Protected areas and RURAL COMUNITIES :

A natural COEXISTENCE  

“ Zones of Conflict and Development, A Challenge toward a Governance with Social

Participation ”

“ Central American Indigenous and Peasant Coordinator of Communal

Agro forestry in

Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations .

35 millions of people (CELADE 2000)

14 Ethnic groups 9 millions of Indigenous People Estado de Región 1999

20.000 species of flora of the 90.000 described for the

humid tropic CCAD 1998

7% of the Earth’s biodiversity, where 20 zones of live, 300 different landscapes CCAD 1998

17.5 millions of Central American people live in poor conditions, (49.9% of the population) CEPAL 2001Regional Summary

679 Protected Areas of which 398 have obtained legal statuts (Fuente: Gestión Ambiental

Centroamericana CCAD 1998).

400. 000 ha. Annual deforestation

Ungovernability= Illegal logging is 40 % of the domestic consumption

In this scenario CICAFOC has managed to organized more of 70 community organizations into a Central American Networking.

Within Buffer zones of the Protected Areas

Quality of life:

Agroecologic Productive Systems and Food Security

Stabilization of the Agricultural Frontier and Transference of capacities peasant to peasant

Accesses to natural resources and Community Management

400.000 has, of forest certificates by FSC

575.000 has of forest in community management

The areas of forests managed by the communities have achieved to reduce the forest fires, showing, that the effective way to conserve the forests is to involve the population in its management

Management of non- timber forest products and landscape as agent of eco- development of the

communities

Communitarian Management for the Access of Water Resources

• 575.000 has. of Forest under communitarian management plans of which 400.000 has. are certified.

• 375,749 has. covered in agroecologic systems managed by indigenous and peasant organizations

• 2.6 million hectares of forest cover into the hands of communitarian organizations, who represent 14,5 % of the total of 18 million hectares of forest cover in Central America.

The network composed of experiences that works like a natural connection between leaders, who share their best experiences to make and to propose new

forms of communitarian development

Expressed in:

The importance of the communitarian participation in the construction of the policies and legislation is undeniable that entail to a New Governability Model on the natural assets of Mesoamerica

Gathering ACICAFOC´s successful communitarian experiences, it has managed to generate a set of instruments and tools with conditions to constitute into a regional monitoring system of the economic, ecological and social sustainability of the communitarian experiences in relation to the protected areas

That the vision that the rural community's inhabitants are ill-mannered in environmental matter be changed

It is necessary to fortify the capacity of the local, municipal and national institutions so that they generate agreements in the management of the Protected Areas.It is necessary to advance towards

institutionalized mechanisms of community participation, beyond false formal consultations, establishing permanent processes of work and true dialogues.

Not to blame to the peasant, Afro descendants and indigenous communities as the principal promoters of environmental conflicts and the ungovernability in the protected areas.

That the restrictive and now anachronic concept of protected areas be abandoned once and for all, giving rise to the concept of managed sustainable areas.

To redefine the strategy of management of the protected areas on new bases, from a redistribution of benefits and responsibilities between the national governing institutions, the municipal authorities and the local groups

To grant social and organizational productive content,to the buffer zones, recognizing that only the communities that inhabit them have the capacity to translate this important function in concrete actions.

We appeal to the cooperation agencies , to be part of this new accompaniment model , where the communities actively participate.

This new accompaniment model will be apply with the project that is in the negotiation process with Global Environment Facility –GEF-, “Indigenous Community Integrated Ecosystem

Management Project ” . This project will be executed by (ACICAFOC) and the Central American Indigenous Council (CICA)