Usar p⁄gs xvii-134 - ResearchGate

Lowland forests can be considered the most vulnerable of forest types in the Guayana region, giventhe small percentage (less than 20 percent) of these forests under strict protection and the relativelylarge percentage (58 percent) that has been allocated for extractive uses. These forests include keyecosystems for the conservation of certain groups of wildlife species that demonstrate a high degreeof diversity in neotropical environments (see Chapter 3). In addition, lowland forests are importantfor the conservation of the nation’s socio-cultural diversity represented by its indigenous heritage(see Chapter 4, Questions 10-11).• QUESTION 3How have protected areas been managed in Venezuela?Lack of on-the-ground management hampers the conservation of existing strictly protected areas.Although the protected areas network is extensive, little has been done to manage these areas effectively(see Box 4). For example:• Only 15 percent of protected areas in Venezuela have approved land-use and zoning plans(Planes de Ordenamiento y Reglamento de Uso), a fundamental tool for protected areas management.This situation is especially problematic in the Guayana region, where only theImataca Forest Reserve and the eastern sector of Canaima National Park have approved theseadministrative tools (see Table 3).• Even in these protected areas, the land-use plans have not been implemented. The zoningplan for the Imataca Forest Reserve has been challenged in court (see Box 1), and the land-useplan for the eastern sector of Canaima National Park has not been updated since its approvalin 1991.Another management problem that has not been adequately addressed is that indigenous peopleshave not been incorporated into protected areas management plans. Many indigenous groups arelong-time residents in protected areas and may have been living in these areas before they were designatedas protected. 28 Given the increasing pressures to convert these areas to other uses (seeChapter 4), it is unlikely that conservation measures will succeed if local inhabitants continue to beexcluded as managers of these areas.22