ENVIRONMENT:
Conservation Expands in
Latin America
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, (Tierramérica)
- In the past 10 years
the size of protected
areas in Latin America
has nearly doubled and
the participation of
local communities in
their preservation and
management has sharply
increased, says a
regional study provided
exclusively to
Tierramérica.
But fossil fuel
exploration and
exploitation,
agricultural expansion
and large-scale
infrastructure
development all threaten
conservation and bog
down countries' efforts
towards sustainable
development, according
to a preliminary draft
of the study, which was
based on national
reports.
A draft of the document
was presented at the
opening of the 2nd Latin
American Congress on
National Parks and Other
Protected Areas, running
Sept. 30 to Oct. 6 in
the mountain resort city
of Bariloche, in
southern Argentina.
The report, Diagnosis of
the Current Situation of
Protected Areas in Latin
America and the
Caribbean 2007, it is
considered the baseline
for understanding what
is happening today and
for defining future
policies.
Since the first Latin
American Congress on
National Parks, held in
1997 in the northern
Colombian city of Santa
Marta, there has been a
"substantial increase"
in total protected area,
from 160 million
hectares to more than
300 million hectares,
according to the draft.
At the 4th World Parks
Congress, in 1992, the
Latin American areas
reported as subject to
protection did not reach
120 million hectares.
"This involves more than
10 percent of the total
Neotropic area in its
continental portion,"
estimates the expert who
compiled the report,
Colombian anthropologist
Carlos Castaño Uribe,
adviser to the United
Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation
(FAO).
The Neotropic ecozone
extends from southern
Mexico, includes all of
Central America, the
Caribbean and South
America, encompassing
the world's largest
tropical forests.
Twelve countries report
increases in total
protected area. Brazil
and El Salvador doubled
it over the past decade.
And nearly all Latin
American countries
surpass the
international standard
of 10 percent of
national territory set
aside as protected area,
according to the report.
Venezuela is the leader
in proportion of its
territory considered
protected area: 66
percent. Guatemala and
Panama also stand out,
with more than 30
percent each.
"The expansion of
protected areas is one
of the best indicators
of the region's
contribution to global
conservation," the study
states.
Through its Latin
American Network of
Technical Cooperation in
National Parks,
Protected Areas and
Wildlife, known in
Spanish as Redparques,
FAO organised the
meeting, along with the
UN Development Programme
(UNDP) and the South
American office of the
World Conservation Union
(IUCN).
"The participation of
local communities in
coordination and
management of the
protected areas is
increasingly common in
nearly all countries of
Latin America," says the
study.
Some examples are the
Bolivian development
policies involving
indigenous peoples and
peasant farmers (campesinos),
the Venezuelan Tree
Mission, Colombia's
Parks with People
programme, and the
participation of rural
Mexican women in
conservation efforts.
Private nature reserves
have also taken on "a
very important role,"
according to the
document. The region's
countries report 2,296
privately-held protected
areas, covering nearly
three million hectares.
Chile is the leader in
this category, with 1.7
million hectares.
Biological corridors
that connect
conservation areas also
gained ground, but many
are still in the process
of being created. The
number of existing
corridors is far fewer
than the total proposed
at the local, regional
and international level.
"It is a strategy that
is generating great
expectations," according
to the author.
Also in nascent stages
are coastal parks. Such
protected areas exist in
Cuba, Chile, the
Dominican Republic and
Guatemala, but there are
similar projects on the
drawing board in other
countries, such as
Argentina.
Progress has been made
institutionally as well
since 1997. In eight
Latin American
countries, environment
ministries were created
or park administration
agencies were elevated
in the national
government hierarchy.
Most have specific laws
on protected areas, and
five include them in
their national
development plans.
Each has different
systems for regulating
and evaluating the
effectiveness of their
management plans.
But when it comes to
monitoring, lack of
resources is a problem,
especially in countries
with the largest areas
under preservation.
Although the study does
not delve into this
issue, it reports that,
on average, in Latin
America there is one
park ranger for
approximately every
30,000 hectares.
The disparity is
greatest in Brazil, with
one ranger per 111,000
hectares, and smallest
in El Salvador, with one
for every 350 hectares.
Despite the fact that
most countries say they
have increased their
budgets for such
purposes, there is a
great need for trained
personnel and for
equipment.
The report's compiler
Castaño Uribe maintains
that ecological tourism
programmes have been a
boon to the notable
increase in protected
areas over the past five
to 10 years, and he
believes that the
activity could become
"an important source of
sustainability and
financial independence"
for those areas.
Among the ongoing
threats to protected
areas are fossil fuel
exploration and
exploitation, mining,
farm and livestock
expansion, new
infrastructure,
deforestation and forest
fires, unsustainable
tourism and fishing,
overexploitation of
biodiversity and water,
poverty and population
increases, land
conflicts, and soil
erosion.
Several countries report
a lack of legislation,
institutional weakness,
and a need for more
trained personnel among
the challenges seeking
responses at the
conference in Bariloche.
Attending are more than
2,000 officials,
academics,
conservationists,
tourism operators, and
representatives of
indigenous, black,
fishing and campesino
communities.
(*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
and the United Nations
Environment Programme.)
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