Southern Venezuela represents one of the five major tropical wilderness hotspots in the world. [24] Much of the area is covered by dense lowland forest, which has not yet been completely inventoried,[25] and contains highland table-top mountains, known as tepuyes. These almost unique formations are home to many endemic species. Bolivar State is also the site of Angel Falls – at 3,212 feet, the highest free-falling waterfall in the world. The Orinoco River and its tributaries are critical for local and national populations, not only because they contain over 1,000 fish species, [26] many of which supply food for local populations, but also because the Guri Dam, which provides 72 percent of the nation’s hydroelectric power, depends on this water system. In addition, 80 percent of Bolivar state’s drinking water comes from the Caroni River. [27]
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Venezuela’s annual deforestation rate was 1.1 percent between 1990 and 1995, almost twice the average for South America. [28] While existing data show that much of the deforestation has occurred in the northern part of the country, satellite data for the forests south of the Orinoco River have not been studied, and little is known about the deforestation rate in this region.
The forests of the Guayana region are distinctly different from those found in the western Llanos region. [29] Made up of semi-deciduous, deciduous, and evergreen forests, the Guayana region is characterized by megadiverse ecosystems, poor soils, and a tropical climate. There, the removal of the forest canopy interrupts the nutrient cycle, and recuperation is at best a lengthy and complex process. [30] The western Llanos region, on the other hand, is made up of semi-deciduous, homogeneous forests with rich soils and a high concentration of valuable commercial timber species. Unlike forests in the western Llanos, those in the Guayana region present far fewer commercial timber species per hectare, allowing for average harvests of only 2-10 trees per hectare, or less than half the density of the western Llanos forests.
In addition, much more is known about these forests than those of the Guayana Region. In a partial survey of scientific investigations carried out in national forest reserves up until 1992, those located in the Llanos region, which make up 4 percent of the forest reserves, were the subject of 60 percent of the studies, while forests of the Guayana region, which make up 90 percent of total forest reserves, were the subject of only 30 percent of the studies (half of these were carried out in the Imataca Forest Reserve). [31] Most of these studies focussed primarily on commercial tree species and few presented ecological data or evaluations of biodiversity. [32] Furthermore, the little existing information regarding this region has not been organized in any systematic way, resulting in a mosaic of generally unconnected data with noticeable gaps in geography and subject matter.
References and notes
24. J. McNeely et al., Conserving the World’s Biological Diversity (IUCN, WRI, WWF, World Bank: Washington, DC, 1990).
25. O. Huber, “History of Botanical Exploration”, chapter 2 in P. Berry et al., (eds.), Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, vol. 1. Introduction (New York: Editors Gral, 1995), pp. 161-192; R.S Voss and L.H Emmons, “Mammalian Diversity in Neotropical Lowland Rainforests: A Preliminary Assessment,” Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (vol. 230: 1-115, 1996).
26. IUCN, The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: The Americas (IUCN: Gland, Switzerland, 1995), p. 318.
27. D. Schemo, “Legally, Now, Venezuelans to Mine Fragile Lands”, New York Times (Dec. 8, 1996).
28. Food and Agriculture Organization, State of the World’s Forests, 1997 (Rome: FAO, 1997), p. 188.
29. L. Hern ndez et al., “Una visi¢n sobre el manejo forestal en la Guayana venezolana (estado Bolivar),” report commissioned by the Regional Council on Government, Environment, Mining and Territorial Zoning of Bolivar State (Puerto Ordaz, 1994); L. Hern ndez et al., “Consideraciones sobre el plan de ordenamiento y reglamento de uso de la reserva forestal Imataca,” report commissioned by the Environment and Land-Use Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress, (Caracas, July 1997).
30. R. Herrera et al., “Amazon Ecosystems: Their Structure and Functionings with particular Emphasis on Nutrients”, Interciencia (vol. 3: 223-232, 1978)
31. A. Luy, “La investigaci¢n en reservas forestales y lotes boscosos de Venezuela” (Sociedad Conservacionista Audubon de Venezuela: Caracas, 1992), p. 142.
32. C.Uhl and I. Vieira, “Ecological Impacts of Selective Logging in the Brazilian Amazon: A Case Study of the Paragominas Region of the State of Para”, Biotr¢pica (vol. 21: 98-106, 1989); L. Hern ndez et al. “Una visi¢n sobre el manejo forestal en la Guayana venezolana (Estado Bolivar)”, report commissioned by the Regional Council on Government, Environment, Mining and Territorial Zoning of Bolivar State (Puerto Ordaz, 1994); L. Hernandez et al., “Consideraciones sobre el plan de ordenamiento y reglamento de uso de la reserva forestal Imataca,” report commissioned by the Environment and Land-Use Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress, (Caracas, July 1997).
