Prospects and Challenges for Biodiversity Conservation in Guatemala

Abstract

Located on the land bridge between North and South America, Guatemala is characterized by exceptionally diverse ecosystems, which make the country one of the foremost repositories of biodiversity in Latin America (Detlefsen et al. 1991). Guatemala has signed the Central American Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 and the global Convention on Biological Diversity in 1995. To support the implementation of these conventions, a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan was elaborated in 1998/99 (CONAMA 1999). Various categories of protected areas cover almost 30% of the country’s surface (CONAP 2002 : 14). Under an innovative model of co-administration, civil society plays an important role in biodiversity conservation. At the same time, Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, which suffers from slow economic development, high levels of poverty, unequal land distribution, a highly segmented society, and the effects of more than three decades of civil war which only ended in 1996. High population increase as well as commercial interests in natural resource extraction cause considerable threats to biodiversity conservation. Thus, Guatemala represents a prime example of the potentials and challenges of biodiversity conservation in developing countries. The research on biodiversity conservation presented in the contributions to Part III was conducted at the national level and in the Department of Alta Verapaz.