Purchase mangrove wetlands bordering Hawaii Protected Area

The Hawaii Protected Area (HPA) is a 4,000 hectare multiple use zone that ARCAS is establishing together with its government counterpart, the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP). The goal of the HPA is to protect the natural resources of the Hawaii area, focusing especially on the mangrove wetlands of the area. Over 200 species of birds have been reported in the Hawaii area and it has been listed by the Guatemalan Ornithological as an important bird area. The mangrove wetlands play a crucial role in the local ecosystem and economy: They are the breeding ground for most of the fish caught both by artesanal fishermen and the industrial shrimp fleet; they serve as a buffer zone against floods and hurricanes; they provide mangrove wood which is used locally for construction and firewood and they are an attraction for the increasing numbers of ecotourists that are visiting the Monterrico-Hawaii area. This project is a direct response to the concerns of local community residents, ARCAS and other NGOs of the threat posed by the expansion of the large-scale sugar cane industry in the area. Presented with the higher rents offered by the large sugar cane companies (250 Euros/ha/year vs 50 Euros/ha/year that small farmers pay to use the land), the large landowners are simply trying to increase their profit margin, abandoning more traditional land use patterns such as cattle-ranching and smaller-scale cultivation. However, since that date, these areas have expanded toward the west, closer to the HPA, directly threatening the mangroves of the area. The land that wil be purchased is located in the bufferzone and abuts the core zone of the HPA. It covers 35 hectares and lies between a large area of sugar cane cultivation to the north and east and the mangroves to the west. It also lies on the Guiscoyol River, one of the principal waterways draining into the Hawaii mangroves, and one of the principal objectives of this land purchase is preserving the water quality of this waterway. The majority of the land to be purchased will be reforested with native trees and a small portion will be set aside for ecotourism and subsistence organic farming for local residents.

With the help of the Small Grants for the Purchase of Nature Fund (SPN) of IUCN NL, the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund and the Humane Society’s Wildlife Land Trust, ARCAS in December 2007 purchased the El Salado Farm, a 25 hectare farm of mangrove and dry tropical forest ecosystems in the Hawaii area of the Pacific coast of Guatemala. This land will be used to create a community-managed buffer zone between the mangrove wetlands of the proposed Hawaii Protected Area (HPA) to the south and the rapidly encroaching sugar cane industry to the north (see attached satellite image). The majority of the purchased land will be reforested with native trees and a small portion will be set aside for subsistence organic farming for local residents. The reforested portion together with the mangrove forests to the south will create a community-managed wildlife reserve that will be used for birdwatching, environmental education, research and other activities. Ecotourism and organic farming will give local residents economic alternatives to unsustainable resource use practices of the past such as sea turtle egg poaching and mangrove wood logging, and will ameliorate the loss of income due to reduced access to farmland as a result of the expansion of sugar cane cultivation. The community-managed buffer zone will be managed within the Master Plan for the administration of the HPA with ARCAS, CONAP and local communities co-administrating the area within the larger framework of the Guatemalan System of Protected Areas (SIGAP). It will also contribute to the realization of the South Coast Biological Corridor (COBIOSUR) and other regional initiatives.