location: Guatemala

location: Guatemala

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Rehabilitation of Guatemalan fauna highlights opacity of illegal wildlife trade
- Endangered monkeys, some of them trafficked into the pet trade, were among the animals released into the wild in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve last November after rehabilitation at a nonprofit center.
- According to conservationists, there are major information gaps when it comes to the illegal wildlife trade in Guatemala, with government institutions doing very little to control it.
- In Latin America, increasing sophistication and specialization in the illegal wildlife trade are complicating detection and enforcement.

Palm oil giants push out smallholders in Guatemala; deforestation risks remain
- Thousands of traditional rural Guatemalan families are negatively impacted by the country’s fast-growing palm oil industry. Plantations now cover more than 180,000 hectares (about 450,000 acres), accounting for nearly 2.5% of the nation’s total arable land.
- Guatemala is now the third-largest palm oil producer after Malaysia and Indonesia (which produce 88% of the global supply) and is often seen as a more sustainable alternative. Today, more than 60% of Guatemala’s plantations are certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). High certification rates are largely attributed to plantations owned by a handful of producers, making it easier to certify large chunks of the industry, according to RSPO.
- Certification in Guatemala did not drastically improve deforestation rates, a recent study found. Between 2009 and 2019, certified plantations showed 9% forest loss compared with 25% on noncertified plantations.
- The palm oil industry’s expansion in Guatemala is causing a huge transfer of rural territory from traditional subsistence farming communities to a handful of palm oil mill owners. Local populations are cornered into working for these companies for low wages and often poor working conditions.

Guatemala braces for unprecedented year of deforestation in Maya reserve
- Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve is facing increased pressure from cattle ranching and farming at the same time that droughts threaten to spark an unprecedented wave of fires.
- A tumultuous government transition could also leave environmental agencies without enough funding and resources to keep up with the increased fires, which could further hinder efforts to tackle deforestation.
- The areas that have been traditionally badly hit by deforestation include Laguna del Tigre National Park and Sierra del Lacandón National Park, but there are signs that informal settlers are pushing into new parts of the reserve.

Restoring degraded forests may be key for climate, study says
- Scientists have found that focusing on restoring degraded forests, which cover more than 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) globally, can enhance forest carbon stocks more efficiently than replanting in deforested areas, with natural regrowth being a cost-effective method.
- In Central America’s “Five Great Forests,” there’s a goal to restore 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) by 2030. The study identified 9.8 million hectares (24.2 billion acres) as top restoration priorities, with 91% being degraded forests.
- Restoring just 5% of these priority zones was calculated to potentially sequester 113 million tons of CO2, equivalent to taking more than 20 million cars off the road for a year.
- The research emphasizes the importance of involving local communities in restoration planning and suggests that current forest management practices, like those in the timber industry, need to adapt for more sustainable outcomes.

Agroecology schools help communities restore degraded land in Guatemala
- The transformation of ancestral lands into intensive monoculture plantations has led to the destruction of Guatemala’s native forests and traditional practices, as well as loss of livelihoods and damage to local health and the environment.
- A network of more than 40 Indigenous and local communities and farmer associations are developing agroecology schools across the country to promote the recovery of ancestral practices, educate communities on agroecology and teach them how to build their own local economies.
- Based on the traditional “campesino a campesino” (from farmer to farmer) method, the organizations says it has improved the livelihoods of 33,000 families who use only organic farming techniques and collectively protect 74,000 hectares (182,858 acres) of forest across Guatemala.

A Guatemalan town fights to bar gold mining and save its waters
- Over the last 25 years, local community members have repeatedly rejected a gold mining project on the border of Guatemala and El Salvador for lack of environmental compliance.
- The government of Guatemala has approved the extension of the Cerro Blanco project, which, under new ownership is planned to switch from underground to open-pit mining.
- Worried that mining is contaminating waters and affecting biodiversity, the community of Asunción Mita held a referendum last September, voting to reject the project, but it hasn’t yet obtained recognition from the state.
- While mining is on hold, awaiting a final verdict on the referendum, natural ecosystems and watercourses are bouncing back with life.

Guatemala national park nearing ‘collapse’ amid land grabbing, deforestation
- Guatemala’s Sierra del Lacandón National Park has lost thousands of hectares of forest over the last two years, raising concerns among government officials and conservationists that the area may soon be lost to illegal actors.
- Some communities that were already living in the area when the park was established have declined to cooperate with the government’s plans to work together on sustainability, education and public health projects.
- Instead, the communities have expanded their presence with roads, cattle ranching and airstrips for drug planes, all of which have exacerbated deforestation rates.

Guatemala landfill feeds ‘trash islands’ hundreds of miles away in Honduras
- An estimated 20,000 metric tons of trash from the Guatemala City landfill flows down the Motagua River into the Caribbean each year, where it washes ashore on Honduran beaches and forces residents to form cleanup efforts.
- While cleanup efforts are a good temporary solution, the root cause of the problem is poor waste management infrastructure at the landfill, something that has proven extremely difficult to address due to complex social issues and the cost of relocating waste disposal sites to other parts of the country.
- The trash also comes from illegal dumping along the river.
- As a stopgap, some stakeholders are focused on catching the trash in the rivers before it can reach the ocean.

Bill threatens more oil extraction, roads in Guatemala’s protected forests
- A bill in Guatemala’s congress would renew a contract for the current oil and gas pipeline in Laguna del Tigre National Park and make it easier to contract future drilling.
- The region’s largest oil reserves pass from southern Mexico through the Petén department and into Belize, making Laguna del Tigre National Park an ideal focus of development, some environmentalists warn.
- Additional development could lead to the creation of roads, making it easier for illegal loggers, drug traffickers and land grabbers to move into the park, as happened when the original oil field was created in the 1980s.

Environmental ‘superministry’ bill raises alarm in Guatemala
- A controversial bill would merge Guatemala’s National Council of Protected Areas and five other institutions into the country’s environmental ministry.
- The bill, lawmakers argue, would address excessive bureaucracy and inefficiencies across Guatemala’s multiple environmental agencies.
- Environmental organizations are concerned the move would set back decades of progress and eliminate civil society involvement.
- Institutions that would be absorbed by the ministry have pointed out major legal gaps within the bill.

Guatemalans strongly reject mining project in local referendum
- Nearly 88% of participating residents voted against metallic mining in a municipal referendum in Asunción Mita, in southeastern Guatemala.
- Locals fear the Cerro Blanco gold mining project would pollute soil and water sources, affecting the health of residents and crops.
- There is also strong opposition in nearby El Salvador to the mine as it is located near a tributary of the Lempa River that provides water for millions of Salvadorans.
- Cerro Blanco owner Bluestone Resources, the Guatemalan Ministry of Energy and Mines and a local pro-mining group contest the legality of the referendum.

A look at violence and conflict over Indigenous lands in nine Latin American countries
- Indigenous people make up a third of the total number of environmental defenders killed across the globe, despite being a total of 4% of the world’s population, according to a report by Global Witness. The most critical situation is in Colombia, where 117 Indigenous people have been murdered between 2012 and 2020.
- Conflicts over extractive industries and territorial invasions are a major cause of violence against Indigenous communities. Between 2017 and 2021, there were 2,109 cases of communities affected by extractive industries and their associated activities in Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
- Mongabay Latam interviewed 12 Indigenous leaders from nine countries across Latin America and spoke to them about the threats they face and the murders occurring in the region.

Tale of two pandemics as mining thrived while communities faced restrictions
- The power imbalance between mining companies and communities in Latin America deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published May 24.
- The report details how the pandemic presented companies with a window of opportunity to continue or even ramp up their activities, while communities opposed to mining projects faced pandemic restrictions and violence.
- Indigenous Mapuche-Tehuelche community leaders from Argentina traveled to Guatemala in May to meet with Indigenous Xinka communities affected by the same mining company.

Indigenous community takes Guatemalan land rights fight to international court
- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is hearing the land rights case of the Maya Q’eqchi’ community Agua Caliente Lote 9 versus Guatemala on Feb. 9.
- The eventual ruling could be a landmark decision, establishing an international precedent on Indigenous collective rights over natural resources, such as nickel.
- The Fenix nickel mining license, suspended by court order, was reinstated last month following a controversial consultation process held during a period of Q’eqchi’ protests and crackdowns.

Across Latin America, palm oil violations abound — with little accountability
- Palm oil producers across four countries in Latin America are able to violate environmental safeguards with relative impunity, according to a recent investigation.
- A team of Mongabay Latam journalists, Agencia Ocote (Guatemala), Contracorriente (Honduras) and La Barra Espaciadora (Ecuador) made 70 requests for information to Colombian, Ecuadorian, Honduran and Guatemalan authorities about environmental sanction processes launched against oil palm producers between 2010 and 2020.
- Despite the difficulty of obtaining official information, the investigation revealed that the expansion of oil palm as a profitable industry that provides substantial employment in the region often wins out over complaints about the industry’s environmental problems by communities and NGOs

Death threats and friction with military force Guatemalan rangers to flee
- A special task force of park rangers has spent the last six years patrolling some of the hardest-to-reach parts of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in northern Guatemala.
- Known as the Genesis Group, the seven-member task force travels through the rainforest on ATVs combating drug traffickers, illegal loggers and poachers.
- Guatemala’s weak prosecution of environmental crimes has put the Genesis Group in danger because many repeat offenders target rangers and their families.
- After enduring years of threats, and following an altercation with the military, many members of the Genesis Group are applying for asylum abroad, leaving the future of the task force in question.

Unique Indigenous Maya food system blends cropping techniques in Guatemala
- Members of the Maya Ch’orti’ Indigenous communities in Guatemala practice a unique agroforestry system and an intercropping technique seen as one of the best methods in the world of maximizing the different intensities of sunlight and complementing soil fertility.
- The communities’ traditional food system also includes home patio gardens, living fences and communal forest areas to cultivate and gather local plant species used in traditional medicine, woven handicrafts and edible food dye production.
- The resilient food system is increasingly affected by climate change, out-migration, extractive industries and COVID-19 economic impacts driving up prices of household goods that families need to purchase.
- This article is one of an eight-part series showcasing Indigenous food systems covered in the most comprehensive FAO report on the topic to date.

Indigenous mine opponents targeted in raids during state of siege in Guatemala
- In the midst of a long conflict and recent protest over a nickel mine in El Estor, in eastern Guatemala, police have carried out more than 40 raids and 60 arrests, and the government has declared a 30-day state of emergency.
- Indigenous Mayan opponents to the mine say they were never properly consulted about the mine and its impacts on their lands, livelihoods and lake, and protested on the town’s main road, refusing passage to mining vehicles.
- Four police were shot during the police crackdown on protests by what the government blames as armed protestors, although mine opponents say the assailants were not involved in the protest.
- There are concerns mining operations will pose environmental damages to Guatemala’s largest lake, home to diverse fish, bird, reptile and mammal species, including the endangered Guatemalan black howler monkey (Alouatta pigra).

Guatemala tightens cattle ranching rules, but can they stop deforestation?
- Guatemala wants to continue to export cattle to Mexico but needs to regulate the industry to prevent the deforestation of the Mayan Biosphere Reserve and other protected forests.
- The government is constructing new cattle pen facilities on the border that could convince more ranchers to participate in a legal traceability system.
- However, even if the traceability system improves, deforestation caused by drug traffickers and other criminal actors will likely persist.

Nitrogen: The environmental crisis you haven’t heard of yet
- The creation of synthetic fertilizers in the early 20th century was a turning point in human history, enabling an increase in crop yields and causing a population boom.
- But the overuse of nitrogen and phosphorus from those fertilizers is causing an environmental crisis, as algae blooms and oceanic “dead zones” grow in scale and frequency.
- Of the nine “planetary boundaries” that scientists say we must not cross in order to sustain human life, the boundary associated with nitrogen and phosphorus waste has been far surpassed, putting Earth’s operating system at risk.
- Global policymakers are beginning to slowly recognize the scale of the problem, as climate change threatens to make it worse. Absent major reforms to agribusiness practices, scientists are aiming to convince the world to reduce waste.

The Brooklyn Bridge needs a makeover. Is rainforest lumber still in style?
- Last year, a proposal to replace the Brooklyn Bridge’s walkway with wooden planks sourced from a Guatemalan rainforest won a City Council-sponsored competition.
- The planks would come from Uaxactun, a community-managed forest concession in the remote northeastern jungles of Petén.
- Set up after Guatemala’s civil war, community concessions in Petén have achieved remarkably low rates of deforestation and have a high prevalence of wildlife.
- Some environmentalists in New York say the proposal is misguided, and that creating any demand for tropical hardwood is a mistake no matter where it’s sourced from.

BlackRock must commit to Indigenous rights — not just climate change (commentary)
- BlackRock is an investment management firm reportedly with $8 trillion in assets. It is also well documented for its financing of large-scale mining, fossil fuel production and agribusiness projects across Latin America doing harm to Indigenous communities in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Brazil and elsewhere.
- The company has recently become outspoken about its position to vigorously combat climate change. But even though the United Nations recognizes Indigenous peoples as the best stewards of the environment, guardians of their lands and defenders against climate change, BlackRock remains virtually silent on Indigenous issues.
- If the company’s climate change commitment is to be taken seriously by the world, then BlackRock needs to step up now and adopt an explicit “Forest and Indigenous Rights Policy.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Electronic ears listen to poachers in a key Central American jaguar habitat
- The international NGO Panthera has been using acoustical monitoring systems to support their anti-poaching patrols in Guatemala and Honduras since 2017.
- The acoustical recorders can pick up gunshots, conversations and wildlife sounds, and help rangers plan their patrols to be more effective in combating illegal activities.
- Panthera is particularly concerned about protecting the jaguar, which is threatened by poaching, wildlife trafficking and habitat loss in this region.

Cat fight: Jaguar ambushes ocelot in rare camera trap footage
- Camera trap footage revealed a jaguar killing an ocelot at a waterhole in the Maya Biosphere Reserve of northern Guatemala.
- While this kind of killing event is considered rare, it can occur when two predator species are competing with each other over resources such as water.
- Prolonged drought, compounded by climate change, may have influenced this event by making water scarcer than usual, according to the researchers who documented the incident.
- However, other experts say that climate change wouldn’t have necessarily influenced this behavior since ocelots and jaguars have lived together for a long time.

Video: Captive-reared scarlet macaws get a second chance at life in the wild
- Newly shared video shows the release of 26 young scarlet macaws (Ara macao) into the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala.
- These birds are part of an ongoing effort by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Guatemala’s National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP) to increase scarlet macaw populations in the reserve, where an estimated 300 individuals remain in the wild.
- The 26 birds released by WCS and CONAP were “low weight” chicks, or third or fourth laid eggs collected from nests in the wild and raised in the protection of the lab. Typically, these smaller chicks and late eggs would not survive in the wild.
- For these young birds, the team hopes to learn if they can survive and join the wild population on its migration to Mexico; a better understanding of their habits and habitats could help to target conservation efforts.

In Guatemala, refugees find new calling as park rangers
- In recent years, the number of migrants and refugees entering Guatemala after fleeing violence at home has grown.
- FUNDAECO, a local conservation NGO, has partnered with UNHCR and other groups to find jobs for some refugees working as park guards in Guatemalan biodiversity hotspots.
- Fifty-five refugees have been employed in the “Green Jobs” program so far, with FUNDAECO hoping that number will reach at least 100.

A jaguar nicknamed “Short-Tail” the first known to cross between Belize and Guatemala
- A jaguar nicknamed “Short-Tail” was caught on camera in both Belize and Guatemala, making him the first individual confirmed to cross the international boundary between the two countries.
- This finding highlights the importance of international, transboundary collaboration to study and protect jaguars.
- Jaguars are threatened by habitat loss, deforestation, loss of prey, and illegal hunting.

How coffee growers can adapt to a precipitous industry: Q&A with Dean’s Beans founder Dean Cycon
- Climate change is making traditional coffee-growing areas in the tropics less suitable for the crop, forcing farmers to look for new land at higher elevations and higher latitudes.
- Scientists are trying to tackle the problem by developing climate-resistant coffee plants, but solutions already exist from arid regions in Africa that can be adapted by farmers in Latin America.
- “This is something the scientific community is completely ignoring,” says Dean Cycon, founder of Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee and a longtime advocate of social justice for the millions of coffee farmers in the global south.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Cycon offers his unique insights into one of the world’s favorite beverages, the challenges of climate change, the plight of tropical farmers, and the solutions he sees as still within reach.

Contentious Guatemala nickel mine ‘ignores coronavirus lockdown’
- A nickel mine in Guatemala is at the center of fresh allegations of misconduct after it was alleged to have endangered local residents by operating throughout the coronavirus pandemic, despite a government order to close and its license being suspended last year.
- The mine’s operator, Switzerland-based Solway Investment Group, has denied it is breaking the rules, saying it has been given special permission by ministers to continue operations.
- The Fenix mine has sparked numerous social conflicts in El Estor going back to the 1960s. Dozens of locals have been arbitrarily detained and at least three killed since 2004.
- Several legal cases against activists are currently in the courts, as well as complaints against the company lodged by supporters. But the Covid-19 outbreak has also impacted Guatemala’s justice system, meaning a resolution to the cases may be further delayed.

Map reveals Canadian mining company’s environmental, social conflicts
- The Environmental Justice Atlas released new maps March 2 alleging that Pan American Silver operates mines that don’t have the consent of local communities and that pollute local water supplies — assertions that the company denies.
- In Guatemala, the Canadian mining company gained control of a mine where operations had been suspended because the country’s supreme court ruled that a local indigenous community had not consented to the operation.
- The atlas uses information gathered from local communities to both raise the profile of their struggle and to connect disparate environmental justice groups doing similar work.
- The mine in Guatemala remains closed, pending a new consultation process.

Central American countries pledge to protect Mesoamerica’s ‘5 Great Forests’
- The governments of all eight members of the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD) — Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama — presented an ambitious regional climate action plan at COP25.
- Among the objectives of the 5 Great Forests Initiative is ending all illegal cattle ranching within the forests; ensuring that no wildlife species in the great forests goes extinct; protecting 10 million hectares (nearly 25 million acres) of land; and restoring 500,000 hectares of forest.
- The initiative also aims to improve the livelihoods of forest-dependent peoples, especially members of indigenous and local communities within the five forests, whose leadership is seen as crucial to forest conservation efforts.

Saving Guatemala’s vanishing macaws: Q&A with veterinarian Luis Fernando Guerra
- The northern subspecies of the scarlet macaw (Ara macao cyanoptera) has disappeared from much of its former range in Mexico and Central America due to habitat loss and wildlife trafficking. Researchers estimate there are between 150 and 200 scarlet macaws remaining in Guatemala.
- Fire, used to clear land for agriculture, is the biggest driver of habitat loss in Guatemala. So far this year, NASA satellites have detected more than 40,000 fires in Guatemala, many occurring in scarlet macaw habitat.
- The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is trying to protect Guatemala’s macaws through a program that monitors nest sites and places lab-hatched chicks in adoptive nests.
- Mongabay caught up with WCS Lead Medical Veterinarian Luis Fernando Guerra as he was working in the field in Laguna del Tigre National Park to chat about his work and the outlook for scarlet macaws.

Coops, community, and agroforestry: Q&A with coffee entrepreneur Dean Cycon
- Agroforestry is an agricultural technique that combines trees with shrubs, crops and livestock in a system that produces food, supports biodiversity, builds soil horizons and water tables, and sequesters 45 gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere worldwide.
- Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee has become a successful marketer of organic beans grown in agroforestry systems across the tropics, and has won several international sustainability awards for its direct, people-centered approach to development.
- The company sources organic beans from farmer cooperatives who have implemented agroforestry systems that provide shade for the coffee plus fruit and timber trees that are also useful to people, bugs, birds, and other animals.
- The 2019 World Agroforestry Congress in Montpellier, France, from May 20-22, aims to bridge the gap between agroforestry science and its practical implementation worldwide.

Deforested habitats leave migratory birds ill-prepared for journey north
- Migratory birds are experiencing precipitous population declines due to land-use change in Central and South America.
- These birds rely on forested areas in their southern overwintering grounds for sustenance, but these have been widely replaced by less hospitable agricultural landscapes.
- Some vulnerable migratory birds use tropical hardwood plantations at the same rate as forests, making these for-profit agricultural lands an attractive prospect for conservation, especially in contrast with poorer habitats like cattle pasture.
- Agroforestry solutions, such as the retention of tall trees, can also provide habitat for at-risk species like the golden-winged warbler while providing ecosystem services to farmers.

Wildlife traffickers thrive on Guatemala’s murky border with Belize
- Guatemala’s environmental prosecutor has revealed the existence of “criminal structures” involving farmers, intermediaries from Guatemala and Belize, public officials, and financiers from Asia.
- According to experts and authorities, the long-running border conflict between the two countries has led to the unchecked extraction of natural resources.
- Scarlet macaws and parrots are smuggled across the border and sold on the local black market and in Mexico. Rosewood, a precious tree species that is often shipped to Asia, is also a target for illegal harvest and trade.

Guatemala: Proposed new park on indigenous land treads fine ethical line
- Community leaders and environmental groups are working to expand protected areas around a mountain cloaked in rare cloud forest in central Guatemala that is home to several indigenous communities.
- There are many pitfalls to avoid: Conservation efforts have often historically overlooked the needs of local communities, excluding them from project planning and imposing disagreeable regulations on land use that threaten traditional ways of life.
- The NGO leading the effort is taking a two-pronged approach: One entails propping up local communities to reduce their dependence on the forest without altering their customs, and committing to getting their input into the protected area proposal.
- But the other entails buying up land in advance of lobbying congress for a new protected area. Because this part of their plan has all the earmarks of traditional “fortress conservation,” some outside experts are expressing concern.

The secret to a town’s perfect potatoes? Its well-preserved forest.
- Concepción Chiquirichapa, a town in southwestern Guatemala, is renowned for its excellent potatoes.
- The rise of potato agriculture there is due, in part, to the use of leaf litter as an organic fertilizer and a steady supply of high-quality water from the local forest, which the town began restoring and protecting four decades ago.
- As potato farming spreads and the local population grows, the town is attempting in several ways to protect its natural resources.
- This is the third part of Mongabay’s three-part profile of the Concepción community’s effort to restore the forest of Siete Orejas.

Ancient spirituality guides a Maya town’s conservation efforts
- Guided by the teachings and beliefs of their ancestors, the indigenous residents of Concepción Chiquirichapa in southwestern Guatemala look to their local mountain, Siete Orejas, as a source of spiritual energy.
- Twenty-two altars exist on Siete Orejas in spots where the mountain’s energy dwells, according to Mayan belief. The town’s spiritual connection with the mountain has for the past 40 years motivated the community to restore and protect the mountain’s forests.
- Mongabay joined a local Maya spiritual guide in a fire ceremony on the mountain to ask for wisdom and the blessing of the Creator.
- This is the second part of Mongabay’s three-part profile of the Concepción community’s effort to restore the forest of Siete Orejas.

RSPO should suspend membership of groups undermining Guatemala’s anti-impunity commission (commentary)
- The journey toward sustainability must begin from a baseline of proven ethical intent — and a number of recent signs raise serious doubts about the ethical intent of a wide swath of industry players in Guatemala.
- Palm oil is the fastest growing agribusiness industry in Guatemala. Along with mining and hydroelectric projects, it is a major cause of land grabs that displace indigenous communities. Palm oil companies have been heavily involved in Guatemalan President Morales’ campaign to stop the U.N. Commission Against Impunity.
- In order to responsibly address the unfolding political crisis in Guatemala, the RSPO should postpone the certification processes of all Guatemalan palm companies until GREPALMA and its members end their campaign to sabotage the U.N. Commission Against Impunity and desist from undermining the rule of law in the country.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

How a Mayan town restored its sacred cloud forest and water supply
- Guided initially only by knowledge inherited from their ancestors, the people of Concepción Chiquirichapa in southwestern Guatemala began conserving their forest four decades ago.
- The participation of local people has been key to converting pastureland on the Siete Orejas mountain into a green and leafy forest that sustains the area’s economy and water supply.
- The sustainable use of forest resources is central to the town’s approach. People can gather food, natural medicine, and leaf litter for use as fertilizer, so long as they do not harm the forest.
- This is the first part of Mongabay’s three-part profile of the Concepción community’s effort to restore the forest of Siete Orejas.

Latam Eco Review: Resistance, hope and camera traps

Capybaras, Colombia. Image by Rhett Butler for Mongabay

The recent top stories from Mongabay Latam, our Spanish-language service, include a call to cover climate change, the dangers of opposing Colombia’s largest hydropower plant, and the most inspiring conservation news of 2018. ‘We are not doing enough’: 25 media groups commit to cover climate change “Journalists across the continent have a profound obligation to […]
Scarlet macaws stalked by wildlife traffickers in Guatemala
- This at-risk species is fighting for survival in the biological corridor shared by Belize, Guatemala and Mexico. It’s here where wildlife traffickers pluck the chicks from their nests.
- Experts estimate there are fewer than 1,000 scarlet macaws remaining in this corridor.

Guatemala: An indigenous community rejects, then accepts, a protected area
- When the Guatemalan government designated the Río Sarstún Multiple Use Area in 2005, the local people said it never properly contacted or consulted the indigenous Q’eqchi’ living in the area.
- The Q’eqchi’ initially opposed the designation, and vociferously, for fear it would infringe on their rights to the land.
- Eventually, the government gave them a role managing the zone.
- Now, more than a decade after the Río Sarstún Multiple Use Area came into being, the relationship between the Guatemalan government and local communities is settling into a symbiotic groove, and conservation initiatives are having a noticeable effect on the forests and wildlife.

Latam Eco Review: Land trafficking in Lima’s hill ecosystems, oil spills in Venezuela, floods in Colombia

The most popular stories from our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, this past week investigated how land trafficking is destroying Lima’s fragile hill ecosystems; government inaction and oil spills in Venezuela; open borders for wildlife trafficking in Belize and Guatemala; massive floods in Colombia; and community reforestation in Bolivia. Land trafficking erodes Lima’s fragile hill ecosystems Land […]
Latam Eco Review: Witchcraft and wildlife trafficking in Peru

Among the most read stories at our Spanish-language service, Mongabay-Latam, this past week were articles about a hydropower project in one of Bolivia’s most diverse protected areas; Colombian Air Force drones that revealed alarming deforestation in Tinigua Park; and wildlife trafficking and witchcraft in Peru. Bolivia’s Ivirizu hydroelectric project threatens the biodiversity of Carrasco National […]
Latam Eco Review: Ports imperil Colombian crocodiles

Below are summaries of the most popular stories by our Spanish language service, Mongabay Latam, from the week of June 11 – 17. Among the top articles: Port projects in northern Colombia threaten the mangrove habitats of American crocodiles. In other news, the Waorani people of Ecuador use camera traps to record an astonishing diversity […]
Nephew of Maya land and rights activist beaten to death in Guatemala
- Héctor Manuel Choc Cuz, an 18-year old Maya Q’eqchi’, was beaten to death late last month.
- Family members suspect the attack may have been an attempt on the life of the victim’s cousin, José Ich, a key witness in two cases dealing with his father’s 2009 murder, allegedly by private security guards of the Fenix nickel mine in El Estor, Guatemala.
- Ich’s mother, Angélica Choc, is a prominent human rights and environmental activist who has fought for years against the Fenix mine.

Illegal cattle ranching deforests Mexico’s massive Lacandon Jungle
- According to authorities and residents, cattle from Central America are brought to Mexico illegally over the porous border with Guatemala and left to graze in the Lacandon Jungle, a protected area.
- The Lacandon Jungle in Chiapas state once covered 1.5 million hectares. Today, it is only a third of that size and continuing to shrink.
- A potent mix of poverty, porous borders and lack of government control of protected areas has contributed to the proliferation of small cattle ranches throughout the area, which, combined, have a major impact on the ecosystem.

Mesoamerican Reef gets improving bill of health
- The Healthy Reefs Initiative released its report card on the state of the Mesoamerican Reef. In the last decade, the grade has risen from poor to fair.
- The Mesoamerican Reef runs along about 1,000 kilometers of the coastlines of Mexico, Honduras, Belize and Guatemala.
- Fish populations have grown, as have the coral that make up the reef.
- But scientists were concerned to see an increase in macroalgae on the reef, which results from runoff and improperly treated sewage effluent.

Brilliantly colored ‘lost’ salamander rediscovered after 42 years
- The striking, yellow-hued Jackson’s climbing salamander was first reported to science in 1975, then never recorded again.
- But last month, a guard at a recently created amphibian reserve in Guatemala’s Cuchumatanes Mountain range spotted a juvenile of the species while he was patrolling.
- Conservationists are excited because the salamander was “rediscovered” in a reserve especially created to help protect the habitat of amphibians like the Jackson’s climbing salamander.

Guatemala provides an example of community forest management for Indonesia
- In Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, 9 community forestry concessions have been managing over 350,000 hectares of forest for more than 15 years. The communities aim to manage the concessions sustainably, earning income from timber and non-timber forest products and tourism.
- Indigenous communities in Indonesia are currently in the process of mapping, titling and restoring their customary forests after Indonesian president Joko Widodo pledged to grant 12.7 million hectares for community concessions by 2019.
- Representatives travelled to Guatemala to learn how this has been done by communities in the Maya Biosphere Reserve.
- The Indonesian representatives hope to use the model of Guatemalan forest communities as a starting point for their own concession management.

Guatemalan authorities destroy secret airstrip in Laguna del Tigre National Park
- Clandestine landing strips are often built in forest reserves by cattle ranchers who are actually working for drug traffickers.
- After Mongabay-Latam and Plaza Pública reported on the runway’s existence, the Guatemalan Army was ordered to destroy it.
- It is unclear if the strip was abandoned or under construction, but such structures pose a threat to the health of Laguna del Tigre National Park

A new secret runway found in Laguna del Tigre National Park in Guatemala
- Such clandestine landing strips are often built in forest reserves by people who claim to be cattle ranchers, but are actually working for drug traffickers.
- These illegal structures pose a threat to the Laguna del Tigre National Park.
- What does the head of Guatemala’s anti-drug unit think about this new secret runway that has just been discovered?

The land is forever: Rodrigo Tot wins Goldman Prize for land-title quest
- Rodrigo Tot is one of this year’s winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize honoring global “grassroots environmental heroes.”
- He has been working for decades to secure title to his community’s lands, which are embroiled in an ongoing dispute with mining interests.
- Tot has faced threats to his safety as well as the murder of his son in 2012, in what he believes was retaliation for his land-rights work.

Meet the winners of the 2017 Goldman Environmental Prize
- The Goldman Environmental Prize, dubbed the Green Nobel Prize, honors grassroots environmental heroes from Europe, Asia, North America, Central and South America, Africa, and Islands and Island nations.
- The winners will be awarded the Prize today at the San Francisco Opera House.
- The winners include Uros Macerl from Slovenia, Prafulla Samantara from India, mark! Lopez from the United States, Rodrigo Tot from Guatemala, Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo from DRC and Wendy Bowman from Australia.

Guatemala declares state of emergency as rainforest goes up in flames
- The fires have been concentrated in Maya Biosphere Reserve, a collection of protected areas – including national parks – in the country’s north.
- Officials believe many of the fires were started to clear land for illegal cattle ranching and drug trafficking.
- Declaring a state of emergency will allow agencies to more quickly deploy firefighters to affected areas.
- Community-managed areas in the biosphere reserve have seen less fire activity, reportedly due to higher fire prevention capacity.

Guatemala issues red alert as national parks burn
- Northern Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve comprises several national parks and other protected areas.
- Fire activity is concentrated in one park in particular – Laguna del Tigre National Park – where satellite data from NASA recorded more than 400 fires occurring over the past week.
- Land use is restricted in Guatemalan national parks, but officials say the fires are largely human-caused by illegal cattle ranching, logging, and drug trafficking. Budget challenges have limited the capacity of local institutions to effectively control the forest fires.

Ex-mine security head cleared of murder, assault against indigenous Guatemalans
- During protests over contested land in 2009 a well-known Maya Q’eqchi’ community leader and mine opponent named Adolfo Ich was killed, another Maya Q’eqchi’, German Chub, was shot and paralyzed from the waist down, and several other community residents were wounded.
- Guatemala’s Office of the Public Prosecutor charged Mynor Padilla, the Fenix mine’s head of security at the time of the protests, with homicide and assault. Padilla maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
- On Thursday a judge in Puerto Barrios acquitted Padilla and ordered his immediate release, instructing the Office of the Public Prosecutor to pursue criminal charges against Padilla’s accusers.

Communities in Mexico step up to protect a disappearing forest
- Comprising around 1.9 million hectares in Mexico and Guatemala, the Lacandon is regarded as one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. But Mexico’s Lacandon rainforest is experiencing significant deforestation activity, and the Guatemalan side of the ecosystem is even more affected.
- In Mexico, communities in and around the Lacandon are developing initiatives to help protect the forest through ecotourism.
- Movement leaders say they have seen success from their work in parts of the ecosystem, but they urge the need for institutionalization of their model and more collaboration with Guatemala to protect the Lacandon as a whole.

Protected areas found to be ‘significant’ sources of carbon emissions
- The researchers found 2,018 protected areas across the tropics store nearly 15 percent of all tropical forest carbon. This is because protected areas tend to have denser, older forest – thus, higher carbon stocks.
- Their study uncovered that, on average, nearly 0.2 percent of protected area forest cover was razed per year between 2000 and 2012.
- Less than nine percent of the reserves that the researchers sampled contributed 80 percent of the total carbon emissions between 2000 and 2012, putting this small subset of reserves on par with the UK’s entire transportation sector.
- The researchers say their findings could help prioritize conservation attention.

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