The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

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The cultural context of biodiversity conservation
natural resources in the area. Many of the peasants settled without legal land titles, so
that differentiating claims caused a large number of land-use conflicts within and between
the communities. In socio-economic terms, the population lives in conditions
of extreme poverty. 61 Besides the high level of legal uncertainty in terms of land titling
and property registration, there is no institutional support by the government for the
improvement of living conditions in the communities, particularly in terms of infrastructure,
technical or financial assistance programmes. The presence of NGOs is also
very limited in the area. Due to poor farming surpluses and returns of labour investment,
incomes are very low. As the access to the market is limited, the mechanisms of
local commercialisation of agricultural products and livestock are controlled by a
number of middlemen whose prices in many cases not even meet production costs.
The lack of regional markets for cash crops allow the merchants – commonly Ladinos
– to make price agreements among themselves and fix prices for the villagers.
The extension of the agricultural frontier with cultivation of annual crops like
maize and beans and the low returns of agricultural activities have provoked an increased
extension of extractive activities of resources within the park limits. Due to
the need for land and the general lack of economic alternatives, environmental functions
and wild resources within the park form an integral part of the subsistence economy
of the neighbouring communities. Consequently, although forbidden by the authorities,
cases of logging, hunting and gathering have occurred repeatedly within the
limits of the park. In particular, selective harvesting of high-value hardwoods such as
mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) has been reported as they offer an attractive economic
option for the villagers. 62 Such encroachment and extractive activities led to a series of
intense conflicts between parts of the population and the park agents as the following
article documents that was published in the national newspaper El Diario in March 2003.
Invaden parque Lachuá – son familias campesinas
Ixcán El paque nacional Laguna de Lachuá fue invadido por once familias de la comunidad Salacuín,
quienes talaron 2.4 hectáreas de bosque, confirmó el director del parque, Marvin Turcios, del Instituto
Nacional de Bosque (INAB). »Los campesinos levantaron tres galeras, donde se quedan a dormir y éste
puede provocar que lleguen más invasores«, indicó Turcios a Nuestro Diario.
Denuncia »El 13 de marzo presentamos la denuncia de esta invasión a la Fiscalia del Medio Ambiente
del Ministerio Público de Cobán, para que ordene el desalojo«, indicó el funcionario. Los equipos de monitoreo
intentan dialogar con vecinos de las 17 comunidades que viven en los alrededores del parque Lachuá
para evitar que sea invadida, señaló Hector Nufio, director del INAB en Alta Verapaz. 63
61 Alta Verapaz has the second lowest human development index of Guatemala, which is just exceeded
by the department Quiché (Reinoso et al. 2001: 24).
62 Reinoso et al. (2001) refer to a particular case that occurred in 1999, when around 900 mahogany
trees were felled illegally inside the park by residents of the adjoining communities.
63 El Diario (3-20-2003, p. 8); the article reports that eleven families from the community Salacuín had
squatted illegally on park land and felled 2.4 ha of forest. According to the park director, Marvin
Turcios of the National Forest Institute (INAB), the peasants had put up three sheds to stay over-