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GUATEMALA: Relentless
Devastation of Mangroves
By
Danilo Valladares*
GUATEMALA CITY (Tierramérica) - "This place
used to be beautiful. It was truly a mangrove
forest. When the shrimp farmers arrived, we lost 60
percent of it because of the logging," said
Francisco Vásquez, manager of a hotel on the Pacific
coast, in the southeastern Guatemalan department of
Jutiapa.
The deforestation led to a build-up of sediment and
has had a visible effect on the wildlife, because
mangrove forests serve as breeding grounds for many
species of fish, mammals and migratory birds,
Vásquez told Tierramérica.
According to a study by the Savia School of
Ecological Thought, in the past 50 years this
country of 108,889 square kilometres lost two-thirds
of its original forested area and the biodiversity
that it held. The current rate of deforestation is
73,000 hectares per year.
The disappearance of forests has reduced the natural
ability to regulate climate and increased the risk
of landslides. Furthermore, entire ecosystems have
been lost, with their flora and fauna, as well as
the capacity to capture, filter and store water,
warns the study.
The case of the mangroves is one of the most
dramatic, according to ecologists. "Many mangrove
forests are destroyed by agribusiness activities
such as cotton farming, African palm plantations,
shrimp farms, and, more recently, the construction
of tourism complexes," Carlos Salvatierra, an expert
with the Savia School, told Tierramérica.
Mangrove forests, which grow in coastal zones of
tropical countries, "constitute one of the planet's
most productive ecosystems for the great quantity of
animals it houses - birds, mammals, molluscs,
crustaceans - which are important for the livelihood
of local communities," he added.
The tangled shape of the mangrove tree, or bush,
acts as a natural barrier that filters out
pollution, impedes salinisation of the soil,
prevents erosion and blocks strong winds.
Despite these natural benefits, and the threats
created by their disappearance, mangroves have been
decimated without much thought along the Guatemalan
coast.
Since 1950 the country has lost about 26,500
hectares of mangrove forests, which represent 70
percent of their total historic area, according to
an economic analysis of Guatemala's coastal marine
resources, conducted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC
Guatemala) in 2008.
According to the analysis, the loss has serious
implications, such as increased vulnerability to
natural phenomena like hurricanes Mitch (1998) and
Stan (2005), as well as a decline in food sources.
Guatemala's remaining 17,000 hectares of mangrove
forests are found mostly on its Pacific coast.
Central America overall has 488,231 hectares of
mangals, another term for mangrove forests or
swamps.
Three species of mangrove grow in Guatemala: black (Avicennia
germinans), white (Laguncularia racemosa) and red (Rhizophora
mangle). All are considered endangered species,
according to the National Council of Protected Areas
(CONAP).
Karen Aguilar, an environmentalist with the Fundaeco
organisation, believes that deforestation is
accelerating.
"The cultivation of the African palm, as well as
sugarcane (both intended for production of biofuels),
has led to the clearing of vast areas of forests"
around the country, she told Tierramérica.
African palm farming has now moved to the southern
coast of Guatemala, where it poses a serious threat
to the mangals, said Aguilar.
According to the National Institute of Statistics,
in 2003 there were 49 entities dedicated to growing
African palm, which covered 31,185 hectares. By
2007, the Agricultural Survey concluded that this
crop extended across 65,340 hectares - nearly
doubling in four years.
There are 14 sugar refineries, with sugarcane
cultivated on 216,000 hectares, an area
approximately the size of the department of
Guatemala City. One of the most serious problems
posed by this crop is the excessive use of water,
which affects both land and coastal ecosystems,
according to the Savia study.
Environmental groups are also sounding the alarm
about other ways of destroying the forest, such as
land seizures.
"The cases of the departments of Petén (in the
north) and Izabal (northeast), in the use of land
for illicit drug farms, and the illegal
appropriation of land in important nature preserves
are just a few examples," which go beyond
environmental concerns to questions of security and
governability, said Aguilar.
The Guatemalan government had considered increasing
the budgets of the Ministry of Environment and
Natural Resources and CONAP, but the plan was
scuttled due to a decline in tax revenues.
"We believe that the environment is on the
government's agenda and that there is support from
other areas. However, there are deeper issues, like
territorial security, that have not been touched,"
Aguilar concluded.
(*This story was originally published by Latin
American newspapers that are part of the
Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised
news service produced by IPS with the backing of the
United Nations Development Programme, United Nations
Environment Programme and the World Bank.) |
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