The National Council for Protected Areas (in Spanish: Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas, CONAP) is the government agency of Guatemala that has as its mission the conservation and the sustainable use of the biological diversity and protected areas of Guatemala. CONAP was created by Decree 4-89, or the Law of Protected Areas (in Spanish: Ley de Areas Protegidas, LAP) gave jurisdiction to over the System of Protected Areas of Guatemala (in Spanish: Sistema Guatemalteco de Áreas Protegidas, SIGAP), which is the conglomeration of all protected areas, and those under special protection in the country.
Background Up until the 1950s, the northern Peten had been largely disconnected from the State despite being the largest department in the country. Economic activity was mostly restrained to ranching and the harvest of chicle and xate with almost complete absence of regulatory agencies. Ranchers and indigenous communities, like the Maya Q’echi that had migrated from the Alta Verapaz region in the 19th century, composed most of the scattered population in the region. However, after the coup of 1954 that ended the Arbenz administration, the region became the “escape valve to the agrarian problems of Guatemala” (Elías, S.; Gellert, G.; Pape, E. y Reyes, E. (1997). Evaluación de la sostenibilidad en Guatemala. FLACSO: Guatemala, Guatemala.) by becoming the source of land grants offered to the landless, indigenous and peasant populations disenfranchised by the overturning of the land reform. This was the onset of the colonization process that would later be formalized by the creation of a government agency with the mission to develop and integrate the Peten region with the rest of the country . In 1959, Congress created the National Enterprise for the Economic Development of Petén (Spanish: Empresa de Fomento y Desarrollo de Petén, FYDEP) through the passing of Decree 1286. According to Michael Painter, FYDEP had the following objectives: 1) To manage and build infrastructure to foment agricultural, industrial, and touristic development in Peten 2) To exploit the region's natural resources, except oil, for domestic and foreign markets 3) To sell land to landless countrymen for the production of basic grains and as a way to help reduce the political demands for land reform in the south 4) To place settlers in cooperatives along the western borders with Mexico to bar Mexican colonists from entering Peten and prevent Mexican construction of hydroelectric facilities near the border 5) To promote medium scale capitalized cattle ranching in central and south Peten.
The result was the expansion of agriculture, ranching, logging, extraction of forest products and the construction of unsophisticated infrastructure, schools and health facilities (Painter). Many of these activities grew with minimal oversight from the government and FYDEP. By 1990, satellite imagery showed that 40% of Peten had been deforested and another 10% degraded. Some attribute the neglect of sustainable development by the Guatemalan government to be a result of the close involvement of the military in State affairs, whose concerns in regards to the jungle were insurrections and lacked the know-how and interest in environmental protection.(El Cambio es Posible: 20 años de Experiencias Innovadoras en los Recursos Naturales en Guatemala) By 2000, FYDEP had estimated a population in Peten of about 50, 000; although, there were already 64,000 people living in the region by 1973. FYDEP was disintegrated by the government in 1986 due to criticisms of its inability to control both the process of colonization and the growth of illegal logging practices, albeit, the damage to the region had already been done with the agricultural frontier quickly growing deeper north into the forest.
Organization In 1989, Guatemala passed the Law of Protected Areas (LAP) in order to combat the rapid rate of deforestation around the country. LAP created the National Council for Protected Areas, whose legal function are stipulated by Decree 4-89 as the executive coordinator of conservation efforts. It meets every two weeks or at the discretion of the acting President, as directed by Article 67. The main objectives of CONAP are stated in Article 62: To promote and foster conservation and the improvement of the natural heritage of Guatemala To organize, direct, and develop the System of Protected Areas in Guatemala (SIGAP) To plan, conduct, and enforce the National Strategy for Conservation of Biological Diversity and Renewable Natural Resources in Guatemala To coordinate the administration of resources for flora and fauna and the biological diversity of the nation, through their respective executive entities To plan and coordinate the application of regulations in regards to the conservation of biological diversity contained in international agreements ratified by Guatemala To create a national fund for the conservation of nature, sustained by financial resources resulting from domestic and foreign collaboration. CONAP has three governing entities: The Presidency - Article 64 of Decree 4-98 states that the position will be carried out by the National Coordinator of the Environment (in Spanish: Coordinador Nacional del Medio Ambiente) but the responsibilities can be transferred to a Council member in the case of an emergency. The Executive Secretary - Article 70 details the role to be that of a director of the administrative and technical operations of CONAP and SIGAP that include holding meetings, participation in meetings (without voting power), approval of the budget, oversight of all personnel, and administrative changes for the improvement of daily operations. As stated in Article 71, this position can only be held by someone born in Guatemala, in minimal possession of a graduate degree, with at least three years experience in Protected Areas Administration, in full ownership of their civil rights. The Executive Sub-Secretary - Article 74 grants the Executive Secretary the power to appoint an Executive Sub-Secretary, who would have to meet the same requirements as the Executive Secretary, and be given specific functions at the time of appointment. In the case that the Executive Secretary is absent or unable to fulfill their responsibilities, the Sub-Secretary will take their place. It shares jurisdiction over territory with some of the following government agencies, representatives of which also compose the membership of the Council: Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, MARN Centro de Estudios Conservacionistas, CECON/USAC Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, IDAEH A delegate from the NGO's registered with CONAP that have a focus on natural resources and the environment. La Asociación Nacional de Municipalidades, ANAM Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo, INGUAT Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganaderia y Alimentacion, MAGA On December 12, 1996, Decree 110-96 was passed and made slight modifications to details pertaining to the organization and responsibilities of CONAP.
National System of Protected Areas in Guatemala (SIGAP)
SIGAP was created under Article 2 of Decree 4-89 with the intent to unify all protected areas in the country and their administrative entities to facilitate the “conservation, rehabilitation, improvement and protection of the country’s natural resources and its biological diversity.” It would be composed of all previously declared protected areas, areas declared as protected under Article 89, and areas of special protection listed by Article 90.
Protected Areas LAP declared the following as protected areas: Biotope Mario Dary Rivera for the preservation of the Quetzal, located in Purulha, Baja Verapaz Biotope Cerro Cahui, located in the Department of Peten. Biotope Chocon Machacas for the conservation of the Manatee, located the Department of Izabal Biotope Laguna del Tigre - Rio Escondido, located in the northwest region of the Department of Peten Biotopo el Zotz, San Miguel la Palotada, located in the northern region of the Department of Peten Biotopo Naachtun Dos Lagunas, located in the northern region of the Department of Peten Laguna Lachua National Park located in Alta Verapaz LAP declared the following as special protection areas: Yolnabaj, located in the Department of Huehetenango Cuchumatanes, located in the Department of Huehuetenango and the Department of Quiche El Caba, located in the Department of Quiche Manchon-Huamuchai, located in the southern coast of the Department of Retalhuleu and the Department of San Marcos Boca Costa of the volcanoes in the southwest region of the country Sierra Aral, located in the Department of Izabal Cerro San Gil Ecological Reserve, located in the Department of Izabal Punta de Manabique, located in the northern region of the Department of Izabal Sierra de Santa Cruz, located in the Department of Izabal Montana Espiritu Santo, located in the western region of the Department of Izabal Sierra Chinaja, located in the northern region of the Department of Alta Verapaz El Pino de Poptun Ecological Reserve, located in the Department of Peten Extension of the Yaxja-Yaloch National Park, located in the Department of Peten Vida Silvestre Refuge and Altar de los Sacrificios Cultural Monument and Laguna Ixoche, located in the Department of Peten Semuc-Champey National Monument, located in the Department of Alta Verapaz Cumbre de Maria Tecun, located in the Department of Totonicapan Ipala Volcano, located in the Department of Chiquimula Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve, located in the Department of Chiquimula Sarstun River, in the northern region of the Department of Izabal Tecpan Mountains, located in the Department of Chimaltenango Sabanas de San Francisco The Ecological Reserves and National Monuments located in the volcanic cones of the country Xacaxa, located in the Department of Chimaltenango Cumbre Alta, located between the Department of Izabal and the Department of Zacapa Chiquibul River, in the Department of Peten Laguna Perdida, located in the Department of Peten Laguna del Rio Salinas, located in the Department of Peten Sabana del Sos Ecological Reserve, located in the Department of Peten San Rafael Pixcaya Multiple Use Zone, located in the Department of Chimaltenango Laguna de Guija, located in the Department of Jutiapa San Isidro Cafetales, Cumbre de Chiramay, located in the Department of Chiquimula Valle de la Arada, located in the Department of Chiquimula Laguna de Ayarza, located in the Department of Santa Rosa Laguna Chic-Choc, located in the Department of Alta Verapaz Abaj-Takalic Archeological Site, located in the Department of Retalhuleu Mirador Rio Azul National Park, located in the Department of Peten Uaxactun-Carmelita Multiple Use Reserve, located in the Department of Peten Other areas that act as biological connectors between these areas Beyond the areas specified areas listed in Decree 4-89 (and updated by Decree 110-96), SIGAP consists in total of 152 protected areas within the country. Specific categories of protection include national parks, biotopes, biosphere reserves, areas with several uses, forest reserves, natural monuments, cultural monuments, scenic routes and trails, marine parks, regional parks, recreational parks, and private nature reserves
Maya Biosphere Reserve (in Spanish: Reserva de la Biosfera Maya, RBM)