Our Actions The Motagua Valley

Because of the importance of this zone due to its biodiversity, endemism and threatening, Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza with the support of other institutions is carrying out a participatory and inter-institutional process of conservation.   This process promotes the declaratory and strengthening of municipal and private protected areas, the environmental education, the access to forest conservation incentives, ecotourism and the application of the law.

Recently an integrated conservation plan of biodiversity and cultural heritage has been developed to use the existing synergies between both of them to increase the institutional and local support, the education and the promotion of the sustainable tourism.

The success of the conservation in the area depends on the participation of all the inhabitants and it is closely related to the good use of the land, the access to water and the local policies that must be promoted by the Municipal Corporations and the Development Councils.  This integrated, open and equitable participation is crucial in a zone that has intrinsic threats towards the conservation like the highway to the Atlantic, the high level of commerce, the excessive expansion of the exportation crops, and the “dry corridor” lacking of food safety policies at medium and long term.

It has been a challenge to promote the conservation in this region of Guatemala, and we expect that the actions we are carrying out will give stability to this important ecosystem, for the benefit of the present and future generations.