Program:

Emergency land acquisition: Sierra Caral Cloud Forest, Guatemala

Background | Purpose | Actions and Results | Video

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Program Partners and Personnel

Our partners in this acquisition are Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación (FUNDAECO), the Guatemalan NGO that will manage and protect the new reserve, along with lead partner Global Wildlife Conservation, the American Bird Conservancy, Nature and Culture International, World Land Trust-US, the Amphibian Specialist Group through Conservation International, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service from its Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act grants. In addition, the IUCN Save Our Species fund is providing funds (beyond the $1 million purchase price) for management costs of the new Sierra Caral reserve.

Key people behind this effort are Marco Cerezo of FUNDAECO, Don Church of Global Wildlife, Claude Gascon of the Amphibian Specialist Group, and Carlos Vasquez Almazán, Curator of Herpetology at the National University of San Carlos's Museum of Natural History in Guatemala and Coordinator of the Amphibian Conservation Programmeme at FUNDAECO. Carlos Vasquez drew international scientific attention to the conservation importance of the Sierra Caral in recent years, for which he was recently awarded the prestigious Whitley Award for Conservation (see video, below).

Here is Sir David Attenborough talking about Sierra Caral and the awarding of the Whitley Award to Carlos Vasquez.

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Purpose

This project involves:

• purchasing 2298 hectares (5678 acres) of forested land of extremely high conservation value that would otherwise be imminently purchased and cleared for cattle grazing by business interests; and,
• providing for its permanent protection through legal safeguards and conservation management planning.

Location of Sierra Caral in Central America (above) and coastal Guatemala (below).

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Background

Geography and biology

Located near the Caribbean coast of Guatemala and close to the border with Honduras, the Sierra Caral is a unique and isolated massif rising from sea level to 1,167 meters. Exposed to moisture-laden Caribbean trade winds, it supports a transitional ecosystem of wet rainforests on southfacing rain-shadow slopes. The combination of topographical and climatic conditions have created an unparalleled center of endemism for amphibians and reptiles and it is one of the most biodiverse forest remnants in Central America.

Seven endemic species of amphibians have recently been discovered here. No fewer than 35 percent of the amphibians of Sierra Caral are listed as Threatened by IUCN, with five Critically Endangered, and five Endangered.

Sierra Caral is also a critical refuge for 120 Neotropical migratory bird species, including 33 priority species with declining populations. It harbors 13 range restricted bird species and two IUCN Vulnerable species — Mountain Guan and Keel-billed Motmot — and the "Near Threatened" Painted Bunting. Of 219 bird species recorded for Sierra Caral, 46 are on the Guatemalan CONAP Red List.

Sierra Caral has been identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction as a global priority for conservation. Discoveries of new and endemic fauna and flora are expected from this little known massif.

Ecological value

The Sierra Caral Mountain Range is an important element of the Motagua River watershed. It provides the headwaters for three small rivers, and is crossed by four major rivers that originate in Honduras: Cacao, Animas, Chiquito and Bobos. Forested slopes safeguard water quality and quantity for human consumption and agriculture, provide protection from erosion, landslides, crop damage, and flooding, and prevent sedimentation in the floodplain and Gulf of Honduras.

The broader Sierra Caral area in which the reserve is located is an important gene bank for several commercial tree species, and is a source of various timber and non-timber forest products used by local communities. The high-elevation forests also provide shade for shade coffee plantations near the Negro Norte sector.

The Sierra Caral is vital to maintain the regional connectivity of key biological corridors at the regional scale. It is a crucial component of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (also referred to as Paseo Pantera), as well as the Caribbean Biological Corridor of Guatemala. It is located within a network of other protected areas: Esp¡ritu Santo to the south, Punta de Manabique to the north, Montaña Chiclera to the west, and Cerro San Gil to the northwest.

Threats and opportunity

Lacking protection, the forests of Sierra Caral have become fragmented and what little remains is being actively cleared for cattle ranching. The main long-term threat is population growth and poverty within local communities. FUNDAECO, Guatemala's leading conservation NGO, is active in sustainable development projects to reduce the pressures that lead to deforestation. They have also been working for several years to mobilize community support for National Congress to legally declare a national protected area in Sierra Caral. However, the governmental process could take years, and the land must be secured immediately to prevent private acquisition and further deforestation.

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Actions and Results

The properties being purchased, known as Finca La Firmeza, are the last two major forested properties in the core of the Sierra Caral massif. They are currently owned by Banco Industrial de Guatemala, which has accepted an offer by FUNDAECO of US$1,000,000 ($435/ha or $176/acre), which is below market value.

Legal Safeguards for conserving the acquired property

1. All contracts for the acquisition of the property stipulate that the land will be acquired exclusively for conservation purposes. All contracts will be registered with the national land registry.
2. As soon as the land title is acquired, the two properties will be registered as a "Private Natural Reserve". As such, the land will be a legally declared protected area and part of the Guatemalan System of Protected Areas.
3. FUNDAECO will register a Conservation Easement (Anotación Registral), which is a legally binding covenant stating that the properties are dedicated exclusively to conservation purposes.
4. FUNDAECO will continue to urge National Congress to declare a broader Protected Area in Sierra Caral. Within this Protected Area, the two properties will be designated as "core" or a full protection zone.
5. One hectare of each of the two properties will be registered in the name of the International Conservation Fund of Canada or jointly in the name of ICFC and up to two other donors; simultaneously, mutually binding conservation easements will be registered on each one-ha property, as with the remainder of the property. This will confer on ICFC the legal right to defend its conservation easement over the two properties in Guatemalan courts.

Future protection and management of the acquired property

1. FUNDAECO's local office in the nearby City of Morales will manage the Reserve. This office, which has been operating for almost ten years, is well equipped (vehicle, motorcycle, computers, GIS System, etc.) and staffed with a small and committed team of local conservationists (one agronomist; one biologist; one environmental educator; one agro-forestry technician, one GIS technician, one accountant, and two community promoters).
2. Four park guards from a private security company have been employed to monitor and protect the Reserve. FUNDAECO has committed to maintain the existing guards for at least ten months after acquisition, beyond which Community Park Guards will gradually replace private security guards.
3. FUNDAECO will form an Advisory Committee to oversee management of the Sierra Caral Reserve; which will include one or more of the major financial contributors to the land purchase.
4. FUNDAECO will submit an application to the National Forest Incentives Program, which will allocate an average US$41,735 per year for the protection of the forest for a six-year period, and monitor compliance on an annual basis.
5. Monitoring by guards will be supplemented by overflights and patrols by the National Army and the Natural Resources Police Department.
6. FUNDAECO will endeavour to raise funds to employ a Reserve Manager to lead management activities and oversee park guards.
7. FUNDAECO will continue its current community activities, aimed at reducing the pressures that lead to deforestation and building support for the Reserve. These include environmental education and community consultations, as well as sustainable development projects such as community reforestation, agroforestry, land titling, organic coffee production, and dairy processing. They are also working in partnership with the Guatemala Ministry of Health and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America to establish a network of reproductive health clinics for rural women.

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Further info

We will be happy to supply further information on request. .

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