Hualtaco, Photo: CEATA
The Environmental Education and Applied Technology Center (CEATA) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) composed of four young Peruvians that are politically committed to conserving Peru\’s natural resources. CEATA\’s general objectives are: 1) To promote applied environmental education and biodiversity conservation; 2) To encourage informed, responsible, and sustainable management of natural resources; 3) To encourage rural tourism in all its forms, as well as to develop activities and programs that directly or indirectly safeguard biodiversity. In addition, they aim to improve the quality of life of the rural communities under the above criteria.
The NGO was legally established in March 2003 to consolidate the projects that were developing for the past 3 years. One of these projects is the preservation of Hualtaco, (Loxopterygium huasango), a xerophytic tree species near extinction. This tree\’s conservation is important because of its ability to protect and contain land in river and stream areas. CEATA has proposed the creation of a biological corridor in the Plateros zone, where this species is still found in abundance (located in the Zorritos district, Department of Tumbes). CEATA is promoting land titling as a way to guarantee the lands\’ protection and to promote private initiatives to protect and manage the natural resources.
Since the 1960s, timber companies have harvested Hualtaco in order to sell it for use in hard wood flooring, beams, wood pillars, and sleepers for train cars. The Hualtaco is desirable because of its great durability. Over the last decade, in the deforested zone, settlers\’ goat herds have threatened the few surviving examples of this tree.
The goats devour the small, young trees. Between 15 and 50 groups bring their animals to feed in this zone. The Hualtaco is therefore not regenerating; it does not reproduce well, and the initial stages of the seedlings are a favorite of goats. This worsens the situation and places it in danger of extinction.
CEATA\’s work and principal goal has been to be the first organization to grow Hualtaco in a nursery. They have selected seeds from the trees with the best genetic qualities (the tallest, straightest, and most robust). The seeds are planted to develop saplings that are eventually transplanted to the field. During this phase, the trees are protected for two years, the period in which it takes the trees to reach a size that can no longer consumed by goats. Several trees have been planted at the source of the stream within the 7,440 ha. that they want to conserve.
One of the principal problems CEATA has faced when growing this tree is lack of water. The closest water supply is 70 km (43 miles) away and must be transported by truck. The price of this water per cylinder (5 gallons) is one of the highest in all of Peru at $3.00 (more than four times what it costs elsewhere). Lack of water is also an obstacle for another CEATA project–mangrove restauration at the mouth of the Plateritos stream.
Ten years ago there was a wetland area 200m x 300m (656ft x 984ft) here. Today it is dry, quartered, and arid. This area was once covered with mangroves, a species that lives where ocean salt water and fresh water from rivers meet. The mangrove forests act as a natural barrier against erosion produced by waves and tides. Simultaneously they regulate the transition of the fresh water paths to the ocean, they house and feed a number of animal species such as crustaceans, birds, fish, and mammals.
Mangroves have disappeared around the Plateritos stream due to over harvest. The mangrove\’s root system flourishes near the coast, but the bordering communities have exploited this resource in attempts to fight their way out of poverty. Another reason mangroves have disappeared is because surrounding river basins lack appropriate management. This has facilitated the desertification process and has altered the natural order that manages the watercourses that aid in the development of this species.
Mangrove forest, photo: Diego Shoobridge, PW-Peru
Today there are but a few mangroves growing in the zone; CEATA is trying to protect what is left. However, there has not been sufficient regeneration because there is no irrigation system to provide water to the land. CEATA is looking for support to continue its efforts to restore the mangroves in Plateritos.
Members of CEATA giving a workshop to members of the community, photo: CEATA
An important component of CEATA projects is community development. They have held various environmental education workshops with the ranchers and other residents in the zone.
After CEATA\’s campaign to designate the land as a biological corridor succeeds, they plan to work with the local community to develop a suitable natural resource management plan. Once that is in place, CEATA intends to transfer the management of the property to the community.
The residents will be encouraged to gradually replace their traditional productive activities, such as fishing and goat herding, for more sustainable activities like ecotourism, honey production, growing carob, creating clay products, and growing fruit. The community will also continue the reforestation work. In this way, they will be the ones responsible for managing and for sustainably using the resources in the conservation area.
As part of the interaction process with the residents, and in an attempt to build trust and understanding with them, CEATA provided native tree species from its botanical garden, which also has a compost pile for the generation of natural fertilizer. They gave Carobs, Birds of Paradise (Caesalpina sp.), Quirquinchis, and Palo Santos (Bursera graveolens), as well as fruit such as Tamarinds and Oranges. In total CEATA provided 200 trees, among those 40 were Hualtacos.
From this work, the local communities have been motivated and they have hopes to earn a living from alternative productive activities. Much of the population, especially the young, wants to be park guards because they see it as a job opportunity. According to Carlos Bérninzon, some have begun to study the zone on their own initiative. They have learned to identify endemic species and have located places to observe animals.(1)
According to the text, Biological Diversity of Peru, Priority Zones for Conservation, \” this is a hot spot within the premontane tropical forest area.\”(2) CEATA seeks to conserve this area because it will serve as a wildlife refuge near a proposed project to create a fruit-farming corridor 30 to 40 km (18 to 35 miles) from Tumbes Reserve buffer zone, which is part of the Northwest Biosphere Reserve. Human intervention in this zone will cause the animals to migrate in search of another refuge. It is anticipated that the new habitat for the emigrating animals will be the forest high in the Puente Plateros, just in the zone that CEATA wants to conserve.
Among the fauna that can be observed here are pumas, foxes, and anteaters. After the scientific expedition of the zone was completed, a requirement necessary before INRENA will consider protecting the area, several endemic animals were found in the area, including Baird\’s flycatcher (Myiodynastes bairdii), the collard antshrike (Shakesphorus bernardi), and the pacific parrotlet (Forpus coelestis). The frigate bird (Fregata magnificens) may also be found here, which is one of the fastest birds in the world.(3)
There are also other birds and animals that feed on the abundant ants and termites in the zone. Deforestation and animal herding have affected the genetic quality of the trees. Because of this the insects have benefited, as a result they live in large colonies in weak and sick trees. The number of insect eating birds is growing.
Until now, CEATA\’s proposal to designate this zone as a protected area has been included in the cadastre of the territory\’s maps to be considered,(4) explains Gustavo Suárez Freitas, Protected Natural Area Superintendent for INRENA. However, there are timber companies that also lobby for land designation. The complexities of the Administrative Procedures Text (TUPA), of the Special Land Title Program (PETT), delayed the project for a year. The manager, Javier Chira Guerrera, responsible for the Tumbes Regional Execution, still has not completed the corresponding bureaucratic proceedings. Various timber companies seeking concessions to harvest the zone also await the answer from this manager. CEATA awaits this government official\’s formal pronouncement and has confidence that the area is destined to be conserved, to protect the environment, and not for timber harvesting, which would eradicate a resource that sparsely exists.
ParksWatch Peru has finished its field evaluation of the Northwest Biosphere Reserve (Cerros de Amotape National Park, Tumbes Reserved Zone, and Tumbes Mangrove National Sanctuary), an area near CEATA\’s project. Similar problems were identified and a series of difficulties and threats place the integrity of this important protected area in danger. The results of the evaluation will be posted on our website soon.
ParksWatch-Peru: November 2003
By: Inés Vera Pinzas
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Notes:
1 \”Inclusive algunos han empezado a estudiar la zona por iniciativa propia. Han aprendido a identificar especies endémicas y lugares de observación de animales.\”
2 Diversidad Biológica del Perú, Zonas Prioritarias para su Conservación, (FANPE project, technical cooperation help in the strategy planning for the National System of Natural Protected Areas), GTZ-INRENA, Ministery of Agriculture. Edited by Lily Rodríguez, 1996.
\”Ésta es una zona hot spot dentro del área de bosques premontanos tropicales.\”
3 Observed Bird Photographic Registry in the Plateritos Hualtaco forest (Department of Tumbes), by biologist Luis Felipe Bérninzn Barrón, February 2001. Document annexed from \”Proyecto para el Estudio de los Recourses Naturales de la Micro cuenca de Plateritos para un Aprovechamiento Sustenable de la Comunidad,\” presented by INRENA and CEATA in 2001.
4 \”Hasta hoy la propuesta para crear esta zona como área de protección de CEATA ha logrado que el terreno esté incluido dentro del catastro de mapas de territorios por ser concesionados.\”