edward A. Ellis, José Arturo Romero Montero, Irving Uriel Hernández Gómez. (April, 2017).