Ecosystem Restoration in Guatemala

By Paul Schmidtke (Costa Rica 86-88)

While Guatemala did not experience Hurricane Mitch's full fury like neighboring Honduras, several local areas were severely impacted by this incredible storm.  One such area is the Sierra de las Minas, a mountain chain located in the southeastern part of the country.  A majority of this range is included in the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve, managed by a local NGO known as "Defensores de la Naturaleza".

Because of its juxtaposition with the Caribbean coast and its altitude (over 9,000 ft.), this area is one of the most ecologically diverse in all of Central America.  At the base of the north slope, tropical rain forest is found.  At higher elevations, the vegetation transitions to subtropical montane forest and finally to a cloud forest.  Coming down the south side, the vegetation changes to a pine-oak forest and finally to a desert shrub land at the lowest elevations, known as the "spine forest".  This area is the most arid location in Central America because of the rain shadow created by the Sierra de las Minas.
The southern slopes have been inhabited for several hundred years.  Agriculture is a major source of income and most families depend on agricultural products for income and/or subsistence.  Unfortunately, the agricultural practices being applied to the landscape in this region have left it very susceptible to damage from storms such as Mitch.

The pine-oak association located at the middle elevations of the southern slopes has been degraded by frequent wildfires resulting from agricultural practices.  Fire is used as a tool to remove corn stubble, prepare new lands for planting, and to renew forage for cattle grazing.  Many of these fires escape control and are free to burn upslope, where they often kill the deciduous understory and any pine regeneration.  As fires continue to burn with regular frequency, the woody vegetation is often replaced by a non-native grass species, imported from Africa many years ago and marketed as forage for livestock.  This grass is very well adapted to fire and is increasing its range throughout the area.  The resulting vegetation type is an extensive grassland with a scattered pine overstory and little to no organic layer on the surface of the soil.

Slopes in the area are very steep, up to 100% or greater.  When heavy rains occur, there is little canopy cover or surface vegetation that can slow the run off from these rains.  Rains like the ones caused by Mitch cause severe soil erosion, landslides, extreme cutting of stream courses, and other major changes in topography because there is not sufficient vegetative cover to slow the flow of the water.  The local population and its economy were greatly affected by Mitch.  Homes were destroyed, infrastructure such as roads and irrigation systems were rendered inoperable, and productive agricultural lands at the base of the mountains were buried in sediment.

The United States Forest Service (part of the Department of Agriculture) has a long-standing relationship with the Sierra de las Minas and with Defensores.  A Sister Forest Partnership developed in the early 1990's with Defensores.  This relationship provided a marvelous opportunity for USDA to become involved with the Mitch rehabilitation efforts in Guatemala, since technical staff from the two countries had already established personal and professional relationships which created a base from which to design a watershed rehabilitation effort.  The Mitch program emphasizes two main activities: 1) stabilizing landslides caused by Mitch to reduce continued soil erosion and sedimentation, and 2) fire management, designed to reduce the impacts of fire and restore some of the natural function of the pine-oak ecosystem.

To date the Forest Service, working together with Defensores and local communities, has developed a program of  stabilization and revegetation of landslides in order to restore watersheds to more stable conditions and reduce vulnerability to future storms.  Thus far 52 landslides have been treated and 28 more have been identified for stabilization.   In addition 58 local Guatemalans have been trained in techniques to stabilize landslides using locally available materials.  The Forest Service has also conducted several wildland fire suppression training courses, helped develop a fire management action plan for the Reserve, and conducted over 50 hectares of prescribed burns.  Additionally, three climatological stations have been installed and are now part of the national weather data system.   The Forest Service will continue its efforts throughout the rest of the year in order to leave Defensores with the training, tools, and plans in place to successfully implement a broad-scale watershed management strategy to address the ongoing restoration needed to mitigate the effects of future storms such as Mitch.

Forest Service employees from Puerto Rico, New Mexico, and Arizona have been involved in this effort, including returned Peace Corps Volunteers Paul Schmidtke (Costa Rica), a Fire Management Officer in Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico, and Marcelo Martinez (Guatemala), a Range Conservationist in Arizona.  Also providing assistance have been  hydrologists, fire suppression specialists, and hydrological technicians.  Staff from the Caribbean National Forest in Puerto Rico, led by hydrologist Pedro Rios, have been key institutional partners, not only providing technical assistance in Guatemala, but also hosting a number of Defensores staff on study tours to Puerto Rico.  They have received technical support in this effort from the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, also in Puerto Rico.  A number of Peace Corps Volunteers are currently assigned to Defensores and discussions are underway with Peace Corps/Guatemala to station a volunteer with the Reserve to provide continued support for this restoration effort over the next two years.

For more information about the Guatemala program, please contact Paul Schmidtke at 505-682-2551, or Pedro Rios at 787-888-5655.  They can be reached via email at  HYPERLINK "mailto:pschmidtke@fs.fed.us"
pschmidtke@fs.fed.us or prios@fs.fed.us.