Topic: guatemala

RELEASE: 14 Latin American and Caribbean Countries Adopt an Ambitious Plan of Action to Improve Access Rights in the Region

Lauren Zelin — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:17:15 -0400

Fourteen Latin American and Caribbean countries adopted an ambitious Plan of Action to improve access rights in the region, including access to information, public participation, and access to justice. The plan, which was approved at a meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, on April 16-17, 2013, seeks to implement the Latin American and Caribbean Declaration on Principle 10 that was signed at the Rio +20 Conference in June 2012, under which countries agreed to work towards a regional instrument to improve access rights.

The meeting began with Colombia and Honduras signing on to the LAC Declaration, a major accomplishment for all parties. The 14 countries that have now signed on include: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.

“The new Plan of Action shows political will to transform environmental justice and transparency in the region,” said Carole Excell, Senior Associate at the World Resources Institute and The Access Initiative. “It sets the pace and the agenda to tackle the challenges of negotiating a regional instrument to ensure access rights across Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Under the new 2013-2014 Plan of Action, the LAC countries have committed to:

Promote the Principle 10 Declaration and incorporate new signatories into the process;
Strengthen and highlight the progress made on rights of access to information, participation, and justice;
Promote active participation of civil society at the national level; and
Develop working groups to deliberate capacity-building and cooperation efforts, and determine the nature and scope of the regional instrument.

Ambassador Jose Balmaceda of Chile noted that the Plan of Action “is a strong political signal to the international community that we are responding in a responsible way to this commitment [to Principle 10] … It is the first time that government representatives from 14 countries and civil society sat down to debate – with transparency and trust – relevant issues for the future of the region. This is a testament to maturity in the region. We have been able to reach consensus on the Plan of Action that will allow us to move ahead on national processes and regional efforts. I am sure that this result will motivate other nations in the region to join the process.”

The Plan of Action includes a number of innovative provisions, including procedures for public participation in the regional process and its working groups. It will create opportunities for close South-to-South cooperation on rights to promote transparency, public participation, and access to justice, as well as a focus on increased support for effective implementation at the national level.

“We hope at the end of 2014 we can count on the development of an instrument on Principle 10 that establishes concrete actions to guarantee effective and informed participation to all citizens and communities of our region,” said Daniel Barragan, Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law (Centro Ecuatoriane de Derecho Ambinental Ambiental), an environmental law NGO. “Soon we can have a voice and be a part of the decision making on the environment and natural resources.”

In addition to adopting the Plan of Action, members elected co-chairs to run the working groups. Costa Rica and Brazil were mandated to design the regional instrument on Principle 10 and Jamaica and Columbia were given the role to facilitate work on cooperation and capacity building.

RELEASE: New Assessment Finds Management Efforts are Insufficient to Protect Mesoamerican Reef

Michael Oko — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:40:11 -0500

First-ever Eco-Audit of the Mesoamerican Reef Countries

Editor’s note: Online resources, including verification documentation, a description of the Eco-Audit indicators, summary results and more, are available at: www.wri.org/reefs and www.healthyreefs.org

The first-ever Eco-Audit of the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) countries finds that despite some positive management efforts, more needs to be done to protect the region’s coral reefs. The evaluation, entitled “2011 Eco-Audit of the Mesoamerican Reef Countries,” was carried out by the Healthy Reefs Initiative (HRI), in collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI), and nearly 40 local organizations, government agencies and companies. The results are being launched simultaneously in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

The evaluation scored overall reef management as Fair (2.7 out of 5) across the region and for all thematic areas. This score indicates that, in general, the MAR ecosystem is not being adequately managed. The scores by country are: Belize 3.3, Honduras 2.7, Mexico 2.7 and Guatemala 2.2.

“Our evaluation has documented some positive steps in protecting reefs throughout the Mesoamerican region. However, there are many actions needed to protect the reefs that have been under discussion for decades. It’s time to complete and implement these actions,” said Dr. Melanie McField, director of the Healthy Reefs Initiative. “Reefs are a vital part of this region, providing both economic and cultural value to people in this area. We hope that this information will help to ensure that reefs can thrive for generations to come.”

The Mesoamerica Reef extends over 1,000 kilometers (over 600 miles), from Mexico to Honduras, and includes the Western Hemisphere’s longest barrier reef, located in Belize. Economies in the region are highly dependent on marine resources, especially from tourism and fishing industries. In Belize alone, the reef is estimated to contribute approximately $395 to $559 million (U.S.) in goods and services each year.

The Eco-Audit was developed and implemented using twenty-two standardized management indicators across seven thematic areas. This includes: Research, Education and Awareness, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Global Issues, Coastal Zone Management, Sustainability in the Private Sector, Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management, and Sanitation and Sewage Treatment. Over 300 supporting documents were provided as verification of the results.

“Through this highly collaborative process, involving diverse stakeholders, we have developed a collective understanding of reef management efforts supported by robust data,” said Benjamin Kushner, research analyst, World Resources Institute. “We hope that our transparently verified and publicly available results help coastal and fisheries managers, tourism operators, and others make smart decisions to create a healthy environment for reefs.”

“Stakeholders are now demanding unprecedented levels of transparency from organizations and governments, since our current economic and social conditions have been affected by unethical practices and a lack of transparency,” said Antonio Grijalba of PricewaterhouseCoopers Costa Rica. “This initiative has been a challenging process for HRI, but is a very important step to improve the transparency and accountability of the MAR region, align efforts to address the most critical issues, and share best practices to improve performance.”

To ensure the quality of the results, the financial and management auditing firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers Costa Rica reviewed the methodology and provided feedback on the processes and indicators, and the quality of the verification documentation.

The analysis revealed several key successes, including:

The extent of territorial sea included in MPAs is relatively high across the region;
Harmonization of regulations for the lobster fishery was a major regional success; and
There have been long-standing efforts to monitor reef health across the region, complemented by good availability of information on reef condition and threats.

However, it also showed key shortcomings, including:

A number of MPAs have been created, but their management is mostly inadequate;
Wastewater is not being treated at standards necessary to protect coral reefs; and
There is a lack of comprehensive coastal zone planning that has resulted in poorly planned and sited coastal developments.

This first Eco-Audit provides the foundation for subsequent Eco-Audits, which will be implemented every two years, assuring a routine accounting of efforts to improve the health of the MAR.

Read the analysis and find out more at: www.healthyreefs.org and www.wri.org/reefs

-END-

Contact:

Melanie McField, Director, Healthy Reefs Initiative (Belize City, Belize); email: mcfield@healthyreefs.org; tel: (501) 223-4898; or

Michael Oko, Director, Media Relations, World Resources Institute (Washington, D.C.); email: moko@wri.org; tel. (202) 729-7684

2011 Eco-Audit of the Mesoamerican Reef Countries

Maggie Barron — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:59:57 -0500

The Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) provides a diverse array of goods and services to the people of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. It is our shared heritage. Unfortunately, the health of the reef is declining, as documented by the 2008 and 2010 Report Cards published by the Healthy Reefs Initiative. The decline stems, at least in part, from inadequate management of threats to coral reefs. This Eco-Audit evaluates our efforts to protect and sustainably manage the region’s coral reefs; celebrates management success stories; and documents the extent to which recommended management actions have been implemented in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. It seeks to catalyze faster, more effective management responses and to increase accountability within the public and private sectors and among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

An Innovative, Rigorous Process

The Healthy Reefs Initiative (HRI), in collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and local partners, developed and implemented this first-ever multinational Eco-Audit of the Mesoamerican Reef Countries.

Evaluation criteria are comprehensive and inclusive.

Twenty-two standardized management indicators were developed across seven themes, such as fisheries management and coastal zone management. The Eco-Audit draws on input from a variety of NGOs, governmental agencies, and the private sector, and includes transparently verified and publicly available results. In September and October 2011, HRI and WRI convened four national workshops, whose purpose was for participants to collectively rank each indicator and to compile documents to verify the rankings.

Analysis is objective, science-based, and validated.

HRI and its regional partners are committed to maintaining audit standards that are unbiased, fact-based, transparent, and replicable. The financial and management auditing firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers Costa Rica (PwC) reviewed the methodology and provided feedback on the processes, indicators, and quality of the verification documentation.

Data quality will be enhanced over time.

This first Eco-Audit establishes a baseline regarding the status of reef ecosystem management efforts. The results are intended to guide data collection and compilation for future Eco-Audits, which will occur every two years. These biennial Eco-Audits and the biennial HRI Reef Report Cards will occur in alternating years, thereby providing a routine accounting of reef health and efforts to improve it. As data collection becomes more complete and the database grows, we anticipate that the Eco-Audit will evolve, becoming more quantitative and comprehensive in its evaluation of management efforts.

Slideshow

2011 Eco-Audit of Mesoamerica Reef Countries

View more presentations from World Resources Institute (WRI)

Reefs at Risk in the Atlantic/Caribbean

Maggie Barron — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:07:01 -0500

More than 75 percent of the coral reefs in the Atlantic region are at risk from local threats (i.e., coastal development, overfishing/destructive fishing, marine-based pollution, and/or watershed-based pollution), with over 30 percent in the high and very high threat categories. The least-threatened reefs are almost entirely in areas remote from large land areas, such as the Bahamas, the southern Gulf of Mexico, and the oceanic reefs of Honduras and Nicaragua. The insular Caribbean is particularly threatened: from Jamaica through to the Lesser Antilles, more than 90 percent of all reefs are threatened, with nearly 70 percent classified as high or very high threat.

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View reefs at risk in Brazil
View global map of threats to coral reefs

Maya Nut Trees Make A Comeback

Karen Bennett — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:43:07 -0400

In Central America, the Maya Nut is making it clear that trees are worth more standing than cut down.

Photo by elliebrown/Flickr

Trees are critical to the well being of forest inhabitants in Central America. Ironically though, many forest dependent communities find it pays more to cut trees down than to keep them standing. That’s because timber can be used for firewood, building material, or sold internationally, and cleared land can genreate income from agricultural products. Unfortunately, deforestation eliminates other ecosystem services that forests provide, such as climate regulation, soil retention, and water regulation. As current deforestation rates attest, many of these forest benefits have received little recognition.

That is starting to change. For the past few years, 56 women in Ixlu, Guatemala, which is located on the border of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, have discovered the financial potential of many of the forest’s often overlooked services. They founded a business to market the Maya Nut, also known as the Breadnut or Ramón. Dried and roasted, the Maya Nut can taste like chocolate or coffee and can be used to make cereal, cookies, cakes and other foods.

The Maya Nut is native to the rainforests of Central America, but it is currently endangered by unsustainable practices. But Alimentos Nutri Naturales, the business owned by the Ixlu women, recognizes that the Maya Nut has the potential to be one of the world’s most profitable non-timber forest products. They employ more than 650 people from the community, providing them with food and a steady income. The women of Ixlu have partnered with their local government to have Maya Nut given to schoolchildren as a nutritious snack.

The formation and success of this company is one outcome of work by the Equilibrium Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to gathering indigenous knowledge on the value and uses of the Maya Nut tree and distributing that knowledge to local women in Central America. The Equilibrium Fund works with hundreds of villages in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras to provide them with the knowledge and incentives to maintain and replant Maya Nut forests. As a result, locals have planted 200,000 Maya Nut trees, with plans for many more. In the process they have conserved 90,000 hectares of existing forest. With this preservation comes increased food (one tree alone can be the source of up to 400 pounds of food every year), income, and stability (through climate regulation, erosion regulation, and other services) for the residents of these countries.

Value from the Maya Nut tree’s other ecosystem services is also being captured. The Equilibrium Fund recently started a project to reforest Maya Nut trees to offset carbon dioxide emissions. And women in Chinandega, Nicaragua are working with their local government to plant tens of thousands of trees to protect watersheds.

Maya Nut trees now provide a sustainable source of food and income to local populations while safeguarding Central American communities by regulating natural processes. According to one participant, Juan Jose Interiano, “I cut four huge Maya Nut trees this year because I thought they were worthless, now I am reforesting because I know how valuable they are.”

Latin American Leader Roberto Artavia Elected to WRI Board

Paul Mackie — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:40:29 -0400

The World Resources Institute (WRI) has elected Roberto Artavia to its board of directors. Artavia is a distinguished leader in business education, conservation of marine resources, and sustainable development in Latin America.

“We are honored to have Roberto as the newest member of our distinguished board of directors,” said WRI President Jonathan Lash. “His commitment to education and sustainable development, and his deep experience in Latin America, will be invaluable additions to our global efforts.”

Artavia officially joins the board today during its twice-annual meeting at WRI headquarters here in Washington D.C.

A doctoral graduate of Harvard University Graduate School of Business, Artavia most recently served as president of INCAE Business School. He was previously a director and then dean at that school, and continues to serve on its board.

He is the recipient of awards given to foreign citizens by the governments of Guatemala and Panama for his contributions to progress in competitiveness and sustainability.

In 1996, Artavia was the founding director of the Latin American Centre for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development, a think tank on topics including industrial competitiveness, sustainable development, and institutional innovation. In 2004, he co-founded the Central American Leadership Initiative.

Artavia is the president of Marviva de Costa Rica, a non-profit organization devoted to the protection and conservation of marine resources, and the Protector of Viva Trust, the largest philanthropic organization focused on the sustainable development of Latin America.

He currently serves as strategic advisor to the Panama Canal Authority, the Foundation for Economic and Social Development of Guatemala, and several other organizations in Latin America. Artavia is on the board of the Costa Rica Presidential Commission on Renewable Energy. He advises numerous governments, development banks, and academic and development organizations in the topics of his expertise.

Artavia joins a board that also includes Chairman James A. Harmon; Vice-Chair Harriett Babitt; Chairman Emeritus William D. Ruckelshaus; Gay Barclay; Frances G. Beinecke; Afsaneh Beschloss; Antony Burgmans; Fernando Henrique Cardoso; Jessica Catto; Leslie Dach; Jamshyd N. Godrej; Al Gore; Denis Hayes; Aditi Kapoor; Jonathan Lash; Gretchen Long; Preston R. Miller, Jr.; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; James W. Owens; Michael Polsky; C.K. Prahalad; Qian Yi; Theodore Roosevelt IV; Stephen M. Ross; Alison Sander; José Sarukhan; James Gustave Speth; Ralph Taylor; Lee M. Thomas; Todd S. Thomson; and Diana H. Wall.

Watershed Analysis for the Mesoamerican Reef

Richard Waite — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0500

En Español

Under the Watershed Management Theme of the ICRAN MAR partnership, WRI led a two-year, collaborative effort to evaluate the land-based threats posed to the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) from human alterations of the landscape.

The analysis quantifies sediment and nutrients coming from over 400 watersheds that discharge along the MAR. The analysis seeks to inform land-use planning, agricultural policy and practice, conservation priorities, and coastal threat mitigation efforts. It is the first of this scope and level of detail for the MAR region.

Specifically, the analysis evaluates the amount of sediment and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) coming from each plot of land; the amount of eroded sediment and nutrients reaching the river mouth; and the amount of sediment reaching the reef. It also provides estimates of the increases in sediment and nutrient delivery that have resulted from human activities, and predictions of future sediment and nutrient delivery in 2025 based on varying land-use scenarios.

The results provide a preliminary overview of regional patterns of sediment and nutrient runoff and delivery, and indicate how human alteration of the landscape can influence these patterns.

To ensure that the project’s results and analytical methods support concrete action, WRI has made the underlying data, analytical methods, and modeling tools publicly available, and has conducted extensive training sessions in the region. Policymakers can implement targeted analyses in smaller areas, calibrating them to local conditions.

Watershed Analysis for the Mesoamerican Reef Data CD – The CD contains all data used in the analysis, with accompanying metadata as well as all of the model results. To order the CD, please contact reefsatrisk@wri.org or lagudelo@icran.org.

En Español

Bajo el componente de Manejo de Cuencas de la Alianza ICRAN-MAR, el Instituto de los Recursos Mundiales (WRI) lideró un esfuerzo colaborativo de dos años para evaluar las amenazas sobre el Arrecife Mesoamericano (MAR) provocadas por alteraciones humanas al paisaje terrestre.

El análisis cuantifica el sedimento y los nutrientes provenientes de 400 cuencas que descargan en el MAR. El propósito de este análisis es proporcionar información para los planes ordenamiento territorial, las políticas y prácticas agrícolas, las prioridades de conservación y los esfuerzos de mitigación de amenazas costeras. Este análisis es el primero de este alcance y nivel de detalle para la región del MAR.

El análisis evalúa la cantidad de sedimento y nutrientes (nitrógeno y fósforo) que se originan en cada parcela de tierra, la cantidad de sedimento erosionado y nutrientes que drenan a la desembocadura de los ríos, así como la cantidad de sedimento que llega al arrecife. Adicionalmente, el análisis proporciona un valor estimado de los incrementos en sedimento y descarga de nutrientes que han resultado como consecuencia de actividades humanas; también entrega varias predicciones de descarga de sedimento y nutrientes para el año 2025, basadas en diferentes escenarios de uso del suelo.

Los resultados proporcionan una visión general de los patrones regionales de escorrentía y descarga de sedimentos y nutrientes, e indican cómo la alteración humana del paisaje puede influir sobre estos patrones.

Para garantizar que los resultados del proyecto y los métodos analíticos apoyen acciones concretas en la región, WRI ha dispuesto que los datos de base, los métodos analíticos y las herramientas de modelación estén disponibles al público en general, y ha efectuado extensas sesiones de entrenamiento en la región. Los encargados de desarrollar políticas pueden realizar análisis más específicos en áreas más pequeñas, calibrando estas herramientas a sus condiciones locales.

Análisis de Cuencas para el Arrecife Mesoamericano CD – contiene todos los datos utilizados en el análisis, así como los metadatos de acompañamiento y los resultados de la modelación. Para ordenar el CD, por favor contácte reefsatrisk@wri.org o lagudelo@icran.org.