Mesoamerican Biological Corridor to Get 470 Million Dollars

Donors, governments and multilateral agencies are guaranteeing the continuity of the plan aimed at restoring the biodiversity chain through Mesoamerica, a 768,000 square km area that holds eight percent of the world’s biodiversity.

PARIS – The Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, an attempt to integrate the protected areas of Central America and southern Mexico, has been confirmed as a platform to launch development and environmental conservation strategies, with a budget of 470 million dollars for the 2003-2007 period.

Government officials from the region, international finance organizations and donor nations approved the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC) budget for the next five years at a meeting in Paris, Dec 12-13, convened by the World Bank.

The MBC, initiated in 1997, covers the entire region known as Mesoamerica: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, and five southern Mexican states, Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatán.

The territory covers 768,000 square km and is home to 45 million people and approximately eight percent of the planet’s biodiversity. There are some 24,000 plant species and 521 mammal species in the MBC, the most in the world for such a small area.

However, the area’s biological wealth stands in stark contrast to the human poverty. Approximately 27 million people in the region are poor, or 60 percent of the population, according to World Bank figures.

The MBC “represents the shared vision of all the peoples of the region, who have been hard hit by civil war and natural disasters, for a future of peace and stability based on responsible and sustainable economic development,” Costa Rica’s environment minister, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, told those gathered in Paris.

Rodríguez chairs the intergovernmental Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD), which administers the program.

This initiative “is showcasing the idea that combining growth and sustainable development is not only viable, it is already happening in Central America,” said Kristalina Georgieva, director of the World Bank’s Department of Environment.

One of the results already visible in Mesoamerica is the recovery of its forests, noted Mauricio Castro, CCAD executive secretary.

“We have been able to prove that reforestation of Mesoamerica has begun, comparing recently obtained satellite images with others taken several years ago,” Castro explained.

These images show that “Costa Rica has recovered forested area, and that deforestation in countries like Guatemala is being halted,” he added.

In the near future, “monkey would be able to move from southern Mexico to Panama without touching the ground,” said an optimistic Rodríguez to illustrate the extent of the potential for forest recovery.

The aim of the MBC is also to achieve continued sustainable development in the countryside, a process that should be compatible with the conservation of natural resources. If this is achieved, the region will be a place “where farmers are working the land using organic techniques and enjoy a better standard of living than they do today,” Castro said.

Organic farming involves growing crops without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, managing ecosystems to prevent environmental problems and threats to human health.

The MCB seeks to recognize the value of the region’s natural resources and the projects drawn up by farmers’ groups, the CCAD chief pointed out in his presentation of the work plan for the next five years.

“The MBC should not be a program dominated by bureaucrats, but rather by rural producers and by groups representing civil society,” he said.

The donors participating in the Paris meeting authorized the use of 70 million dollars for projects to be implemented by the Mesoamerican nations, and another 400 million for country-specific programs.

Guatemala “has not had environmental protection legislation… But thanks to the MBC we have begun creating the legal apparatus and working structures for the conservation and responsible use of our resources,” commented Guatemala’s environment minister Carlos Cáceres.

Independent farmers are praising the project, but also demanding that their organic products, such as coffee, cacao and fruit, are ensured access to the international market.

“It is not enough to donate a few million dollars to finance a project. We need to be paid a fair price for our work,” stated Ovidio López, secretary-general of the Solidarity Front, a Latin American federation of small coffee growers.

* Julio Godoy is an IPS correspondent.