Hope for the bird of paradise

Environmental organisations in Guatemala want to put money from industry to use to protect the country's cloud forests. Their idea is as follows: to have downstream water users such as companies and communities compensate the forest conservation efforts of those upstream. This novel water project is being supported by Swiss Re and is exemplary in the way it serves the interests of natural preservation, society and industry.

Water drips from the fronds of the ferns; the loamy soil is slippery in places. Caesar Tot, Q'eqchi Indian and Director of the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve, points out a massive oak tree through the mist: "I've seen quetzals there before ." But we won't be seeing any of the shy birds today. "They are hiding from the rain," Tot explains. But even in good weather, the quetzal is becoming an increasingly rare sight. If we continue to destroy the quetzal's habitat at the present rate, we will soon be seeing the bird spread its wings only on Guatemalan bank notes. If nothing is done to protect this species, which is shrouded in legend, it will soon be heading for extinction.

The Sierra de las Minas is the largest remaining habitat of the Maya's revered bird of paradise. Since 1990 the mountain chain has been a protected biosphere reserve. The national environmental organisation, Defensores de la Naturaleza, manages the reserve. Caesar Tot, who is guiding us through the cloud forest, is a dedicated conservationist. "This forest is home to the most diverse range of species in Central America," he says. "It houses more than three-quarters of all the flora and fauna to be found in Guatemala and Belize. A lot of these species do not exist anywhere else in the world."

But it is not only the flora and fauna that depend on the cloud forest for their survival; so do the people who live in the foothills of the mountain chain. Living in one of the driest regions of Central America - the Motagua Valley - their very existence depends on the precious resource that comes from the more than thirty streams that have their source in the cloud forest. Rain is so extremely rare here that the future of almost half a million people - most of whom are farmers - is fully dependent on the water that flows down from the Sierra mountain range. Around 500 villages, factories and the agroindustry that produces melons for Del Monte compete for this scarce natural resource. And not without consequences: the Motagua carries less and less water each year and the water table sinks lower and lower.

Too many forest fires

Experts believe one reason for the dwindling water supply to be the overexploitation of water by the companies and communities in the area. However, the root of the problem is a lot deeper - or higher - because even the streams that cascade untouched from the mountains carry less and less water each year. The main reasons for the reduction in water supply is the indiscriminate use of slash and burn techniques to clear away forest. "Less forest means less water," is how Director of Defensores de la Naturaleza, Oscar Nuñez, sums up the problem. The exposed soil cannot retain the rainwater and thus loses its water-retaining function.

"The pressure on the Sierra is increasing," says Nuñez. This can be seen by the great number of people who carry firewood day in day out to their villages situated lower down the slopes. You see women carrying huge branches and men with bundles of firewood on their backs; even the children drag along home as much wood as they can. They can no longer find anything near their village that will keep their fire burning. Every day the villagers have to climb a little higher into the mountains to find wood.

The evening wood-collecting caravans are a depressing sight for Oscar Nuñez. But they aren't his greatest worry: "What is a lot worse are the forest fires that people lay on purpose to make way for new areas for planting and grazing." "The fire-ravaged expanses of former forest where farmers proceed to plant corn and coffee are already exhausted five years later," explains Nuñez.

 
Once money flows upstream

Prompted by the close connection between fire devastation and dwindling water resources, a couple of years ago Oscar Nuñez had the idea of establishing a link between water usage downstream and the protection of the cloud forest. Defensores and their partners from the WWF Central America have since worked on the idea and come up with a so-called water fund (see box): Companies and communities located downstream are to be given the opportunity to make voluntary contributions for using the water downstream to finance the forest protection measures being taken by those living upstream. For the first time in the region, someone will finally compensate for the damage wrought to the environment and for the social consequences of the overexploitation of forests and water. Melissa Edwards, Freshwater Program Officer at the WWF, believes: "Once money flows upstream, enough water will flow downstream."

The water fund project is soon to be realised and the environmental organisations involved have completed the extensive planning phase. The project has also received support from Switzerland: reinsurer Swiss Re conferred its ReSource Award on the project, a prize for sustainable watershed management worth USD 70,000 (see box). The initiative has a firm foundation as it involves a lot of contact with companies, local governments and the local population. Those responsible for the project now want to open the fund during the course of the next few months.

 
Counting on people's own interests

A number of municipalities have already shown interest in supporting the water fund. One example being the Mayor of San Augustin Acasaguastlán, who is responsible for 22 villages and who has high hopes for this unique initiative: "We would like to work with Defensores de la Naturaleza. With their help, we can find a solution to our own problems. This is why we are willing to contribute to the water fund."

Besides the communities, there are hopes that the major water consumers - ie industry and businesses - will get involved in the project. The chances of their involvement look extremely good because their key resource, water, is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity for most of them in the Motagua Valley. By contributing to the water fund, they can make a contribution to conserving this resource.

The paper factory, PAINSA, for example, wants to be involved. "Water accounts for 99.5% of the raw material used in the manufacture of paper, " says director of the plant, Rommel Najera. "However, towards the end of the dry season in April, the Motagua is often so parched that we have to switch off one or two of our three machines." Sometimes it is even worse: "In 1998 we had to actually bring production to a complete halt for a number of days. There was simply no more water; the river had dried up."

"Factory managers such as Najera are very much aware of the importance of water," says Melissa Edwards. "They understand how important it is to do something. But not all companies can warm to the idea of having to pay for the water which they have always drawn from the river or pumped up from the water table for free." Defensores and WWF are thus in the process of providing an incentive to these companies to participate in the water fund. They are to benefit from the services of the Cleaner Production Centre, which advises companies on how to manufacture their goods more efficiently, ecologically and thus more cheaply. A portion of the money saved will flow into the water fund.

 
Better living conditions

One of the potential beneficiaries of the water fund is Carlos Alvarez. This old mestizo lives in Albores, a village located in the centre of Sierra de las Minas. He nods thoughtfully in response to the question as to whether he would be willing to help preserve the forest. Like most farmers in Albores he is ready to do his part. "That is if someone helps us and pays for the additional work involved." Projects that draw on the proceeds from the water fund such as the production of environmentally friendly organic coffee could represent an urgently needed source of income for farmers. They can barely scratch a living from coffee today as the price of coffee has plummeted on the international market.

Defensores de la Naturaleza aims to work out alternatives to exploiting the cloud forest. Experts working in this well-established environmental organisation are advising farmers on switching to a more environmentally friendly method of cultivation known as "agroforestry," which combines sustainable forestry with agricultural practices. "We show the farmers that they can exist and even earn a better living without having to burn parts of the forest to the ground. This is the best way to protect the forest," comments Oscar Nuñez from Defensores de la Naturaleza.

Just as important as preventing slash and burn techniques is reforestation. Using the proceeds from the water fund, conservationists want to compensate farmers for the planting of trees and train them in how to fight forest fires.

All of the measures that are to be financed by the water fund have one thing in common: they not only protect the cloud forest but also offer its inhabitants a source of additional income. This is sorely needed as the fate of the cloud forest and the quetzal is intrinsically linked with the well-being of those living in the region. The chances of the real quetzal surviving will only improve once people in the Sierras have a few more Quetzal notes in their pockets. Thanks to the water fund, the little bird's prospects of survival have improved.

 
Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve

The Sierra de las Minas in southeast Guatemala was decreed a biosphere reserve by the Guatemalan government in 1990. Biosphere reserves, which are a preservation concept developed by the UN, do not only serve a conservation function but also foster appropriate sustainable development in a large portion of their territory.

The Sierra de las Minas occupies approximately 240,000 hectares, making it just a little smaller than the Canton of Ticino. The cloud forest is at the core of the reserve, occupying a quarter of its area. Here, human intervention is prohibited in any shape or form. The forest is home to almost 900 species of mammals, birds and reptiles. Experts have designated the Sierra de las Minas as one of the world's most important genetic banks for tropical conifers.

  
How the water fund works

The water fund is to be financed via contributions from water users and by interest income earned by a USD 5 million trust fund, which will be financed by major international donor organisations such as the World Bank. The water fund will be managed by a foundation comprising a maximum of seven members. This foundation will include representatives of the biggest user groups - industry, agriculture, hydroelectric plants - and local authorities as well as those of the environmental organisation, Defensores de la Naturaleza, which initiated the water fund.
 

ReSource Award for Sustainable Watershed Management (entry page) 

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