ENVIRONMENT-NICARAGUA:
Indigenous Groups Sound
Forest Fire Alarm
By José Adán Silva
MANAGUA, (IPS) -
Indigenous community
leaders have sent a
letter to the Nicaraguan
authorities requesting
protection against the
risk of a potentially
huge forest fire that
would endanger about
60,000 families.
"The communities are
afraid, but they are
working hard to prevent
a catastrophe. They know
that with so many trees
on the ground, a fire
would mean the end of
their habitat forever,"
said Brooklin Rivera, a
congressman for the
indigenous Yatama party.
In September 2007,
hurricane Felix swept
through more than one
million hectares of
forest, uprooting trees
in its wake, and now the
fire risk is threatening
12 indigenous
communities in Puerto
Cabezas, a municipality
on the Caribbean coast
of Nicaragua, 445
kilometres northwest of
Managua.
Rivera pointed out that
the indigenous people
burn limited areas of
woodland every year to
prepare the soil for
cultivation.
"Small fires would break
out, that were easily
controlled. But we are
insisting, by means of
local radio broadcasts,
and by direct appeals
from religious and
community leaders and
teachers, that no one
should burn their fields
this year, because the
forest could disappear
in the blink of an eye,"
Rivera told IPS.
Hurricane Felix
devastated a swathe of
jungle 75 kilometres
wide and over 100
kilometres long in the
North Atlantic
Autonomous Region (R.A.A.N.)
of Nicaragua, according
to studies by the
National Forestry
Institute (INAFOR).
According to Rivera, the
government is trying to
prevent a conflagration
by organising and
training community
fire-fighting brigades.
These are being trained
by member institutions
of the National System
for the Prevention,
Mitigation and Response
to Disasters (SINAPRED).
A major problem faced by
the communities is that
the fallen trees are not
being put to use quickly
enough.
"There’s enough timber
to rebuild all the
destroyed churches,
schools and houses three
times over, but we
haven’t the capacity at
the moment to saw up all
the trees," Rivera said.
Thirty industrial
sawmills are needed, but
only five are up and
running, he added.
According to statistics
from the office of the
president, hurricane
Felix destroyed 20,394
homes, 57 churches, 102
schools and 43 health
centres, as well as 1.3
million hectares of
forest, including part
of the Bosawas Biosphere
Reserve.
Colonel Mario
Perezcassar, head of the
Nicaraguan army’s civil
defence body, expressed
concern at the
vulnerability of over
60,000 families in the
disaster area, which is
peopled mainly by
Miskito, Mayagna and
other indigenous groups.
There are 139
communities within the
high-risk zone, he said.
"We are talking about
highly combustible fuel.
Over 15 million cubic
metres of wood are
drying or rotting,
including conifers,
which are resinous and
highly inflammable," he
said.
A shift in the weather
has been a boon in the
danger area. "Thank God,
it has been raining and
that has lowered
temperatures. But April
will be a critical
month, because the rainy
season will be over, and
that’s when the fire
risk will be at its
height," Perezcassar
said.
"We have trained 200
soldiers to act as
forest firemen, and
deployed them in the
danger zone on a
permanent basis," he
said. Ground patrols,
reconnaissance flights
and satellite monitoring
are also being carried
out to detect outbreaks
of fire promptly.
But scientist Jaime
Incer, winner of the
2006 National Geographic
Society/Buffett Award
for Leadership in
Conservation in Latin
America, said that these
measures were still
inadequate.
"An iron-fisted approach
is needed, along with an
urgent awareness-raising
campaign and a large,
permanent presence to
prevent campesinos
(small farmers) from
burning the land in this
area," he told IPS.
Incer stated that the
authorities were
underestimating the
danger. A fire in this
area would not only
affect Nicaragua, but
also the whole of
Central America, because
one of the last natural
"lungs" of the region
would be lost.
"This area is close to
the Bosawas Biosphere
Reserve and World
Heritage Site,
designated by the United
Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO).
One fire now could
destroy thousands of
years of natural
evolution," the
scientist said.
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