ProPeten - Projects, La Guna del Tigre National Park, Maya Biosphere Reserve

The Maya Biosphere Reserve is one of the principal conservation areas in Guatemala and contains approximately 1.6 million hectares of tropical forest. The presence of different social groups has created a special social dynamic inside the park. Community needs and interests must be balanced between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples and between native inhabitants and immigrants to the region. The ProPeten Foundation has collaborated on development projects with and given technical assistance to the various park communities for more than a decade.

The Small Integrated Farms project is based on the "Passing on the Gift" approach promoted by Heifer International. Under this approach, participating families are given a number of animals, and when those animals reproduce the family must give an equal number of equal quality animals to another interested family, thus "passing the gift." Furthermore, ProPeten provides supplies such as seeds and tools to set up small organic family farms. We also give technical assistance on the management of the animals and the production of organic agriculture products. To date, the project involves eight communities.

Help participating families acquire and apply principles of organization, participation, and productive development.
Improve family nutrition of the communities through the production of nutritious animals and vegetables.
Encourage agricultural practices compatible with the natural environment.
Involve women in the production process so they can help provide the families' economic resources.

Communities Involved: Cruce a dos Aguadas, Corozal, San Pedro, Jobompiche, Nueva San José, San José, San Andrés, and Paso Caballos.

Institutions Involved: ProPeten Foundation, National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), and the municipalities of San Andrés and San José.

Achievements: The first phase of the project benefitted 165 families in three communities of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, improving their nutrition and economic situations.

Future Plans: ProPeten is launching a new phase of the project that will involve over 200 families initially in 8 communities. The organization is currently conducting trainings for these initial families and will expand the project during the next three years with funding from Heifer International.

Donors: Heifer International is the primary donor for the Integrated Small Farms Project. Nevertheless, ProPeten still seeks additional funds to complement Heifer's donation and expand the program.

The Itzá Biosphere Reserve is a 36 square kilometer area adjacent to Tikal National Park and the El Zotz Biotope, both important conservation sites in Guatemala. The reserve is currently managed by the Association for the Protection of the Itzá Biosphere (Association Bio Itzá) and inhabited by the Maya Itzá, one of the indigenous groups native to the Peten region. With the support of ProPeten, the Association Bio Itzá was granted funding from the World Bank's Global Environment Fund as a Medium Sized Project. This grant will strengthen the association's capacity and ensure the adequate management of the resources present in the reserve. This project is comprised of five components, each of which is developed through concrete actions that are integrated into one framework. The components are: 1) Strengthen administrative financial systems and communication of the association, 2) Reinforce a strategy for the Biodiversity Management Plan for the reserve, 3) Create a monitoring and evaluation plan for socioeconomic and biodiveristy data, 4) Devise and establish a center for information, training, and investigation, and 5) Provide technical assistance.

Objective: Ensure the conservation of cultural resources and biodiversity of the Itzá Biosphere Reserve, thereby contributing to the conservation of Tikal National Park, the El Zotz Biotope, and other important conservation areas in the Maya Biosphere Reserve.

Communities Involved: San José, especially the Bio Itzá Association. The communities of Cruce a dos Aguadas, Corozal, San Pedro, Jobompiche, and Nueva San José are also within the project's area of influence.

Institutions Involved: ProPeten Foundation, Tikal National Park, Center of Conservation Studies at the University of San Carlos (CECON), National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), the municipality of San José, and the municipal and departmental committees for the reduction of disasters.

Achievements: The staff of the Association Bio Itzá have begun a process of training to increase their capacity. The park guards for the reserve have been trained on biological data collection, fire fighting, forest management, and monitoring. At the administrative level, the management of economic resources has been strengthened. The association is in the process of finishing the design of the Management Plan for the Reserve as well as the Public Use Plan. Moreover, work with the surrounding communities to involve them in the activities of the association. Another important achievement is the start of a program to involve youth in leadership positions for the association by mentoring technical staff from ProPeten.

Future Plans: Establish a system for monitoring the project. Fill funding gaps in program through adquisition of additional donors.

Sustainable Use and Management of the Xate Resource in the Community of Paso Caballos

Paso Caballos is a community of 121 families of the Q'eqchi indigenous Maya group and is located on the southeast side of Laguna del Tigre National Park. Traditionally, their economy is based on subsistence agriculture, a practice that can put much pressure on nearby forest resources. With the help of ProPeten, the community has developed the Xate Management Project. The project is designed to transfer sustainable Xate production technology to the community of Paso Caballos as a social, ecological, and economic alternative. Xate is a plant that grows naturally in the forests of Peten and is exported for use in floral arrangements. Unsustainable harvest of Xate is threatening this resource. This project consists of multiple phases. The first phase was implemented in March, 2003 and culminates in March, 2004. This phase involves the training of participating families in the establishment of Xate plantations, the purchase of seeds, and the creation of nurseries with the goal of establishing these plantations in the community forest reserve and on individual parcels for each family. The second phase starts in April, 2004 and involves training and technical support for sustainable management of Xate plantations as well as natural populations of Xate in the forest. This phase will involve the establishment of a community business to market this product.

Institutions Involved: ProPeten Foundation, National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), the municipality of San Andrés, and the Scarlet Macaw Biological Station.

Twenty families have adopted the Xate production technology.
A nursury with more than 30,000 Xate plants has been established.
A strategy for the prevention and control of forest fires has been designed and implemented.
Some commercial trials of Xate have been made, motivating more participants to join the project.

Future Plans: Involve new families and begin an additional related project regarding the use of non-timber resources. Secure funding to implement future plans.

Donors: The principal donor is the National Conservation Fund of Guatemala (FONACON). In addition, some funding comes from Heifer Project International, Toyota Foundation, FIPA, and Proyecto Waka due to overlap between this project and other development projects within ProPeten.

Development of Land Use Agreements in the Communities of Laguna del Tigre National Park

Laguna del Tigre National Park contains more than 25 communities, most of which are settled illegally. Fewer than five of these communities have signed land use agreements with the Guatemalan government that permit them to both live within well-defined areas and engage in activities that minimize the impact of their presence. Three of these communities, Paso Caballos, Buen Samaritano, and Mirador Chocop, are located in the extreme southeast of the park on the shores of the San Pedro River. These three communities have reached such aformentioned agreements with the government. Of these three, the greatest advances have been made in Paso Caballos.

In the framework of the Peace Funds, promoted by USAID Guatemala, the goal is to provide economic alternatives to the communities through fast acting projects that help families comply with the agreements made between them and the government. The project will organize the Community Development Council (COCODES), update the Territory Legistlation Plans for each community, finish defining the limits of the lots, and establish a portfolio of projects that can be executed in each community under the consent of the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP).

Lead a process re-activating and re-defining the Cooperation Agreement between the communities of Paso Caballos, Buen Samaritano, and Mirador Chocop and also CONAP that is oriented to the identification and preparation of sustainable development projects.
Prepare, and/or, update the territorial legislation plans for each community based on production base aptitudes, capacity, and the revision of lots.
Identify and prepare a portfolio of projects that are oriented to cooperative technical and financial management surrounding community businesses in compliance with the Laguna del Tigre National Park.

Institutions Involved: ProPeten Foundation, National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), and the municipality of San Andrés.

Achievements: Community Development Councils have been organized in three communities. We have organized and trained fire control and prevention crews, and revised the existing legislation plans in the same way as the Intention Agreements in 1997 and 1998 were revised.

One of the primary focuses of ProPeten is the health of the population and the natural environment and the connection that exists between the two. Before the start of Remedios II, ProPeten managed a project called Remedios I, which contributed to the lowering of the birth rate from 6.8 to 5.8 in the department of Peten (Information obtained from the survey of Maternal and Infant Health, 2002, Guatemala). Remedios II involves two projects: The Mobile Biosphere and a radio program. The Mobile Biosphere is a vehicle equipped with audiovisual equipment, puppets, tools, and a multidisciplinary team of actors and professionals. This team visits communities within and surrounding the Mayan Biosphere Reserve, distributing information in regard to conservation of natural resources, reproductive health, nutrition, organic agriculture and other related themes. The radio program has the potential to reach 200,000 listeners and will promote the theme of sexual and reproductive health. At the same time, the story told through the program will explore problems related to the conservation of natural resources in the area. Remedios II will train men as well, since Remedios I focussed exclusively on women.