Country Guatemala
2. Area of influence Poptún, Dolores, San Luis and Sayaxché municipalities. (See Annex No. 1.)
3. Name of the project Community Forest Strengthening Project.
4. Executing entity National Forest Institute.
5. Co-participation
- Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAGA), National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), Sections of Agriculture and Municipal Natural Resources (SARN), Local Organized Committees, Non-Governmental Organizations.
6. Components
- Institutional Strengthening. Implementation of the Southern Petén Forest Management Belt.
- Implementation of Community Forest Management Plans Promotion and Implementation of Reforestation Projects by Forest Incentives Promotion and Implementation of Community and Family Forest Nurseries Training and promotion in the cultivation, management and use of bamboo Extension work through Forest Promoters. Land use planning through the execution of Land Use Capacity Studies –ECUT-.
- Land Use Capacity Studies. Comprehensive Farm Management of individual small producers or organized in committees, associations and cooperatives. Community Organization and Self-Management.
7. Phases and duration
- Phase 1 Project Design (6 Months).
- Design Financing Management.
- Phase 2, Execution Stage (30 Months)
- Institutional Strengthening Implementation of Priority Projects in selected communities Consolidation of Projects developed within the framework of the PROSELVA program
- Phase 3, Consolidation:
- Expansion, dissemination, monitoring and evaluation.
8. Project beneficiaries
- Selected priority communities in the municipalities of Sayaxché, Poptún, Dolores, San Luis.
9. Operational framework of the project
- The Project is framed within the government policies of forestry development for the management and administration of Protected Areas. It is part of the Strategy of the National Forest Institute –INAB- and the Action Plans of the Sub-Regions of VIII-2 and VIII-3. An expanded description of each of these elements is presented in ANNEXES 2 and 3.
10. Objectives
- Promote sustainable forest management in priority communities located inside and outside of protected areas located in sub-regions VIII-2 and VIII-3 of INAB, with a focus on comprehensive farm management and community self-management. The project aims at the process of Strengthening sub-regional directorates, by establishing forestry development projects in priority communities which can be extrapolated to be implemented in other communities. Operate priority lines of action framed within the Action Plan of both INAB sub-regions.
11. Project components
C.1. Institutional strengthening:
- Support in human, financial and physical resources Implement Training Plan Execution of priority lines of action of the Sub-Regional Action Plan C.2. Sustainable Forest Management through the implementation of the Community Forest Management Belt: Monitoring and Implementation of Community Forest Management Projects under the scheme of: Small Forest Producers;
- Municipal Ejidos Cooperatives.
- Promotion and Implementation of Community Projects of Forest Incentives for the Management of Natural Forests and Reforestation. Implementation of a training program for Forest Promoters and Forest Firefighters. Land use planning through the execution of Land Use Capacity Studies –ECUT-.C.3. Comprehensive Farm Management: Implementation of comprehensive farm management projects in priority communities, with emphasis on proper soil management according to its use capacity. C.4. Community Organization and Self-Management: Training for community groups on community organization and self-management, with an emphasis on forest culture training and consolidation of productive development projects.
12. Methodological approach
Model 1: Comprehensive Farm Management:
- The project will aim to implement integrated farms according to the capacity to use the land, in order to begin a gradual process of territorial reorganization.
Model 2: Strengthening Community Organization and Self-Management:
- Training process in community organization and self-management, based on community forestry development projects.
13 Monitoring and evaluation
- An adequate M&E system of progress and execution of qualifying, quantitative and percentage goals of proposed goals will be designed and implemented within the operational framework of the project.
14. Implementation mechanisms
- Forestry Incentives Program –PINFOR-Training Networks. Forestry Promotion. Exchange of Experience. Promotion and Dissemination.
15. Costs and investment plan
- Estimated Costs (3 years): Phase 1: Project Design….Q. 200,000.00 Phase 2: Strengthening …….. …… Q. 1,500,000.00Projects ………………..Q. 4,000,000.00 Operations ……. ………..Q. 2,000,000.00
Estimated total: Q. 8,700,000.00
- Investment Plan: Estimated Contributions: INAB …………………………………… 40% Cooperation Agencies ………… 50% Communities and rate of return…. 10%
16. Sustainability methodology
- Participation:
- Participation of Local Communities located in Buffer Zones (ZAM) and Zones of Influence (ZI). Participation of Municipalities. Strategic alliances with related community forestry development projects.
- Coordination: § Coordinate with regional programs and projects, in search of the creation of forums that allow avoiding duplication of efforts and maximize the impact on beneficiary communities Strengthening the Community Organization: Processes that lead to the creation and consolidation of committees, associations and civil societies of community forestry development projects.
Appendix 1
"Map of the area of influence of the inab-fforcom project"
Appendix 2
"Vision for the design, management and implementation of the inab-fforcom project"
i. vision for the design, management and implementation of the inab-fforcom project:
i.1. the story of Sisyphus, a paradox for the design, management and implementation of projects:
As part of the vision that from the beginning has wanted to establish project coordination in the management, implementation and execution of activities that entail the establishment of forestry development projects, a particular story from Greek mythology has been used to establish a paradox of what should NOT be done or do not want to do, for which it is presented below as an initial part of reflection and in the course of this document we will emphasize it to emphasize our vision of how we want the projects to be implemented to be outlined.
One of the most interesting characters in Greek mythology is Sisyphus, the king of Corinth, who was considered the most cunning of men. Despite all his cunning, or perhaps precisely because of it, he always faced the most difficult situations. Each stroke of cunning created new difficulties, which in turn called for other strategies, in an eternal succession of provisional exits.
On one occasion, Sisyphus discovered by chance that Zeus had kidnapped Aegina, daughter of Asopus, the god of rivers. As there was a lack of water in his land, Sisyphus had the idea of revealing to Asopus the whereabouts of his daughter, as long as he gave him a spring in exchange. The desperate father willingly accepted the proposal, he gave Sisyphus the spring and knew then that his daughter had been kidnapped by Zeus.
Sisyphus obtained the water, but was faced with another problem: Zeus was enraged at him for betraying him and sent Death to look for him. Confident in his own cunning, Sisyphus greeted Death and began to converse with her. He praised her beauty and asked her to let him adorn her neck with a necklace. The necklace, in reality, was a collar with which Sisyphus kept Death in chains and managed to outwit his fate.
For some time, people stopped dying. Sisyphus knew how to cheat Death, but he got entangled in new problems. This time it was with Pluto, the god of souls and the unconscious, and with Mars, the god of war, who needed the loans of Death to win battles.
When Pluto found out what had happened, he released Death and ordered him to immediately bring Sisyphus to hell. But in saying goodbye to his wife, Sisyphus was careful to secretly ask her not to bury her body. Once in Hell, he protested to Pluto about his wife's lack of respect for not burying her body, and begged him to give one day to take revenge on the ungrateful woman and be able to comply with the funeral rituals. Pluto granted the request, and then Sisyphus recovered his body and fled with the wife. He had cheated Death a second time.
He lived in hiding for many years, until he finally died. When Pluto saw him, he reserved a special punishment for him: Sisyphus was condemned to push a huge stone to the top of a mountain, which before reaching the top rolled all the way down and forced Sisyphus to restart his task again and again, until The end of the ages.
The question is, what does this story teach us in the field of projects?
We must then analyze if the history of Sisyphus is not a paradox of the development of any project that is implemented in our region or / and country, in which the leadership of the same by not developing clear and really prioritized lines seeking to stand out and put above the flagpole the name of your project, when seeking to correct, amend or create immediate solutions to problems that arise, it only increases its problems further and at the end of the project's useful life they become that Sisyphus that during The development of the project, despite having quantifiable and qualifiable goals, could not reach its goals and on several occasions, it had to start all over again from the beginning.
Exemplary punishment for Sisyphus for rolling that huge stone over and over again without reaching that goal, which in this case would be the top of the mountain. Punishment that is easily reflected in a number7 of programs and projects that, from their conception, were destined to be SISIFOS Projects.
If the National Forest Institute does not want, nor does it develop SISIFOS projects.
As a basis, the National Institute of Forests –INAB-, has developed from its origin in the Forestry Law (Decree 101-96) a continuous objective planning system, as the governing institution in the forestry sector, defining the actions in the design, management and implementation of projects the following strategic lines:
1. Clear definition of problems together with the beneficiaries, 2. Clear and simple design of objectives and goals to be met by the projects, 3. Flexible but not changing strategic planning, 4. Emphasis on the optimization of human, physical and financial resources, under the concept that out of every Ten Quetzales, Eight Quetzales reach users directly and Two Quetzales indirectly, 5. Promotion of the formation of Strategic Alliances, with other related programs and projects, in search of strengthening the forestry sector as a unified entity, 6. Prioritization of geographic areas and activities, individual treatment of each activity developed in communities as specific projects, duly agreed and developed jointly with the communities, 7. Continuous search for models of self-sustainability in the medium and long term of projects, 8. Formation of forest culture through the participation of target groups in the implementation of projects.
9. Training and exchange of experience of benefited communities and groups.
10. Promotion of the adequate use of the soil and the hydrobiological-forestry link, with a medium-term vision in the valuation of environmental services.
11. Follow-up of projects based on a system of: Follow-up, Monitoring and Evaluation, which allows determining the impact of the project at various levels, not only at a quantitative and qualifying level in compliance with goals.
I.2. Institutional framework:
The National Forest Institute -INAB-, was born as the governing institution in the forestry sector, is in charge of promoting and fostering the country's forestry development, executing forestry policies that comply with the objectives of the Forestry Law, Legislative Decree 101- 96. In addition, it is responsible for promoting forestry research, developing forestry programs and projects, encouraging and strengthening technical careers, and preparing specific regulations for the institution. In December 1996, through Legislative Decree 101-96, a new Forestry Law for Guatemala was approved and with it the National Forest Institute, -INAB-, was created as the main executing entity.
INAB emerges as an autonomous, decentralized institution with its own assets. It shares responsibilities with the Municipality in matters of forest administration and control.
Since its creation (January 14, 1997), INAB has been making efforts to implement it, both in terms of human resources and physical and financial resources.
Additionally, it has had to respond to demands in matters of forest regulation and control and in the design of promotion actions. In this last line, the projects that are being executed and that arose within the Forestry Action Plan for Guatemala -PAFG-, or that were supported by it, have served as a work platform in the beginning of INAB.
Actions have also been carried out to disseminate the Forestry Law and develop specific regulations. Regulation of the Law, Internal Regulation, Manual of Norms and Procedures, Emerging Program of Forest Incentives and a series of activities of the forest administration.
annex 3
"Summary of the action plan sub-region viii-2"
i. sub-regional action plan viii-2, poptún, petén:
ii. general characteristics:
ii.1 region viii, inab:
INAB Region VIII, includes the entire Department of Petén, Guatemala and is divided into four sub-regions, Sub-region VIII-1, in the Municipality of San Benito, VIII-2 Based in the Municipality of Poptún, VIII-3 based in the Municipality of Sayaxché and VIII-4 based in the Municipality of La Libertad.
ii.2 sub-region viii-2:
Its Action Area is in the Municipality of Dolores, Poptún and San Luis, with a total area of 7,343.60 square kilometers, of which 369.46 belong to the Maya Biosphere Reserve, 3541.03 to the Protected Areas of the southern complexes and 3,702.03 Kilometers squares are area under administration of INAB Sub-region VIII-2.
ii.2.1 municipality of dolores:
to. Biophysical Information:
Geographic Coverage Area: 2,805.00, square kilometers.
Elevation Above Sea Level: In the lower areas there are elevations of 436,
and in the highest areas up to 1,012.
Forest Cover: 1,027 square kilometers.
Land Use Capacity: Forest and Protective Forest.
Current Land Use: Forestry, Guamiles and Agriculture
Life Zone: Very Humid Sub-Tropical Forest (Warm).
Type of soils: Mopán Cuxuc and Ialoch.
Hydrographic Basins: Rio Mopán and Rio Chiquibul.
Climate: It is a warm, very humid climate without a well-defined dry season.
b. Socioeconomic Aspects:
Current Population:
26,380. Ethnic Groups: Ladino and Keqchi.
Poverty Data:
Literacy:
Basic Services: 2 Health Centers; Drinking Water Service, Public and Home Lighting Service, 1 Computer School.
Populated Centers: Dolores, El Chal, San Juan, El Quetzal, Boca del Monte, El Ocote, Calzada Mopán-Sabanetas.
c. Area Economy:
Priority Productive Activity of the Area: Traditional agriculture, livestock and trade.
Agricultural Activities: raising, buying and selling of cattle; crops of corn and beans.
d. Current Productive Infrastructure:
Roads: The main highway coming from the capital city and passing through this municipality in the direction of the municipal head of Flores, is completely paved. The roads that lead to the different villages and populated centers are unpaved and are in good condition most of the year, except in the winter season.
Forest Industries: This municipality has 11 active carpentry shops at certain times of the year. These are small industries, which have only the basic tool to be able to carry out furniture construction work. Therefore, its productive capacity is to produce one or two pieces of furniture per month.
and. Land Tenure:
Types of Land Tenure:
Registered in Real Property and others with property title, Tenure, Right of Possession.
Average Size of the Farms:
One caballería or 64 apples.
Ejidal Area: 11,283 Hectares.
Protected Areas: In the complexes of the South Peten area there are 498.73 square kilometers. In the Maya Biosphere Reserve there are 367.45 square kilometers.
ii.2.2 poptun municipality
to. Biophysical Information:
Geographic Coverage Area: 1,703.30 square kilometers
Elevation Above Sea Level: In the lower areas there are elevations of 480, and in the highest areas up to 612.
Forest Cover: 853.63 square kilometers.
Land Use Capacity: Forest and Protective Forest.
Current Land Use: Forestry, Guamiles and Agriculture
Life Zone: Very Humid Sub-Tropical Forest (Warm).
Type of Soils: Cuxuc, Chocop and Machaquila.
Hydrographic Basins: Machaquila River.
Climate: It is a hot, very humid climate, with a long rainy season between the months of May to January, and a dry season that is not well defined between the months of February to April.
b. Socioeconomic Aspects:
Current Population: 29,499
Ethnic Groups: Ladino and Keqchí
Poverty Data:
Literacy:
Basic Services: Health Center, 3 Health Posts; 3 National Basic Institutes, 6 Colleges; 3 Computer Academies; 2 Libraries; Drinking Water Service: Public and Home Lighting Service; Post and Telegraphs; Community Telephone Service; 4 Bank Services, 7 Extra-Urban Bus Services, Air Track
Populated Centers: Poptún, Machaquilá, Santa Amelia, Sabanetas, El Caoba, La Providencia, El Carrizal
c. Area Economy:
Priority Productive Activity of the Area: Traditional agriculture, livestock and trade.
Agricultural Activities: raising, buying and selling of cattle; crops of corn and beans.
d. Current Productive Infrastructure:
Roads: The main highway coming from the capital city and passing through this municipality in the direction of the municipal head of Flores, is completely paved. The roads that lead to the different villages and populated centers are unpaved and are in good condition most of the year, except in the winter season.
Forest Industries: This municipality has 21 active carpentry shops at certain times of the year. There are also 11 firewood stores. There are 2 Bodyworks and 5 Sawmills factories. These industries have a variable work rate depending on the time of year, with the strongest working season being Summer. The work capacity of the Sawmills is 314.50 cubic meters per month. The carpentry work capacity is 47.02 cubic meters per month. The Warehouses have the capacity to move 342.50 cubic meters per month.
and. Land Tenure:
Types of Land Tenure: Registered in Real Property and others with property title, Tenure, Right of Possession.
Average Size of the Farms: One caballería or 64 apples.
Ejidal Area: 11,505 Hectares.
Protected Areas: Taking Complex III and IV into account, they add up to a total of 130.88 square kilometers.
ii.3.3 municipality of San Luis:
to. Biophysical Information:
Geographic Coverage Area: 2,835.00, square kilometers.
Elevation Above Sea Level: The highest areas reach up to 1,012.
Forest Cover: 649.14 square kilometers.
Land Use Capacity: Forest and Protective Forest.
Current Land Use: Livestock and Agriculture.
Life Zone: Very Humid Sub-Tropical Forest (Warm).
Type of Soils: The most predominant series of soils are the Cuxuc and Chacalté, which develop in limestone rocks in Karstic areas, with undulating slopes; they are clayey, little drained. They are the preferred ones for the cultivation of the cornfield. Sacluc and Sotz soils are found on well-drained plains, being neutral to slightly acidic.
Watersheds: Rio Machaquilaito and Rio Sarstoon and San Pedro.
Climate: It is a warm, very humid climate with a long period between the months of May to January, and a dry season that is not well defined between the months of February to April, with temperatures ranging between 14 and 23 degrees Celsius.
b. Socioeconomic Aspects:
Current Population: 51, 488. Of which 17,526 are men. 8,901 are children. 16,699 are women. And 8362 are girls.
Ethnic Groups: 80% of the total population belong to the Keqchí and Maya Mopán ethnic groups, and the remaining 20% are Ladinos.
Poverty Data:
Literacy:
Basic Services: 1 Health Center, 5 Health Posts; Water service; Public and Home Lighting Service; 1 Institute of Basic Education; 2 Bank Services, Community Telephone Service.
Populated Centers: San Luis, Chacte, Ixbobo, Chinchila, La Caoba, Machaquilaito.
c. Area Economy:
Priority Productive Activity of the Area: Traditional agriculture, livestock and trade.
Agricultural Activities: raising, buying and selling of cattle; crops of corn and beans.
d. Current Productive Infrastructure:
Roads: The main highway coming from the capital city and passing through this municipality in the direction of the municipal head of Flores, is completely paved. The roads that lead to the different villages and populated centers are unpaved and are in good condition most of the year, except in the winter season.
Forest Industries: This municipality has 9 active carpentry shops at certain times of the year. These are small industries, which have only the basic tool to be able to carry out furniture construction work. Therefore, its productive capacity is to produce one or two pieces of furniture per month, except for one that produces an average of 2 pieces of furniture per day.
and. Land Tenure:
Types of Land Tenure:
Registered in Real Property and others with property title, Tenure, Right of Possession.
Average Size of the Farms: One caballería or 64 apples.
Ejidal Area: 11,250 Hectares
Protected Areas: Complex IV consists here of 459.32 square kilometers.
In general, the total area that includes the three municipalities in the area covered by the National Institute of Forests Sub-Region VIII-2 is 7,343.60. Of these, the Administration of the National Commission for Protected Areas corresponds to a total of 3,910.49 square kilometers. Therefore, the INAB administration is responsible for 3,433.11 square kilometers.
iii. the forestry sector: a characterization of the forest supply in sub-region viii-2:
The municipalities of Dolores, Poptún and San Luís currently have areas with forest cover that are satisfying the local market and, to some extent, a small part of the national market.
iii.1 areas with forestry aptitude:
Currently there is a total forest coverage of 2,529.77 square kilometers. The total area that includes the municipalities of Dolores, Poptún and San Luis, is 7,343.60. Applying the 53% aptitude for forests at the national level, it can then be said that in this Sub-Region there is an area of 3,892.11 square kilometers. The other remaining areas are between an Agricultural use and Mountain Protection.
iii.2 area with forest and its characterization:
III.2.1 High broadleaf forest:
There are 1,587 square kilometers. These forests are characterized by having species such as: Canxan, Santa María, Matilisguate, Ramon, Cedrillo, Cedro, Mahogany, Cola de Coche, Silillón and Danto, mainly in structure. The forest regeneration present in said forest is high. All this, according to inventories carried out by users who currently have Forest Management Plans authorized. These broadleaf forests are mainly located in the municipalities of Dolores and Poptún.
III.2.2 Tall Coniferous Forest:
There are 142 square kilometers. This area is characterized by presenting only the pine species Pinus carabaea, called Poptún Pine. This forest shows good regeneration of the species. These were obtained from forest inventories of authorized licenses in this Sub-Region. These coniferous forests occur mainly in the municipalities of Dolores and Poptún.
III.2.3 Guamiles:
Of this component, 801.64 square kilometers are contemplated. These Guamiles are characterized by presenting a large number of broadleaf species, such as: Guarumo, Majagua, Chacaj, Cordoncillo, Achitillo. These data are obtained from forest inventories of authorized Forest Management Licenses.
III.2.4 Agriculture and Livestock:
There are 3,617.62 square kilometers. These are located mainly in the municipalities of Dolores and San Luis.
iv. institutional and organizational situation in the sub-region viii-2
iv.1 main causes of forest loss
IV.1.1 Expansion of the agricultural and livestock frontier: These are the main reasons why the forest has decreased, since the Municipalities of San Luis and Dolores are the main producers of Corn and beans in the Department of Petén, due to the characteristics of the soils (they normally establish their crops on gentle slopes), the soils are eroded, the lack of crop rotation and as products of the agrarian policy, the insecurity of the land causes emigration to new areas.
In the flat lands that are normally found between the hills and other flat areas such as in Chinchilla, in San Luis and some in Poptún, they are destined for extensive cattle ranching.
IV.1.2 Wood for firewood: As is characteristic of our country, firewood is used as fuel in most homes. In the subregion, the Municipality of San Luis is the one with the highest demand for firewood, due to the scarcity of forests. At present they already use the one from the slashes, the main species used for firewood are: Chicozapote and canxan, causing a threat to these species, because they cut down living trees, to commercialize them later.
IV.1.3 Harvesting for industrial purposes: The main problem of harvesting for industrial purposes is the realization of roads for the extraction of wood, facilitating the emigration of families and to ensure survival, they cut down the forest and start a conventional agriculture in soils forestry vocation.
IV.!. 4 Forest Fires: A high percentage are caused by not taking protective measures in agricultural fields, burning pastures and intentionally to obtain wood, in addition to polluting the environment, they do not allow the regeneration of mature trees and young people, causing the impoverishment of soils.
IV.1.5 Pests and / or diseases: Pine forests are the main affected by pests and diseases, such as the pine weevil and other insects associated with it. Most of the pine forests are under the administration of CONAP
iv.2 problems in the forestry sector:
IV.2.1 Deforestation: Changes in the use of Forest or Protective Forest lands, due to agriculture and livestock, is a process of cutting down the forest, and later the fire that reaches areas with surrounding forest cover is used, thus causing the forest fires that according to the INAB in the year of 1998 affected an area of 12,000 hectares. outside protected areas.
In addition, there are illegal uses for the consumption of firewood directed at the Chicozapote and Canxan species, as well as "illegal logging" towards the Cedar, Mahogany, Rozul and Pine species.
IV.2.2 Low levels of reforestation: Due to the lack of incentives for people who establish voluntary reforestations, or due to poor technical assistance, or mistrust towards the new policies, the forestry lands had not been recovered and interest had dropped significantly, so there was a low percentage reforested as a product of the previous forest administrations. Currently, through the Forest Incentives Sub-Program, the reforestation activity has taken off, entering it a total of 1,525.94 hectares during the years 1998 and 1999.
IV.2.3 Forest industrial stagnation: In the Sub-region, forest industries suffered stagnation due to acts of corruption by people from previous forest administrations, with forest harvesting being more profitable for them than for the industrial itself, currently bureaucratic procedures and cumbersome in some institutions forces the industrialists to stop the operations in the companies. There has been no promotion of people who are dedicated to the use of forest resources and, furthermore, the secondary species of broadleaf forest have not been promoted, most of which are those that make up the forests.
IV.2.4 Institutional problems: Within Sub-region VIII-2, there are government institutions related to the sector such as:
a) the national council of protected areas (conap) for the administration of the protected areas of southern Petén.
Its main objectives are: to ensure the optimal functioning of the essential ecological processes and vital natural systems of these areas, defend and preserve the natural heritage, facilitate and favor the conservation of the country's biological diversity, organize, direct, and develop the Guatemalan system. of Protected Areas, plan to conduct and disseminate the national strategy for the conservation of biological diversity, coordinate and administer the provisions on the matter of biodiversity conservation that are contained in the international instruments ratified by Guatemala, establish the National Fund for Conservation of the nature.
This institution is developing different projects, such as: Maya Biosphere Project (PBM), Program for the protection of the Petén forest (PROSELVA).
Due to the land problem, the area that this institution manages has become the area most pressured by the factors of land colonization and illegal logging.
Currently, activities are coordinated with this institution in order to strengthen the educational part and change the attitudes of the inhabitants towards the reserve areas. This is due to the fact that only the control and surveillance part is the one that has been most interested by its authorities in the recent past.
b) ministry of agriculture, livestock and food (maga), through the project “emergency for the protection of the peten forests (probopeten) -.
This is a Government Organization whose main components that have been developing within the Sub-Region are:
a) Forest Management. Within this component they are working with communities and organized groups that have natural forest reserves, which they wish to manage and exploit in a rational and sustainable way, for which they provide technical advice for the formulation, approval and execution of forest management plans of the communities it works with.
b) Forestry and Agroforestry Extension. Actions are carried out to strengthen community organization for training in activities such as: establishment and management of forest nurseries, establishment and management of forest and agroforestry plantations, as well as agrosilvopastoral systems.
c) Forestry and Environmental Education. In this component, this institution trains primary-level teachers to bring, through them, basic knowledge to their students about: the tree, the forest, the soil and its vocation, forest nurseries, forest plantations and forest management. Similarly, they provide teaching support to the Institute of Agroforestry and Wildlife Sciences (ICAVIS), in the municipality of Poptún, Petén.
d) Development of Women. Within this component, they carry out actions to strengthen community organization, with the purpose of providing training in activities such as: manufacture and use of wood-saving stoves, establishment of family gardens and improvement of basic diet and cooking.
Due to the components that this institution presents, it has achieved a degree of acceptance within the population, presenting only the traditional feeling of Paternalism in the communities where it is present.
This is because on many occasions in order to carry out their activities, many leaders condition their participation in exchange for receiving some benefit. On some occasions, this institution has stopped serving communities for this reason, since the pressure is great on the part of the leaders towards this type of benefits.
Currently we are working in coordination with this institution in some areas that are a priority for the INAB, such as the deforested areas of the municipality of Dolores. In this area, this subregional office has the highest number of PINFORs, with PROBOPETEN acting as regent of the “pinforeros” of this area, known as a highly deforested livestock area. At the same time it is trying to cover the other two municipalities with this type of coordination.
c) land fund (fontierra). This is an institution that is working in areas in which there is uncertainty regarding land tenure, for which the people who live or inhabit these areas cannot develop productive projects, such as the PINFOR that finances the INAB. The objectives that are related to the activities of the National Forest Institute are:
a) Facilitate access to land owned by peasant men and women individually or in an organized manner, through adequate financial mechanisms, as well as the use of the Natural Resources of said lands, under criteria of economic and environmental sustainability.
b) Coordinate with other State institutions the development of investments complementary to those of access to land to guarantee the achievement of Comprehensive Projects of agricultural, forestry and hydrobiological development.
Currently there is a large part of the territory of the Sub-Region that does not have property titles. This has made it difficult to coordinate reforestation and forest cover management activities in areas where communities want to do so.
Apparently, in the year 2,000, land titles will be delivered to some communities in the southern part of San Luis and Poptún, so that contact with this institution can bring beneficiaries of PINFOR, and be able to begin to correctly manage the Natural Resources of said communities.
IV.2.5 Organizational Problems:
In order to carry out the work required to comply with the New Forestry Law, Decree 101-96, it is necessary to work in coordination with the different groups present in Sub-Region VIII-2.
Unfortunately, in this area organized groups did not exist in the recent past, due to fear and ignorance of the benefits that this could bring to the population.
In this sense, we have been working lightly but constantly on developing a type of organizational structure that involves all the people who make use of Natural Resources, but mainly the Forest resource.
For this to make sense, first, groups with the capacity for strong mobilizations, or that to some extent were strongly interested in making use of the forest resource, were detected. Secondly, the strong interest of local residents in being able to have their land legalized to make possible constant work on the plots they currently have, but with a future vision of being able to develop diversified productive activities, was also detected.
As a consequence of all the above, and after suffering several strong mobilizations, it was possible to detect:
a) group of peasant forest owners, called the “elias manuel” indigenous council, which emerged as a result of the murder of people from the village of “La Romana” by a municipal mayor of Poptún when he requested improvements to the road to said village.
With this organization, they have been planning to hold talks on the Forestry Law and the benefits it can bring to the 93 communities that they currently lead.
This year, after the mobilizations of the first semester, it was possible to create an educational strategy for the second semester, which became difficult, due to the current electoral climate, which to some extent would cause misgivings and bad thoughts in the communities before the INAB presence in talks of this type. Therefore, in consensus with INAB, this organization will support such activities from January-2000.
The main topics to be developed will be: What is the Environment? What is the Forestry Law and its Benefits? What is the market? Why is Land Use Planning useful? These are the first proposals that this organization has to start working, primarily aimed at environmental trainers that each community will assign to attend these talks that INAB will be conducting.
b) “Jorge toriello” foundation
This is an organization that is concerned with supporting communities uprooted as a result of the recently ended armed conflict.
Requests for talks about PINFOR are being attended to in communities that are about to receive land titles, areas that did not have an owner and that it is necessary to enter the forest management and reforestation programs.
c) committee of woodworkers from southern peten "colama".
It is a recent organization, structured with individuals who are dedicated to working with wood, such as:
Carpenters, chainsaw operators, cabinetmakers and others.
This organization arises as a consequence of the fact that many of these industries are not registered with the INAB, so meetings are called with them and the organization of them in a Committee that can express the problems of the sector is encouraged. This with the aim of being able to solve their precarious and illegal obtaining of wood to work with. In this sense, INAB is committed to making them aware of the New Forestry Law and to be able to frame all the activities they carry out within this framework. In the current year, they were provided with wood through the granting of Family Consumption licenses within the area of the Municipal Ejido, as well as coordinating with CONAP the expediting of a 100 cubic meter forestry license, thus demonstrating the willingness on the part of the INAB,to be able to work in coordination. The latter is necessary, since work is being done to establish the link between forest owners and these types of organizations.
d) catholic church
In this sense, INAB has held talks with Father Salvador Cutzal, recognized leader of the different communities in the area of this Sub-Region VIII-2.
In this sense, Father Cutzal has stated that he knows the problems of these communities in the forestry aspect, stating it is a way of being able to propose conversations with the different communities that own forests and other Natural Resources.
iv.2.6 the national forest institute as a forestry institution
INAB is the governing body, administration and the competent authority in forestry, outside of protected areas, dedicated to fulfilling the attributions of the institution, characterized by being a Service institution, providing better management of procedures, to achieve the proposed objectives, thus complying with Legislative Decree 101-96, Forestry Law.
The Sub-regional office is made up of a Sub-regional Director, three Forest Technicians, a Secretary and an Operative, with the support of the Regional Office through the Technical Directorate and the Legal Counsel.
iv.3 reforestation programs:
IV.3.1 Previous Reforestation Programs:
Historical Series: There are small areas of voluntary forests on private farms and in municipal ejidos carried out by the FYDEP, most of the reforestations that exist are the product of reforestation commitments, supervised by previous administrations.
Mechanisms: In the times of the FYDEP, reforestations were established by personnel who were hired to carry out said work, in previous administrations they supervised the commitments that were products of forest use.
Problems: In times of the FYDEP, it was reforested without adequate techniques, so there was not a good selection of the area, poor planting methods and species susceptible to pests and / or diseases.
In previous forest administrations, reforestation commitments were not technically evaluated in maintenance plans, so fires, plagues and lack of water ended reforestation. The Fiscal Incentives program did not have a greater presence in the municipalities under administration of the sub-region.
iv.2 forest management:
IV.2.1 Systems: In the area of action of the Subregion there has been no Forest Management, only Harvesting Plans, through selective extraction methods, directed more towards the species of Cedar, Mahogany and Rozul.
IV.2.2 Incentives: In the previous forestry policies, incentives for sustainable forest management were not contemplated, until the legislative decree 101.96 –Forestry Law–, which encourages the Management of Natural Forests.
Currently there are 22.30 hectares under forest management and they are being covered by the Forest Incentives Sub Program -SPINFOR-
IV.2.3 Forest Industries:
A) Types of industries: In the three Municipality under the administration of the subregion, there are 4 Sawmills, 20 Carpentry and 2 Bodyworks
B) Installed Capacity: Table No 1 shows the equipment installed in the different types of industries and the personnel they need to produce them.
| TYPE OF INDUSTRY | EQUIPMENT INSTALLED | No OF WORKERS |
| Sawmills | Band Saws Circular Saws
Trimmer Saws Machines Edger Disorders |
80 |
| Carpentry | Polishing machines
Trimmers |
315 |
| Bodyworks | Planer Polisher
Edging machines |
fifteen |
C) Raw material requirements: The main species used in forest industries are: Mahogany, Cedar, Santa María, Canxan, Cedrillo, Cola de Coche, Danto, Rozul, sawmills require an average of 20 m3 / day, carpentry a minimum of 0.3 m3 / day and a maximum of 0.5 m3 / day, carpentry factories require 0.5 m3 / day
D) Protected Areas: Table 2 shows the hectares that are in Protected Areas, by Municipality within the administration of Sub-region VIII-2.
| MUNICIPALITY | HAS.RBM | HAS. COMPLEJOS SUR PETEN | % BY MUNICIPALITY |
| Pains | 36,745.00 | 49,872.9 | 30.88 |
| POPTUN | --- | 18,037.94 | 10.59 |
| SAINT LOUIS | --- | 45,931.86 | 16.2 |
| TOTAL | 36,745.00 | 113,842.7 | 57.67 |
E) Clients and their Needs:
a) Forest regents: Within the Sub-region there are 4 forest regents, which are currently conducting studies, the demand for regencies is not a problem since most studies are carried out by professionals who reside outside the Sub-region.
b) Industries: Table 3 shows the number of industries found by municipality and the total within the Sub-region.
Table 3; Existing forest industries in Sub-region VIII-2
| INDUSTRY | Pains | POPTUN | SAINT LOUIS | TOTAL |
| Sawmills | 5 | |||
| Carpentry | 9 | twenty-one | 9 | |
| Bodyworks factories | two | one | ||
| Deposits | 12 | 4 |
c) Forest owners:. Currently, 5 Forest Management licenses have been approved with a managed area of 1,611.23 hectares. This area includes broadleaf forest and I confer, carrying out this activity only in the municipality of Poptún.
At this time, 3 Forest Management licenses are being processed, always within the Poptún area, with an area to be managed of 705.20 hectares of confier forest. The users of these licenses are promoting the management of neighboring areas in the near future.
d) Municipalities: Within the municipal ejidos, there are significant wooded areas, table 4 the distribution of the forest in the municipal ejidos.
Table 4: Distribution of the forest in the Municipal ejidos.
| MUNICIPALITY | HAS. FOREST TYPE | HAS, CONIFERAS FOREST | TOTAL HAS. EJIDO | % PER EJIDO |
| Poptun | 3,462 | 11,283 | 30.68 | |
| Pains | 3,200 | 11,430 | 27.99 | |
| SAINT LOUIS | 11,250 | |||
| TOTAL |
e) Communities with Forest: In this section we can mention that in the municipality of Dolores we are currently working with 4 Cooperatives that have 3,900 hectares of Broadleaf Forest and 103 Committees.
Improvement, which to some extent present wooded masses, not yet quantified, because they are scattered.
In the municipalities of Poptún and San Luis we are working with the indigenous organization called Indigenous Council “Elías Manuel”, who represent 93 indigenous communities.
Communal forests exist only in the Cooperatives, and some are currently carrying out forest management. Table 5 shows the areas by cooperative and by Municipality within the Sub-region.
Table 5: Area with forest in the cooperatives of Sub-region VIII-2, does not include the forest under CONAP administration
| MUNICIPALITY | COOPERATIVE | TOTAL AREA | HAS. FOREST | % |
| Pains | New HopeLos Limones
Union Itza |
8,550.001350.00
2,104.00 |
1250.001,300.00
1,350.00 |
96.25 |
| POPTUN | Concomá | 1,350.00 | 1,350.00 | 60.00 |
| SAINT LOUIS | ||||
| TOTAL |
f) Transporters: Within the Sub-region, two people are dedicated to trading timber products from the forests of private farms or Cooperatives, which supply forest industries outside of Region VIII, transporting an average of 800 cubic meters per year, in their most Secondary, and secondly precious species.
In addition, industrialists from other parts of the country buy wood in different sizes to supply their companies' demand for raw materials.
v. vision:
As the Institution in charge of forestry aspects at the level of the new Guatemalan State, INAB presents itself as a different entity, since its autonomy and decentralization will make it possible to contribute to promotion, management and awareness actions by creating a forestry culture, which until recently had been absent in our country and mainly in the Peten area. Therefore, INAB in Sub-Region VIII-2 of Southern Petén will promote the sustainable development of the Forestry Sector, based on an improvement in the economy and quality of life of its inhabitants.
saw. mission:
The mission of the National Forest Institute in the area of the municipalities of Dolores, Poptún and San Luis, is to make the New Forestry Law reach all its inhabitants and different institutions with the aim of executing and promoting national forest policies.
In this way, access to technical assistance, technology and forestry services will be facilitated, through the design of strategies and actions that arise from the main actors, which generate the economic, ecological and social development so necessary for the preservation of Our Natural resources.
