Construction has begun on one of Venezuela’s most anticipated transportation projects. The second phase of The Antonio Jose de Sucre Interstate, more commonly referred to as the Eastern Highway, will replace a transportation route constructed in the 1940’s. The new interstate route will run east to west across the entirety of the continental portion of Mochima National Park, which is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. This construction project is one of an increasing number of threats to the biological integrity of the park.
Specific to Mochima National Park, a 7.36 km portion of the new interstate will connect the village to Santa Fe, located on the western border of the park, with the village of Yaguaracual, located within the park’s Special Use Zone. The interstate, 100 m wide, runs parallel to the existing highway, separated in some cases by only 15 km. This construction project will have devastating effects on the environment in areas where the new interstate is constructed and in the corridor between it and the old highway. The highway project directs transportation flow from a Special Use Zone, an area that is currently being heavily impacted by human activity, to a Natural Recovery Zone, an area of the park currently being ecologically restored. However, the interstate also will cross several Integral Protection Zones, areas where access is restricted and only INPARQUES supervised monitoring and investigation is allowed. If the project proceedes successfully there are plans to extend the interstate another 7 km. The interstate will end at the city of Cumana, located at the extreme eastern border of the park.
Although construction of the Antonio Jose de Sucre Interstate will have many negative effects of the ecological integrity of Mochima National Park, neither Venezuelan environmental NGO’s nor the governmental organizations in charge of protected area administration have objected. All stakeholders have accepted the interstate project with an apparent passivity. Why?
Currently, the Venezuelan public is preoccupied with the country’s grave political crisis. Furthermore, the project has been anticipated since it was first announced in 1976. At that time, the park had only been in existence for 3 years. At that time, and currently, few people actually know that the existing highway or the new interstate are located within a national park. When driving on the road through Mochima National Park, there is little to no evidence that you are within its boundaries. Areas of the park that border the road do not have the appearance one would expect a protected area to have and there is little to no signage.
It is true that the highway has been decreed for over 30 years and will be constructed in an area that over the last century has been heavily impacted by humans. Numerous agricultural fields and small villages can be observed from the existing road. Yet, an interstate will raise the magnitude of disturbance permitted by the government in a national park to an unprecedented level. An environmental impact survey predicted at least 21 impacts. Among the 12 impacts cited to having a direct detrimental effect of the natural environment are a loss of vegetative cover, habitat disturbance, modification of topography, contamination and changes in water drainage patterns, generation of trash, changes in air quality, and increases in fire risk. The 9 impacts listed as having a direct effect on the socio-economic characteristics of the area include increases in human migration, and increases in tendencies to settle and develop land within the protected area.
National parks and protected areas area decreed by the government for the purpose of protecting natural resources. It is essential that special care be taken when they will be affected by a national development plan. The construction of the interstate will set a negative precedent of government development projects within protected areas. It will minimize the role of IMPARQUES, the institution in charge of park management. Public acceptance of this interstate may have repercussions for other public works projects, including the mining of petroleum and natural gas in Guaramacal National Park and the construction of pipelines in Paria.
The construction of the intestate can be an opportunity to find a solution to one of the most grave problems facing Mochima National Park. INPARQUES should negotiate request an enlargement of the park towards the south. The Macizo de Turimiquire is a protected area that is not currently in the jurisdiction of INPARQUES. This addition to Mochima National Park would increase the protection of the pristine and ecologically rich Turimiquire watershed and mountain forests. Furthermore, to concentrate impacts to park lands, all illegal vilages within the park could be reloacted to the road site.
(Top photo: From Majagual beach one is able to observe the start of the constructions in the deforested areas.)
ParksWatch: February 2003