Project/activity information

This 2 months pre-project has been elaborated as a first step in the process of developing 14 community cooperatives located along the Usumacinta River, in the Buffer Area (BA) of the south-west sector of the Lacandon Highlands National Park (Parque Nacional Sierra del Lacandon -PNSL-) within the Mayan Biosphere Reserve in Peten.

This pre-project is consistent with the sectoral policies of the Government of Guatemala. The main impact of the identified problems is the limited generation of economic resources to satisfy the basic needs of families in the area. Their forests have a wide diversity of timber and non-timber species, but because of the way these resources are harvested and marketed, the incomes derived from them are limited. Thus, there is a high risk that forest protection and sustainable forest management may be discontinued by converting forests to other production activities such as traditional agricultural practices and extensive cattle-raising, among others.

The pre-project will identify current problems in the sustainable forest management process and outline possible solutions to ensure effective integration between sustainable forest management and local industrial development. The potential solutions to be identified in this pre-project will be outlined in a full project proposal, including improvement of the production capacity of natural forests through intensified silvicultural treatments (fire prevention and management), improved utilization of lesser-used species, promotion of non-timber forest products, assisted natural regeneration, plantations and reforestation activities, and timber processing and marketing. The pre-project will be an appropriate mechanism for the gathering of information to consolidate the problem identification and project formulation process.