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EcoLogic Development Fund
Electronic Newsletter
V O L U M E I I F A L L 1 9 9 4
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PO Box 3405; Cambridge, MA 02238-3405; United States
EMAIL: SPAUL@IGC.APC.ORG
The EcoLogic Development Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
protecting significant tropical ecosystems and advancing economic self-
determination of local communities in threatened habitats. EcoLogic
provides direct financial and technical support to Latin American
organizations that promote community-based development and resource
management projects in areas where the fate of local people depends on the
health of endangered habitats.
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I N T H I S I S S U E :
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NOTES FROM THE FIELD
by EcoLogic's Program Director
Integrating Conservation & Development
in Punta de Manabique, Guatemala
INTERVIEW WITH A GUATEMALAN FISHERMAN ON COMMUNITY-
BASED CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT
MAYAN PERSPECTIVES ON CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT
ECOLOGIC PROFILE OF A MAYAN LEADER: Mariano Cox
Popular Maya Organizations and Their Federation
Representative's Reflections on Indigenous
Development Models and Biodiversity Conservation
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NOTES FROM THE FIELD:
Integrating Conservation & Development in Punta de Manabique, Guatemala
BY SHAUN PAUL, EcoLogic Program Director
For nearly a year, EcoLogic has been working with the Guatemalan Mario Dary
Foundation (FUNDARY) to address the social and environmental conditions of
local people along Guatemala's Caribbean coast. FUNDARY seeks to improve
social conditions and establish an ecological reserve that will permit
small-scale, low-impact natural resource use while preventing inappropriate
development.
Punta de Manabique, an area of 870 square miles, contains great ecological
diversity in varied terrestrial and aquatic habitats. The extremely poor
local population of 1,000 relies primarily on subsistence fishing.
Last spring, I spent one month in Punta de Manabique, living and working
with local residents. Repeatedly, I saw that their ability to create
positive change is hampered and prevented by geographic isolation and
insufficient social power. Lacking political clout, economic resources and
education, local residents have no "bootstraps" by which to lift themselves
out of poverty. I hope that the following report combined with interviews I
conducted, helps demonstrate why the work of groups like FUNDARY and
EcoLogic is needed to break the insidious cycle of rural poverty and foster
essential long-term environmental conservation.
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In Punta de Manabique, the tropical rainforests of inland mountains give
way -- at the coast -- to a lush expanse of bays, lagoons and mangroves.
>From these shores, you can see the keys of Belize to the north and the
mountains of Honduras to the south. The ocean and lagoons are divided by a
narrow margin of land where huts are scattered among palm trees along the
beach.
The warm Caribbean waters team with life, providing more than 100 kinds of
fish which local residents eat and market for their subsistence needs. The
community's daily life revolves around fishing sardines, salting them and
selling them for a subsistence income. As more people have settled in the
region, though, the number of fish has declined.
In a good week, a group of three or four people will catch, dry and salt 20
100- pound bags of fish. They are paid very little by intermediaries who
resell the fish around the country. Each crew grosses only US $100 for this
catch which, when split among several families, provides barely enough
income to survive.
Working in cooperation with FUNDARY, EcoLogic is exploring ways to help
local people earn a better living from fishing. FUNDARY and EcoLogic are
helping fish harvesters to market their catch and create products that add
value to increase their income. Acting upon suggestions from the fishing
communities, FUNDARY's agronomists are demonstrating how to win new markets
and negotiate a fair price with merchants.
FUNDARY seeks to improve income from fishing while assuring responsible
management of fish stocks. Local harvesters understand the need to protect
the natural resources, and scientific studies suggest fish yields could
increase if they harvested less during reproductive periods. FUNDARY is
working with the fishing communities to generate other sources of income
during the off-season.
EcoLogic and FUNDARY are also directing support toward education, helping
to establish schools in three communities. This began by helping two
communities obtain building materials to construct one-room schoolhouses.
When the villages requested that a teacher be assigned to their new
schools, the federal Ministry of Education responded with excuses (saying,
for example, that because there was no chalkboard or chairs for students,
they could not assign a teacher). After months of negotiations, teachers
finally arrived. But, instead of teaching five days a week, they teach only
one to three days, as they please.
Teachers often resent working for low pay in remote locations. An obvious
solution would be to train and hire local people. However, official
teachers must complete secondary school and teacher-training school. This
level of education is far beyond the short-term reach of any local people
in Punta de Manabique.
FUNDARY is committed to resolving this problem with local village
committees, and is now helping community representatives get support from
the Ministry of Education to ensure teachers fulfill their professional
obligations. FUNDARY's project coordinator, Frida Strolinsky, is also
training literate parents to provide classes on occasions when the teacher
does not arrive. FUNDARY also supplements formal education with
environmental education to help children and parents better understand how
to use and protect their environment.
Whether establishing schools or working to earn a better living, the people
of Punta de Manabique face tremendous challenges. Outside assistance and
encouragement has played an important role in helping local people gain the
confidence and locate the resources they need to realize the changes they
desire and improve their living conditions.
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FOCUS ON PUNTA DE MANABIQUE, GUATEMALA
Interview with Ramiro Piqeda, Fisherman and Resource Guard
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Ramiro Piqeda is a native resident of Cabo Tres Puntas, one of the largest
communities in Punta de Manabique. As a community leader, he served as
President of the village committee and as Auxiliary Mayor to Cabo Tres
Puntas. Ramiro works as a fisherman and serves as a resource guard for the
Mario Dary Foundation (FUNDARY), assisting with an integrated community
development project that is addressing priority needs in his community and
strengthening conservation efforts in the region.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH FUNDARY AND THEIR PROJECT TO PROMOTE
CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT?
I began by getting to know the people that visited from Guatemala City. We
talked about the project, and they visited my home. I got to know them over
a year and, little by little, I saw what they were trying to do with
nature, the forests, the environment, the animals. I agreed it was
necessary to protect the environment for the future. In a few years, what
are our children going to see? What nature has given to us, they will not
see. Only through environmental protection will our children see in the
future what nature gives us today.
Over time, we got to know one another and I saw that FUNDARY needed support
from someone in the community so they could get to know more people in the
region and everyone could learn about the project. I know everyone here, so
it helped when I accompanied people from the project to explain their
intentions. Over that year, we introduced the project idea to communities.
I wanted to dedicate myself more to the project, but I needed a salary.
They agreed, so I began working with the project.
The project seeks to collaborate with people and provide assistance. I am
working with FUNDARY because I believe in what they are working toward:
protecting the environment and the animals so the little ones can enjoy
them tomorrow. The work has progressed slowly and very cautiously so that
the people do not misinterpret the efforts.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY'S PRIORITIES?
To begin with, we need education. It would be good to train someone in the
community to teach the children to read and write. We have problems with
the teachers appointed by the Ministry of Education: they arrive one week,
and the second and third week they often do not come. But they are always
very dutiful in charging the State for their salary. We have tried in many
ways to change this.
If the teacher could be someone from the community, we could seek support
from some institution, like the municipality, who would pay the teacher.
The children, most importantly, need to learn to read and write. This
doesn't always happen when the teacher arrives infrequently.
The State requires people to have teacher training, yet this takes a long
time and the need is now. Official teachers don't want to live here.
Community members who go away for teacher training do not want to come back
to live in the community because there are better opportunities elsewhere.
It is a problem.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WHICH SOCIAL NEEDS ARE MOST IMPORTANT FOR FUNDARY AND ECOLOGIC TO ADDRESS?
For me, it is important that the people see that working together and
working with FUNDARY will truly help them -- building the schools at least,
and possibly other community centers that people want to construct.
In my village of Cabo Tres Puntas, there are 300 inhabitants and no health
center. Local health care is terribly important, given the distance to the
existing clinic and the difficult means of transport. Amoebas, diarrhea,
and parasites are common health problems here. We need someone close by who
knows about these things and about medicine so they can prescribe
something. Many times, the ocean is very rough and you cannot travel by
water into Puerto Barrios. If a child gets sick, he or she can die because
there is no way to get to a doctor. Even in good weather, it is terribly
expensive.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
HOW ARE EDUCATION AND HEALTH RELATED TO CONSERVATION?
Imagine talking to people about conservation when they don't have good
health and they don't know how to read and write; it is difficult. When
children are young, they should be taught in school to take care of
themselves and nature -- the birds and other creatures that are important
to conserve. For me, there is a strong relationship between education and
conservation.
If we don't have good health, we can't work or help to conserve anything
because our mind isn't good for anything when we're sick. I think there is
an important relationship between health and conservation.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES FOR THE FUTURE?
I hope that in five years my children can have a school, a teacher and a
health center. I think we must struggle so that those who come after us
will see that we achieved something for them.
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For more information about Punta de Manabique contact:
Shaun Paul OR Victor Hugo or Ramiro Pineda
EcoLogic Development Fund Fundacion Mario Dary
spaul@igc.org Avenida La Reforma 0-63,
Zona 10, C.P. 01010
Cuidad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA
Tel 011 [502](2)347662
Fax 011 [502](2)347664
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MAYAN PERSPECTIVES ON CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT
by Carlos Cardona
In Mayan cosmology, the fate of human beings is profoundly intertwined with
spiritual entities and the environment. The well-being of humans cannot be
protected without respect for the environment. At the same time, the Mayan
people have endured centuries of repression from a small but powerful
demographic and ethnic minority. This has shaped the way that development
is regarded in Guatemala's Mayan organizations.
While Western countries define development as the satisfaction of human
needs and wants, Mayan visions of development incorporate concepts of
solidarity and cooperation, not only among individuals, but also between
human beings and their surroundings. Notions of an interconnected whole
appear throughout Mayan cosmology. The whole is composed of diverse
cultures and natural elements.
Over the past 20 years, leaders from Mayan communities have created
professional grassroots support organizations to better serve their
culturally rich and economically poor people with sensitive development
assistance.
Advancing cultural and human rights is essential to 'progress.' Many Mayan
organizations consider natural biological diversity as important as human
diversity. Beliefs about respect for human and cultural rights are
inseparable from the use and conservation of biodiversity.
Given this world view, it is no coincidence that most Central American
forests and their rich diversity of life remain in areas where native
people have maintained greater autonomy and control over their land.
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E C O L O G I C P R O F I L E
This column introduces individuals working with the EcoLogic Development
Fund: local community leaders, professionals in the field and other members
of the EcoLogic team.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER: NICOLAS MARIANO COX CHAVAJAY
Council of Mayan Organizations of Guatemala
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The Council of Mayan Organizations of Guatemalan, COMG, is a national
association of Mayan organizations. The grassroots support organizations in
the COMG are run by Mayans and address issues such as forestry, land
tenure, education, and agricultural production. As a council, COMG
coordinates activities among Mayan groups and creates a strategic
development framework defined by Mayans (in a country where most people are
Mayan, but indigenous perspectives and needs are largely ignored by non-
Mayan institutions). COMG's coordinator recently joined EcoLogic's Advisory
Committee and, in the following interview, shared his thoughts about Mayan
development and the environment.
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WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON MAYAN DEVELOPMENT, AND NOT HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT?
This is a very important question. Human development only considers
general human needs. In Mayan development, specific elements affecting
marginalized people are incorporated. Mayans are a demographic majority
[in Guatemala], and we have many cultural and natural resources. Yet we
have been unable to utilize these resources for our development. So we
must first develop our basic capacities, according to our needs and
characteristics.
We aim to achieve solidarity and cooperation among individuals and peoples
-- that is number one. A second aim is to assure respect and equilibrium
among humans, society, the system of production and mother nature. This
comes from Mayan cosmology and has been lost in industrial societies. Our
people and culture exhibit qualities that can be incorporated into the
strategic framework for Mayan development. Yet, this Mayan approach is not
only for the Maya; it is meant to benefit all peoples in their development.
WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION FROM A MAYAN
PERSPECTIVE?
The importance of groups that protect the environment lies in a balance
between production and nature. First, environmental groups should teach
and train people about nature. But we have a reservation. Since the
environment is becoming a popular trend and a lot of money is available for
environmental programs, organizations are adopting these ideals out of
convenience, not conviction. That is the difference. Suddenly we are all
becoming environmentalists. From our perspective, nevertheless, the
environment is an integral part [of our development].
WHAT PART DOES BIODIVERSITY PLAY?
To start with, we rely on biodiversity in our culture. Secondly, ecology
is of great importance, not only the preservation, but the promotion of
biodiversity. We share and reserve a special place for biodiversity within
the integrated framework of Mayan development.
AS A MEMBER OF ECOLOGIC'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE, WHAT ROLE DO YOU HOPE TO
PLAY?
First, we have a commitment to international cooperation. We are worried
about the kind of work that many organizations carry out in Guatemala. Our
country receives a lot of aid, yet things never change. We want to help
remedy this situation. If EcoLogic has the right counsel, its resources
will contribute to programs with a lasting impact. That is my reason for
assisting the EcoLogic Development Fund. Secondly, we want international
organizations to better understand how we think and to encourage mutual
agreement and cooperation.
Contacting COMG:
Consejo de Organizaciones Mayas de Guatemala (COMG)
25 Avenida 0-73, Zona 3 Tel 011 [502](9)391-031
Chimaltenango, Chimaltenango Fax 011 [502](9)571-018
GUATEMALA
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