Rights Action - December 29, 2010 

GIVE TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
REFORESTATION OF HISTORICALLY DEGRADED INDIGENOUS LAND IN GUATEMALA

Thank-you for your commitment and financial support.  You have until December 31, to make a tax-deductible donation credited to 2010.

SUMMARY - REFORESTATION OF HISTORICALLY DEGRADED INDIGENOUS LAND IN GUATEMALA

Since this particular project was initiated, approximately 157,150 trees covering 164 hectares have been planted; another 72,000 trees covering 61 hectares are expected to be planted in 2011.

August 2009 Plantations from 2009 nurseries - 55,000 trees / 56 hectares [already reported]
May 2010 Plantations from nurseries established in 2009 - 31,650 trees / 48 hectares
August 2010 Plantations from nurseries established in 2010 - 70,500 trees / 60 hectares
Projected May 2011 Plantations from nurseries established in 2010 - 18,000 trees / 15 hectares
Projected September 2011 Plantations from 2010 nurseries - 54,000 trees / 46 hectares

In 2009-10, this project benefitted 6 communities in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan (sharing two nurseries), 2 communities in Rabinal (one nursery per community), and two communities in Aguacatan (one nursery per community).

HISTORICAL CONTEXT - DEGRADATION OF INDIGENOUS LANDS & TERRITORY, MIGRATION & POVERTY

During colonial and post colonial eras in Guatemala (1600-1900), a feudal administrative system known as repartamiento divided Guatemala, as in most of Latin America, between the Spanish crown, the Catholic church and the descendents of the conquistadores.  Only the Q'eqchi areas in the North Eastern region of Guatemala remained relatively free of repartamiento and with little intervention of Spanish interests.

Precisely the Qeqchi region maintained vast forestlands though it was affected in the second half of the 1800s and the 1900s by the creation of the early coffee and banana plantations, and then in the 1970s by land colonization programs.

A repartamiento consisted of control over land and the indigenous communities that lived on the land.  Generally the holder of the repartamiento derived profit by taxing their subjects, obligating communities to tithe a significant portion of their production.

In some regions this system essentially still exists. However, in many cases, especially with timber, cattle and early sugar cane production, the holder of the repartamiento extracted lumber, raised cattle and grew sugar cane directly, obligating indigenous communities to provide the labor in exchange for allowing them to plant subsistence crops.

For example, during this time, indigenous lands along the Rio Negro river, mostly controlled by the Catholic church, were first clear cut and the river was used to transport the lumber, and then intensively used to pasture cattle.  Descriptions of the region in the Popul Vu, written during the conquest, describe a forested productive area that supported significant concentrations of population, as is also reflected in the archeological record and church chronicles.  Today these areas are arid and degraded lands, sparsely populated.

Displaced by widespread massacres and counterinsurgency tactics employed by the Guatemala army against communities during Guatemala's armed conflict of the 1970s and 1980s, and pressured by the harsh conditions related to the low agricultural productivity, many left their historic lands and concentrated in the regional town centers. Many then migrated to urban areas of Guatemala to work as day laborers or security guards, some travel to the United States seeking work, while others began moving to the northern forested areas of Guatemala, the Ixcan and the Peten, drawn by the World Bank promoted programs of the 1970s and 1980s that promoted the colonization and "development" of forestlands.

These migration trends continue as indigenous communities struggle for survival.  New mining, biofuel and hydroelectric operations further appropriate and degrade indigenous lands, further driving migration.

Climate change is increasing becoming another driving force for migration as changed rainfall patterns generate more frequent deadly mudslides and loss of topsoil, increasingly pervasive drought and crop damage.

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION - POVERTY ALLEVIATION & ERRADICATION THAT ACTUALLY CURBS CLIMATE CHANGE

While degraded lands, land appropriation, violence, and climate change generate heavy migration from indigenous areas, it is very clear that indigenous peoples maintain an extremely high degree of cultural and social identification with their specific geographic territory.

Language, history, traditions, religion, family ties, and ecologically specific knowledge that provides a particular capacity live well on resources specific to their territory generate an extremely strong bond between indigenous people and their territory.

This project proposal initially came about as an attempt to respond to the expressed needs of communities on degraded lands.  These needs were generated by the degradation of indigenous territories resulting from the construction of hydroelectric dams and mines, the historical land degradation described above, mud slides and droughts, etc.

One situation that particularly drove home the need for this type of project, was the observation of failed attempts to relocate communities to more fertile land on the rainforest agricultural frontier, a failure due in large part to the bonds communities maintained to their territory, despite its degradation resulting from the construction of a hydroelectric dam. 

Though recovery of degraded lands requires significant investment, it is a viable response to climate change and a sustainable alternative for poverty alleviation.  It can slow or stop migration to the agricultural frontier, and it generates jobs and new forests that can provide sustainable resources which allow communities to live well while offsetting carbon emissions.

It is important to note that in order for a project of this nature to be more completely successful in meeting objectives of curbing climate change and generating a sustainable, good life for communities, other important elements should complement it.  These elements include access to culturally appropriate social services including healthcare and education, basic infrastructure such as potable water, waste management roads, and bridges, full recognition and protection of communal land rights to prevent appropriation and abuse of land, and investment in complementary income or resource generating activities.

GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION - THREE REGIONS

This project is being implemented in three municipalities in three distinct departments of Guatemala, all municipalities suffering from some of the highest levels of poverty.  Rabinal in Baja Verapaz, Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan in Solola and Aguacatan in Huehuetenango share some of the highest levels of poverty in Guatemala, a reality directly related to the low productivity of these areas, much of which is related to historical degradation of lands.

In Rabinal, the project is focused on lands that form part of the Rio Negro river valley.  The Achi cultural territory in the Rio Negro river watershed, in Rabinal and neighboring Cubulco, was deforested during colonial times, lumber was sent upriver to missions in Sacapulas that controlled and extracted lumber and then cattle from the length of the river.  The Achi territory is sparsely populated with villages generally of around 15 families, and only a couple dozen villages, and has very low agricultural productivity except on the rivers floodplain.

This area is enormous, relatively speaking, approximately 40,000 acres or 17,000 hectares.  All lands are under or un-used, and deforested.

Communities participating in the project in Aguacatan of Huehuetenango are also in the watershed of the Rio Negro river, several hundred kilometers upriver from Rabinal, and they share very similar conditions, history and expanses of unused lands.  Aguacatan and Rabinal form the two extremes of the Quiche / Achi language group/ culture that thrived for thousands of years along this river.  The other Quiche/ Achi municipalities in between are Sacapulas, San Pedro Jocopilas, San Andres Sajcacaba, Uspantan and Canilla.

After Rabinal, communities to the east become Pocomchi and Q'eqchi, to the west of Aguacatan they become Mam.

The marked difference in the productivity of the land, shown by the marked difference between the pre-colonial population intensity demonstrated by archeological sites, and today's sparse population, gives estimate the extreme ecological impact of the Dominican missions that controlled the lands from Sacapulas.   A very rough estimate of the size of this region is at minimum 100,000 hectares.

The third area the project is being implemented is in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan of Solola, one of the coldest and highest regions in Guatemala, its residents consistently suffer periodic famine.  Communities participating in this project hold land rights to the mountainside where the high plain begins a steep decline toward the Pacific coast.  As rising sea temperatures accelerate the water cycle, increased incidents of sudden heavy rain events, including hurricanes and tropical storms, provoke deadly and ecologically devastating mudslides.  Though communities in this zone had previously been able to sustain agriculture and housing were forced to leave by Hurricane Stan (2005) due to destruction of the homes from mudslides and loss of topsoil.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

The implementation of this project is carried out through a carefully designed strategy that takes into account the special needs of the participating communities.  All communities are on the outskirts of their municipalities, in some cases requiring several hours hike and/ or boat rides to access.  These are communities which lack fundamental social services and infrastructure, generally achieving just a few years of elementary level education.   All are situated on communal land titles, and in some cases communities have little understanding of the situation of their title or possible implications.

Regional Partners

Initially, RA partnered with communities with the assistance of local organizations in each of the three areas, organizations capable of providing constant support to the community members in charge of the nurseries and maintaining the plantations.  The partnerships with Quachu Aloom (Mother Earth in Achi) in Rabinal and AGEMA (Asociacion Generacion de Maiz) in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan have proven strategic both in providing constant assistance, supervision, training and other support to the community partners. However, in Aguacatan the partner organization did not provide adequate support for the communities, so for the nurseries established in 2010, RA communities decided to work directly with the agronomist supervising the project in the three regions.

Supervising Agronomist and Technical Support

RA employs an agronomist to supervise and coordinate the project, traveling between the three regions.  A native Quiche speaker, he has a good understanding of community dynamics and has been with these communities since 2006.  In addition, an agronomist employed by Quachu Aloom provides ongoing support to communities in Rabinal, and an agricultural technician supports communities in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan.  An agricultural promoter works half time maintaining each nursery.

Types of Trees

Nurseries established in 2009: mixed fruit trees and forest trees, approximately 25% fruit trees and 75% forest trees.   However, at the request of communities in 2010 nurseries all were forest trees.

A strong emphasis was placed on native varieties. In Rabinal and Aguacatan a mix of nitrogen fixing trees, such as Madre Cacao and Flamboyan, were planted alongside timber varieties.  The Ramon tree that produces an edible nut was planted in Rabinal.

Communal Lands / Land Rights

Land pertaining to indigenous communities, especially former repartamientos, is normally one title embarking multiple communities.  The proper legal framework to regulate conditions for the transfer of ownership of these lands does not exist. In the past this left communities at greater risk of the appropriation of their lands by third parties.  However, the growing body of international law on this issue and increasing awareness is turning what had been a disadvantage in protecting land rights into an advantage.

Community Defined

In indigenous communities, poor communities and communities subject to a recent history of extreme violence, the social cohesion is easily disrupted.  For this reason the success of the project is dependent on close coordination with community members in defining the objectives and terms of the project implementation.  This is critical to ensuring the project meets the real needs of the community and successful implementation.  When leadership disputes arise it is necessary address them directly, and if necessary redirect the project to another community where there is not the possibility of generating community divisions.

Nursery Profiles

Though we started in 2009 with 12,000 bag nurseries, the ideal size appears to be approximately 20,000 bags each.  In Rabinal and Aguacatan they are one nursery per community while in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan each nursery serves multiple communities, since higher population density leaves each community less area available for reforestation.

Five Year Strategy

A five year project time frame is ideal to ensuring the long term survival of plantations.  Sustaining work in the six communities over five years could generate 500 acres of forestland. A five year time frame would leave an installed capacity in local communities to create and manage nurseries, design plantations, plant saplings, sustain saplings in the early years of the plantation, and manage the plantation by providing sufficient time for training.   It would also provide sufficient time to more accurately measure the long term survival of the plantations.

PROJECT HISTORY

Following the deadly mudslides generated by Hurricane Stan (2005) in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, Solola, Kaqchiquel eleven communities were forced to relocate from mountainside prone to landslides to other areas within the municipality of Santa Catarina.  As is often the case with lands indigenous communities are relocated to, the new area was barely sufficient for homes and had no extension available for farming.  The communities abandoned mountainside farmlands were too far away for intensive agriculture, much of its topsoil had been washed away in mudslides and the incline and lack of erosion controls made agriculture impossible. 

In response communities requested reforestation projects that combined timber with fruit plantations, and generated terracing and natural, living barriers to control erosion, while it generated resources to help improve the living conditions of the communities. This project, supported by the Methodist Church, was carried out in 2007 and 2008, and served a as pilot project for a broader initiative.  In unrelated circumstances other communities in Rabinal, Aguacatan, Jocotan, Camotan and other areas were requesting support for nurseries.

In 2009 community tree nurseries were established in three regions, Rabinal, Aguacatan and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan.  Approximately 16,800 fruit trees, covering 37 hectares and 70,000 forest trees, covering 60 hectares, reached the size necessary to be planted in these degraded lands' harsh conditions.

In September 2009 approximately 7,000 fruit trees and 48,000 forest trees were planted.   In May and June of 2010 from the nursery established in 2009, another approximately 9,800 fruit trees and 22,000 forest trees were planted.  One community in Aguacatan lost virtually the entire nursery to flooding (2362 remained out of 2,680 that had germinated).  Despite the disaster in one community, the overall project goals in terms of number and extension of plantings were exceeded.

Varieties of fruit trees from the nurseries established in 2009 included orange, mandarin, lemon, avocado, jocote, and tamarind.  Among the forest trees a heavy, but not exclusive, emphasis was placed on native varieties, which included White Pine, Caribbean Pine, Pinabete,1 Cipres, Ramon,2 Aliso, Madre Cacao3, Aripin, Flamboyan, Teak, Matilisguate, Palo Blanco and others. 

OVERALL GOAL
Support community efforts to reforest historically degraded indigenous lands.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
* Generate sustainable forests on currently degraded and deforested lands.
* Detain deforestation by detaining the "agricultural frontier" generated by migration to currently forested areas by subsistence farmers who hold land rights over exhausted lands.
* Improve food security in areas subject to some of the most extreme levels of poverty.
* Generate social conditions to transform "pilot" projects into larger scale, long term initiatives.

ACTIVITIES IN 2010

PLANTING TO FIELD OF TREES FROM 2009 NURSERIES
In May and June of 2010 the saplings remaining from the nurseries established in 2009 were planted.  The total number of trees was approximately 31,650, consisting of 21,800 timber trees covering approximately 27 hectares and 9,850 fruit trees covering approximately 21 hectares. 

In Rabinal, 9,850 fruit trees, which develop more slowly and were not large enough to plant in 2009, were planted in 2010.  In Santa Catarina, where the altitude and selected species made for slow growth, 12,800 forest trees, Pine, Cypres, Aliso and Pinebete.  The same varieties were planted in Aguacatan, a total of 9,000.

In June 2010 site visits to tree plantations from 2009 determined that approximately 85% of trees survived the dry months of October through April.  In Santa Catarina frost and winds are significant issues and during frosts and storms the community comes together to protect the plants.  In Aguacatan and Rabinal dry conditions are the most significant threat to survival.  

CREATING AND MAINTAINING 2010 NURSERIES
During the first week of February nurseries were established in Santa Catarina and Aguacatan, two in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan and two in Rabinal.  Varieties planted included Ramon, Madre cacao, Aripin, Flamboyan, Teca, Matilisguate.

In Aguacatan due to problems with the local partner organization, nurseries were not established until September 2010.  In addition, one nursery was too close to the Rio Negro river the trees were washed away in a flood.  The second nursery planted 20,000 bags with White Pine, Aliso and Cipres seeds.  Of these, approximately 85% have germinated, and the community plans to collect naturally germinated seeds in the area and transplant them to bags whose seeds did not germinate seedlings.  This should cover approximately 17 hectares when planted in May 2011.

To establish the nurseries, the communities come together to fill bags with soil.  Due to the scarcity of good topsoil, the soil is often brought in from a distance.  The vast majority of seeds planted are collected by communities from their area.  The bags are tended by an agricultural promoter selected by the communities until they reach the necessary height for planting.

PLANTING IN THE FIELD OF TREES FROM THE 2010 NURSERIES
During the end of August and beginning of September, a total of 35,607 Ramon, Madre cacao, Aripin, Flamboyan, Teca, Matilisguate trees were planted over approximately 30 hectares.  In Santa Catarina during the end of August and beginning of September, a total of 34,895 forest trees, including White Pine, Aliso and Cipres trees, were planted on approximately 30 hectares of land. 

Plantations are generally along ridges, cover slopes, form boundaries and surround water sources.  Varieties are planted in stands of a single variety, though not necessarily in solid blocks, Madre Cacao for example is generally planted in the form of a fence. 

During planting first they clear the area of weeds.  Due to the harsh conditions weed control is not a great difficulty, but a second cleaning of weeds is undertaken six weeks after planting.  An advantage of planting in the end of August is that weeds do not proliferate until the following June.  If the area planted is sloped, they then create terraces to prevent erosion. 

Trees are planted in holes approximately 20 to 25 centimeters squared, and partially filled with organic material. In one community the soil is of such poor quality they had to transport organic material several hours on mules.  At the time of planting the 2009 fruit trees, planted in larger holes approximately 40 centimeters squared, were approximately 40 centimeters tall.  The forest varieties were approximately 20 to 25 centimeters tall. 

INITIATION OF 2011 NURSERIES

Two nurseries are currently being established in Rabinal and two in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan.  Each nursery contains approximately 20,000 bags with a variety of mostly native forest variety of trees, the same varieties planted in 2010.  Some serve as timber, others regenerate soil, others provide a sustainable source of firewood.  It is expected that these trees will be planted in August of 2011, and would cover over 65 hectares of land.  They would hope to initiate a new cycle of nurseries in September of 2011, bringing the project cycle to a September to June timeframe.

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TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS
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For questions about this program area: Annie Bird, co-director, annie@rightsaction.org