The National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP) convinced the Guatemalan Government not to accept the Mayan World Highway Project in the Maya Biosphere Reserve because of the negative impacts such a project would impose on the protected area. With the help of ParksWatch-Guatemala’s profile, El Mirador-Rio Azul, CONAP showed the President of Guatemala that not only did CONAP oppose the project, but that a 3rd party non-governmental organization did too. In addition, the profile served as a technical document to highlight the most important characteristics of the park. Although highway construction could reemerge as a threat during future administrations, at least for now, the Guatemalan people and conservationists all over the world should be happy about the rejection of this plan.
(Top photo: The border between Mexico’s Calakumul Biosphere Reserve and Guatemala\’s Mirador-Rio Azul where one of the proposed highways would have passed.)
ParksWatch: February 2002
**Note: The original news article (August 2001) on the Mayan World Highway Project follows.
ParksWatch Uncovers Project to Construct Highways in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala
Rumors regarding a highway construction project in the Maya Biosphere Reserve have now been verified. After an investigation in August 2001, ParksWatch- Guatemala has confirmed the existence of a proposal to build three highways through the Maya Biosphere Reserve, the largest and best protected tropical forest in Guatemala. As ParksWatch learned, an assessment was conducted in June 2001 to identify priority corridors for tourism investment in the region (Godoy, 2001). The assessment was done for the Sustainable Development Program of the Mayan World, which is a program of the Inter American Development Bank (IDB). It recommended the construction of three highways that would cross the entire Maya Biosphere Reserve. This would include passing through two core zones: Mirador-Río Azul National Park and Laguna del Tigre National Park.
The Mayan World Project
The first Regional Meeting of the Mayan World Project was held in 1988, signifying the beginning of the Project. Representatives from Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico participated in the meeting. The initial impetus was the need to protect the environment, to protect the cultural and natural heritage through sustainable development, and to involve local communities in tourism (Mayan World, 1993).
There have been efforts to strengthen the Mayan World Project. In 1992, the participating countries signed an agreement to create a Regional Commission, a Managerial Council, and an Executive Secretariat (Ibid). Currently, the main objective of the project is regional development through an increase in tourism. As a result, improvments in the standard of living are expected because of new sources of employment, such as construction and tourism. In March of 2000, the Mayan World Project secured 1.3 million U.S. dollars from the IDB to carry out its objectives (IDB, 2000).
Roads versus Ecosystems \r\nBoth Mirador-Rio Azul and Laguna del Tigre National Parks share borders with Mexico; however, the status of these national parks is distinct. Mirador-Rio Azul contains 116,911 hectares and is located in northeastern Guatemala, containing the country\’s largest intact forest (Sader, 1999; INAB-CONAP, 2000). Laguna del Tigre contains 289,912 hectares and is located in northwestern Guatemala; it has already lost much of its forest cover due to the expansion of the agricultural frontier (CONAP, 2000).
The National Council of Protected Areas presented research at the beginning of August 2001 demonstrating that the construction of roads in 1986, in the southeastern region of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, caused five kilometers of deforestation along both sides of the roads (see satellite images below). The principal reason was colonization by subsistence farmers.
This research suggests that new construction of roads into Mirador-Río Azul and Laguna del Tigre will most likely increase the risk of deforestation in both areas (CONAP, 2001). Additional threats could be increases in forest fires, illegal hunting and other human activities. The construction of infrastructure inside the national parks is a violation of the Regulation of Protected Areas of Guatemala, which strictly limits any human activity that could harm the essential ecological processes of the protected area (Guatemala, 1989).
ParksWatch obtained a copy of the paper documenting the Mayan World meeting that was held at the beginning of August. Since then, ParksWatch has been disseminating the information so that the public can remain informed about the project. Luckily, the National Council of Protected Areas has given the highways project a skeptical reception after performing an investigation based on satellite imagery of the possible impacts of highways.
References
BID, 2000. BID y Mundo Maya firman donación para programa de desarrollo sostenible en Guatemala, Honduras, el Salvador, Belice y México. Comunicado de prensa.
CONAP, 2000. Estado del Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre. Presentación sobre el estado de conservación de parque.
CONAP, 2001. Impactos de la construcción de carreteras en la Reserva de la Biosfera Maya. Informe preliminar para presentar ante la Secretaría Ejecutiva de la Presidencia.
Godoy, R.., 2001. Los Sac’bes de hoy. Informe de consultoría presentado en la XLI reunión de la Comisión Regional del Consejo Directivo de la Organización Mundo Maya.
Guatemala, 1989. Ley de áreas protegidas y su Reglamento.
INAB-CONAP, (2000). Informe Final de Incendios Forestales: Temporada 2000. Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia, COE-Petén. Instituto Nacional de Bosques, y Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas.
Mundo Maya, 1993. El proyecto Mundo Maya. En http://www.mundomaya.com
Sader, S. (1999). Deforestation trends in northern Guatemala: a view from space. Pp. 26-30, IN: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Tropical Forest: Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, J.D. Nations (Ed.). Conservation International, Washington, D.C.