5. Interviews with national forestry and environmental professionals

This section summarises interviews and discussions conducted in Guatemala.

Poverty: Poor communities depend on their own agriculture production and fuelwood collection. Forests are cleared and converted to agriculture land.

Strength of the agriculture sector: The socio-economic development model is based on agriculture production. Society is stratified into rich (agriculture exportation) and poor people (agriculture dependency). Rich people are more interested in the production of crops such as cotton, sugar cane and coffee for export rather than forest management. Poor people own very small pieces of land that they use mainly for subsistence agriculture.

Land Reform: Agricultural reform began during the 1940's. All the "unused" land was made available for distribution to landless people. The concept of " unused" referred to those lands that were not already devoted to agriculture or cattle production, mainly forested areas. The social reaction to establish and protect land ownership was to clear the land so that it would be perceived as "used" land.

Decrees 900 and 1551 (1944 and 1954) had a big impact on forest cover change. They basically gave the "unused" land, which was mainly forestland, over to small- and medium-scale agriculture. A total of 107 national farms totalling around 173 000 ha (excluding Peten) were given to campesino associations.

Colonisation process: One of the biggest problems that Guatemala has faced is claims for land. At the beginning of the armed conflict (1960), campesinos asked for land and property rights, especially in the southern part of Guatemala where large properties and better soils are located (latifundios), mainly used for agriculture export production. Campesinos and indigenous people work in these areas on a temporary basis.

In order to reduce the pressure on the South, the Government established a colonisation program in Peten (1960-1980) the largest expanse of forest in Central America. People who moved to Peten could acquire title to the land. The soil conditions in Peten are not good for agriculture and the people that migrated to this area did not have the knowledge to survive by using the forest. Shifting cultivation practices were established and forest cover was depleted.

Land and forest tenure: Land tenure has been uncertain, especially in the Guatemalan highlands, which are the areas that have the greatest potential use for forestry. People here have a high dependence on agriculture production and fuel-wood collection from National Forests. Land titles do not exist and people can be moved off the land at any time (as happened during the 1960’s). People do not have any incentive to invest time and effort in forest plantations or reforestation programs that take a long time to produce revenue.

Political instability: The 36 years of war provoked a lot of internal and external migration. The places that were selected as new home areas ("agarradas" – encroachment) were usually forested areas located in Izabal, Peten or Franja Transversal del Norte. After the armed conflict, forests areas were selected as repatriation and refugee camps.

Fuelwood is the major source of energy in the countryside, but there are no forest plantations or alternative energy programs for this purpose. Fuel-wood consumption has increased. The last evaluation of CO₂ sequestration found that the amount of CO₂produced by fuel-wood consumption was twice as large as the amount of CO₂ produced by national industry.

Agriculture and forestry policies have not been complementary. Guatemala has primarily been an agriculture export country even though 51.1% of the territory has potential use for forestry. The Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Alimentación provided subsidies and extension and training programmes for agriculture and cattle production. Even though forests are also a responsibility of this Ministry, there was little co-ordination between the agriculture and forestry offices. With the creation of INAB, better co-ordination is now taking place and subsidies for agriculture are not given in areas with potential forestry use.

Instability of forestry policy and legislation: Forestry policy and law changed four times in the same period that it takes a pine tree to grow. This instability, and the ambiguity of the laws, makes the forestry sector an unattractive sector for investment. Forest cover will reach stability through the protected areas policies, but forestry industry will never be a source of major investment as long as the laws and regulations change so often. There are just four main forest industries and they produce mainly for internal use and only a little for export.

Conservation vs. preservation: Some of those interviewed felt that radical environmental movements were destroying the forestry industry. Society needs to give forests a real value in terms of income and the production of goods and services. The preservationists idea of the forests is not realistic and is usually promoted in urban areas by elite groups. In rural areas, it is easier encourage sustainable management of forests. At INAB they receive more requests for assistance with isolated trees in urban areas than for the development of management plans for forested areas.

Change of land tenure systems from communal (indigenous perspective) to individual (colonial perspective): Patterns of inheritance have influenced land use. The land is divided into parcels and distributed among the children. These parcels (minifundio) become increasingly fragmented over time. When the "parcela" is very small, forestry and agriculture compete. People usually prefer crops because of subsistence and cash income. Agriculture may affect the soil condition due to more intensive use of the parcel. This is especially true in the highlands of Guatemala where the topography and soil conditions are not appropriate for agriculture. When the soil loses its productivity capacity people often migrate to National Forest areas and adopt a shifting cultivation strategy.

Enforcement of forestry and environmental laws: Even where laws and regulations are in place, they are not always enforced. Government organisations are very weak, with few people, and cannot respond to all the requirements written into law and regulation. Corruption is also problem.

Oil exploration and exploitation activities are closely monitored and generally comply with environmental laws and regulations. The real problem is migration to areas where this activity is taking place with the expectation of jobs. People settle in these areas without any guidance, training or advice on how to survive in forested areas. Oil companies only provide housing and facilities for the people that work directly for them. Other people that move to the area must fend for themselves, and rampant growth in some areas has had a serious effect on the forest.

Programa Incentivos Forestales PINFOR (Program for forestry incentives). This program provides US$ 800 for every 2 hectares of forest planted or natural forest area managed. An individual or a collective group must own the land. The objective of this incentive is to compete with agriculture subsidies and to reduce the investment that is needed to develop a forest plantation. The target groups are landowners that traditionally have invested in agriculture. New types of incentives for non-landowners are now under consideration in the National Congress.

Positive awareness related to urban forests. Environmental groups have created a civil consciousness in relation to urban forests. Three newspaper articles on urban forestry were seen while in Guatemala. The Colectivo Madre Selva is an environmental NGO promoting urban forestry in Guatemala City. A new project, Programa de Silvicultura Urbana, will be implemented in Guatemala City, co-ordinated by the Oficina de la Región Metropolitana (Metropolitan Regional Area).

Forestry cluster: INAB developed a research program in order to define the different factors that can make the forest industry competitive (education, technical advice, harvesting and marketing of forest and non-timber products, export of raw material, export of forest products, etc). The results were presented at the Primera Exposición de la Industria Maderera en Guatemala (First exposition of the wood industry), organised by the Gremial de Exportadores de Productos no Tradicionales, the Camara Nacional de Empresarios and INAB. It was open to national and international industries interested in high quality wood, furniture and doors. Other sectors such as transportation, ports, machinery, etc., also attended the exposition.

Carbon sequestration programs are one of the priority projects for Fundación Solar. Basic research has been done and negotiation with possible partners will take place in November.

Communal forestry concessions: Programs for long-term forest management by local groups have been promoted in Peten. Communities get rights to the forest and assume responsibility for implementing the management plan. The only difficulty is that the development of the management plan depends on external financial support, especially from international NGO's. Market mechanisms are also still very weak, especially for non-timber products.

Fire control: Last year fires affected the region, especially the National Forests. This year forest fires were reduced, largely due to an intensive information campaign and communal forestry concessions. The Guatemalan Vice president mentioned that the previous year’s experience in fire control built human capacity to react to natural disasters. The organisation and communications mechanisms that were used during the fire emergency were also used during Hurricane Mitch with very good results. This mechanism is now been adopted by the Comisión Nacional de Emergencia (Emergency National Commission).

Shifting cultivation practices in Peten have not been extended into other protected areas or forested lands, but are now taking place mainly in areas already cleared. This means that deforestation has decreased.

Coherent agriculture and forestry policy: The Ministry now gives agriculture support only in areas that are appropriate for this use. The MAGA has very clear agriculture policy for traditional crop production and export (sugar cane, coffee, bananas and cotton) but not for non-traditional and subsistence agriculture, especially maize and beans. PROARCA-CAPAS is working on the co-ordination and development of inter-regional forestry policy and supporting the CCAB-AP on certification mechanisms, communal concessions, protected areas policy and mangrove protection (PROARCA-CAPAS team, personal communication).