Información sobre el proyecto/actividad

Guatemala has followed the trend of accelerated deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics, which has led to risks, impacts and natural disasters, such as the latest Agatha storm and the El Niño phenomenon. These problems have been aggravated by climate change and poverty, which are widespread throughout the region, increasing its vulnerability to natural phenomena. However, there are still extensive forest areas, many of which are traditionally managed by indigenous communities, as Guatemala currently holds the highest density of indigenous groups in Meso-America. In particular, the Department of Quiché has 7% of the national forest cover and a predominantly Quiche and Ixil indigenous population. However, these forests are threatened by new pressures from population growth and, more recently, from agro-industrial development. Therefore, there is an urgent need to carry out efforts to avoid the loss of forest resources and implement integrated development alternatives for the local communities.

In order to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, INAB and CALMECAC are seeking to develop a sustainable forest planning system and establish financial mechanisms derived from the management and conservation of resources and environmental services in the Department of Quiché, which can also serve as a climate change adaptation measure. It is to address this issue that this project proposal has been developed as a result of pre-project RED-PPD 006-09 “Local REDDES programme for development and addressing climate change in Guatemala”, which produced the following outputs: (1) Analysis of Forest Cover Dynamics 1991 – 2010; (2) Characterization of the Amelco River Basin, Huehuetenango; (3) Characterization of the Xaclbal Micro-Watershed;; (4) Diagnostic study on collective forest use and management in Quiché and Huehuetenango; (5) Forest Inventory in Cerro Suma, Quiché; and (6) Vulnerability and Risk Assessment in Quiché and Huehuetenango. In addition, the pre-project led to a network of municipalities, communities, indigenous groups, civil society organizations and the private sector to develop social processes focused on climate change adaptation and sustainable development for the alleviation of poverty through forest activities. A good example of this is the establishment of a committee for the Las Violetas micro-watershed, within the Xacbal watershed area. The objective of this committee is to manage projects for the protection and sustainable use of natural resources with a focus on climate change.

The project “Building a participatory and inclusive sustainable forest management process for the reduction of deforestation and forest degradation in the Ixil forest areas of the Municipality of Nebaj, Quiché, Guatemala” has been developed using a participatory approach on the basis of the information generated and the social coordination of stakeholders achieved through the pre-project. The new project seeks to enhance the sustainable forest management skills of local community forest organizations in the Municipality of Nebaj, Quiché, with a view to reducing deforestation and forest degradation in the Xaclbal watershed area. This will be achieved through the following outputs: (1) a PDD developed for community forests prioritized by the project; (2) Good forest management practices agreed and developed for community forests to reduce deforestation and forest degradation; and (3) Sustainable forest management plans developed and implemented to ensure the conservation of community forests in the Municipality of Nebaj, Quiché. This is an innovative proposal as it links and creates social dynamics between different sectors for the development of new models of participatory management of natural resources, through sustainable forest management and conservation systems that will contribute to the development of benefit-sharing mechanisms at the local level within the framework of the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation initiative.