2009 Rain Forest Rescue Report

Member Donations to Rain Forest Rescue are making a difference!

Since 1992 this important program has been saving precious tropical forests that modify climate and reduce global warming, serve as a habitat for wildlife ranging from endangered species to the songbirds that visit us each summer, and provide livelihoods for indigenous people.

In 2009 Arbor Day Foundation again partnered with The Nature Conservancy and local conservation organizations to help preserve rain forests, mostly in Central America. The focus has been on the amazing 13 million acre Maya Forest—the largest remaining acreage of tropical rain forest outside of the Amazon Basin. The strategy: provide tools for preserve management, but also help local people help themselves. In this way, people in the area can continue to embrace their centuries-old tradition of living on the land but leaving little impact. Designated protected areas will only survive intact if residents of nearby communities can feed their families and enjoy a better standard of living without the need for short-term exploitation of forest resources. Helping local people adopt sustainable, small-scale agriculture, home industries, careful planning and on-site preserve management are the keys to preserving Central America’s rain forests. Click below to learn more about last year’s progress.

Next: Sustainable Livelihoods Can Save the Maya Forest in Mexico

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Sustainable Livelihoods Can Save the Maya Forest in Mexico

Rain Forest Rescue is making a difference in Mexico’s Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. The reserve’s 1.8 million acres represent the heart of the Maya Forest. The dense canopy of this marvelous forest is interrupted only by the tops of ancient Mayan ruins. It is alive with the animals that need its protective cover and abundant sources of food. It is a treasure of worldwide importance!

Arbor Day Foundation’s partner, The Nature Conservancy, is working with another partner—Tropical Rural Latinoamericana (TRL)—as well as other local groups, to support sustainable forestry projects near the preserve. The goal is to create jobs and help local Mayan communities maintain traditional ways of life on communally-owned properties called ejidos. Significant progress is being made through offering technical advice, increasing the business capacity of the community, and providing seed money for productive, forest-friendly projects. At the same time, funds have been provided to help with direct management and protection of Calakmul Reserve.

Here are examples of projects that are helping to save the Calakmul Reserve:

• An annual work plan was developed for the Reserve focusing on fire protection and monitoring bird and mammal populations such as white-lipped peccaries, jaguars, ocelots and tapirs. Monitoring is being done with 40 “camera traps” at 15 sites. Also, Reserve staff posted new signs along access points to the Reserve and are patrolling on 4WD vehicles.

• Ejido leaders in the Village of 20 de Noviembre are being helped to create sustainable forestry plans that outline selective timber harvesting cycles based on tree species and locations. This provides steady income without having a major impact on the ecosystem. In fact, small openings created by the harvest improve the natural regeneration of light-loving, native species. This is quite the opposite of “cut and move on” logging.

• An engineer was brought in to design an improved road and bridge system that offers year-round access for the ejido’s timber harvesting operations. With access to the forest during the wet as well as the dry season, the community can now market a greater variety of timber species and sell wood—especially soft woods that must be transported soon after harvest to avoid spoilage—when demand is high and supplies are low. This allows for better forest management and higher income.

• Technical help has been provided to help villagers transition from merely selling their wood as logs (at low prices) to harvesting and milling the wood themselves and selling for a higher price. Community members have been trained to use an array of lightweight, portable mills that allow them to process logs where the trees are cut. Small vehicles for transporting logs are also being introduced to remove the selectively harvested trees without the need to build additional roads in the forest. These low-impact harvesting techniques make forestry compatible with providing good wildlife habitat.

• To protect the forest during the dry season, a civilian protection group has been formed and trained. Among other things the “brigade” participates in flyovers of the forest to detect fires. The Calakmul Fire Committee has also inaugurated a new Fire Command and Control Center in the town of Xpujil with equipment that will take advantage of satellite surveillance and enhance coordination of fire fighting efforts. In addition, a radio network was established that quadrupled the previous radio coverage.

• Ecotourism is being promoted as a way to bring outside money to local residents while preventing impacts on the rain forest environment. In the Conhuas community abutting Calakmul’s designed core zone, two hiking trails, latrines, camping facilitites and a new visitor’s center have been built. These facilities and guide services are now available to visitors, generating jobs and providing education. Nature-based tourism development adheres to a plan that was created to provide guidelines and monitor impacts.

• Like ecotourism, marketing non-timber products from the forest provides opportunities for local residents with minimal impact on the rainforest. Honey, allspice berries for the gourmet and organic market and chicle for chewing gum manufacturing are good examples.

Carrying on the Chicle Trade Can Help Save the Rain Forest

The harvest of chicle has been a sustainable use of the rain forest for decades. Chicle was the raw ingredient for chewing gum before synthetic components were developed. However, the real chicle is still being used in some countries, mostly China and Japan, so a market for the product still exists.

Chicle comes from the sap of the sapodilla tree or chico zapote and it is collected by workers called chicleros. Similar to tapping maples trees for sap to make syrup, collecting chicle can be done for years without damaging the tree. In the tropics of Central America, this activity takes place in the rainy season.

Elias Cahuich is one of the chicle tappers. The 57-year-old native wields a big machete to slice progressively higher diagonal cuts into the moist bark of a chico zapote and lets the white sap drip down into a collection bag at the base of the tree. The latex-like sap is later strained, boiled and shaped into 10-kilo (22 pound) bricks that are sold to companies that still make chewing gum from the natural ingredient. Tapping the trees this way does not harm them. The red gashes in the bark seal, and the tapped trees are recognizable by their climbing “X” marks.

Diagonal cuts made in the bark of the sapodilla tree show that it has been used for years to harvest chicle. The wounds seal and the tree continues to grow.

Elias says, “My father was a chiclero. He taught me how to work with chicle when I was 20 years old and I’ve been doing it ever since. Now my son is following in my footsteps.

“In this ejido there are seven of us who still practice chicle extraction. All my colleagues are happy about the way the work is going. Based on a study that was done on the capacity of the forest, we have the permission and capacity to take out 15 tons of chicle per year. We’re only at one or two tons now. If there’s more demand for chicle, I believe that as long as prices are good, we’ll just work and extract more.

“The good thing about chicle is it doesn’t run out and it doesn’t destroy the forest. You don’t just go and cut into every tree. We tap a tree and then we leave it for 10 or 12 years before tapping again. Nothing is destroyed and the forest stays intact. It’s an ecological process.”

Although chicleros like Elias Cahuich continue the tradition, there are fewer tappers than in the past. Effective conservation can only be achieved if the needs and aspirations of local people are met. The Nature Conservancy’s work with support from Rain Forest Rescue and the help of local partners like Tropical Rural Latinoamericana aims to conserve the forest while at the same time improving income opportunities for local people and helping them seek new markets for their sustainably produced goods.

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Birds, Other Wildlife and People All are Benefitting from Rain Forest Rescue in Belize

Work supported in part by Rain Forest Rescue donations continued in Belize, with efforts focused on the Bladen River Nature Reserve. This 97,000-acre wilderness contains the most pristine protected rainforest in the country and some of the most rugged, unspoiled habitat in the entire Maya Forest. Much of the land remains unexplored and is the home for at least 194 bird species and 300 other animal species such as the agouti, peccary, tapir, mountain lion and jaguar. It is a land of old-growth trees and swift-flowing streams and waterfalls. The Reserve has been protected by the government of Belize since 1990 and is currently open only to research scientists.

Despite the protected status of this marvelous wildlife habitat, the security of its wild inhabitants depends on management methods and law enforcement, but most importantly the understanding and cooperation of local people. Much of the effort of The Nature Conservancy and its local partner, Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE), has been directed toward the education of people living in areas adjoining the Bladen River Nature Reserve as well as the more direct management efforts. Here are some of them:

• In Chiquibul National Park, not far from Bladen Reserve, protective patrols are conducted along the border with Guatemala. Salaries to support two rangers have provided a presence that has discouraged illegal activities such as the looting of archaeological artifacts. At the same time, community outreach is used in cooperation with a local partner, Friends for Conservation and Development. These efforts have promoted civic pride and respect for the area’s natural heritage.

• To establish the fire management capacity of land managers in Belize’s network of protected areas, prescribed burn training for 25 practitioners was provided. Belizean instructors were used who have completed numerous training sessions with The Nature Conservancy. This successful training has resulted in the use of fire as a management tool on two protected area sites where it was needed.

• Research on harpy eagles and migratory birds continued, with a focus on establishing an avian baseline for the Bladen Reserve. Toward this end a bird banding and monitoring site was set up on the property as part of the Institute for Bird Populations network. Results showed that 45% of the birds in the Reserve are migratory and 55% are resident. Data such as population density, age-specific abundance, over-wintering survival and distribution are being analyzed and will be used to develop management and conservation locally and throughout the Maya Forest.

• An important project has been to engage community residents in the stewardship of the Bladen Nature Reserve. For example, in-the-field activities were provided for more than 200 students from five local villages buffering the reserve and the Maya Mountains. The focus of these educational activities was mist-netting, bird banding, and bird counting techniques. This provided the springboard to broader education about the importance of habitat conservation, not only for birds, but for wildlife, forests and people.

The success being experienced in Belize is due to a rising generation of local people who understand the value of the rain forest and are willing to add their support to its protection. One of these people is William Garcia. Read more about William’s inspiring story.

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A Ray of Hope in the Maya Mountains of Belize

How a Hunter-Turned-Birder Has Big Dreams for Community Conservation

“When I first met William, he was working with his father helping to manage their citrus and pineapple farms. He also was a self-professed hunter and had little knowledge about conservation issues and even less about birds. However, what he did possess was an eagerness to learn, a strong work ethic, and recognition of the opportunity of becoming a technician with our avian project.

“In a very short time, William started to transform, with his mentality shifting from that of hunter to passionate conservation advocate. William proved to be a fast learner, listening constantly to bird tapes to learn their calls and poring over the Birds of Belize book during any time off. By the end of the first year of the project, it was clear that William was not only dedicated to the project, but he had truly found his passion in life, his calling.

“Over the next two years, William matured both as an individual and as a team leader. He has been a critical player in keeping the project on track and motivating the other team members. This past year, William worked closely with me to plan and implement educational outreach activities for the local schoolchildren highlighting the avian project. During the planning and implementation of these activities, William demonstrated his abilities as not only an excellent field technician and birder but as a natural educator as well.”

William Garcia was born in Trio village, a small community in the northern part of the Toledo District in southern Belize. Located five miles down a dirt road off the southern highway, Trio is home to about 1,000 people, mainly immigrants from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, along with a small Ke’echi Maya population. The primary occupation here is agriculture, either farming or working in the local banana plantation. Only in mid-2009 did the village receive electricity and a centralized water system.

William’s Guatemalan immigrant parents started a small farm in Trio in 1988. Although he was a good student and graduated second in his class, William never went on to high school. Instead, he began working at his father’s farm at age 14, helping to plant and harvest beans, corn, pineapple, citrus and plantain. He also began hunting for bush meat, mostly deer and paca (locally called gibnut), primarily in the reserves of the Maya Mountains.

Soon with a wife and three small children, William struggled to provide for his family through his meager farming and hunting activities. He saw no opportunities to land a job without a high school education, skills or training. He didn’t envision a very bright future for himself or his family. That all changed in November 2007 when William was approached by another Trio resident, Oscar Hernandez, who suggested that William join the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE).

BFREE supports and manages a private research and educational facility on 1,153 acres of tropical rainforest nestled in the foothills of the Maya Mountains in southern Belize along the Bladen River.

BFREE began working in Trio because of the village’s growth (a near doubling in the population) over the past five years. Access to BFREE’s rain forest reserve and the nearby Bladen River Nature Reserve increased dramatically as a result of older forest reserves being opened up for development and new roads being built into the area. This caused an unfortunate increase in illegal logging, hunting, fishing, looting of Mayan ruins, and collection of xate palm from the area’s forests. BFREE decided to engage Trio residents in rain forest conservation by providing alternative, eco-friendly livelihoods. This was the best hope to stem the tide of natural resource exploitation.

Although he lacked any formal preparation, William was intrigued by the job opportunity as a BFREE bird technician. The project’s goal is to enhance and upgrade survey and monitoring of neotropical migratory and resident birds in the Blade Reserve, providing baseline data that can contribute to regional bird conservation and sound management. The project also uses a science-based environmental education program to build community awareness of the Maya Mountains and is providing alternative livelihoods and community improvement.

Over the past three years, William and his fellow field technicians completed training courses on bird ecology and scientific field methods so they could collect bird data through netting and banding and take biological samples. William and other BFREE bird technicians have captured more than 2,100 individual birds so far and have identified 325 different bird species in the Bladen and BFREE reserves. Their data are contributing to the overall management and conservation of bird communities in Belize and across the region.

William has become the lead bird technician and recently was awarded a full scholarship to participate in an international bird banding internship with Park Flight International, working in a number of national parks in Oregon.

Participation in the project changed William’s life. He now sees the environment as something to preserve and protect. He no longer hunts and advocates for others to take care of Belize’s natural resources instead of abusing them. Steady income has enabled him to provide for his family, and his parents and fellow villagers now respect him in ways that were not possible before. His parents are especially proud of his achievements and now see him as a responsible adult. He has become a leader not just in the avian conservation project but also in his village. Schoolchildren and young villagers look up to him as an inspiration and role model.

Most importantly, William is motivated and has dreams for a better future, believing that with education anything is possible. This may well be the key to preserving the rain forests for future generations.

Rain Forest Rescue saves rain forests and helps local people increase their self-sufficiency and support for conservation. Learn how you can help.

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Planning is an Essential Step in Saving the Rain Forest in Guatemala

Rain Forest Rescue donations helped The Nature Conservancy move forward with important planning and preservation activities throughout Guatemala. For example, a master plan was developed for the conservation and management of Mirador-Río Azul National Park and the Naachtun Dos Lagunas Biotopo Reserve. This plan included input from government agencies, non-governmental organizations, forestry-dependent communities located around the park, and the villages of Carmelita and Uaxactun. With nearly 400,000 acres, the area for which planning took place is the best conserved forest in the region, enjoying an extraordinary mix of natural and cultural treasures. Because of its geographic location, Mirador-Río Azul and Naachtun Dos Lagunas form what some call the heart of the Maya Forest, connecting protected areas in Guatemala, Mexico and Belize. The area also links the high, steamy forests of the Peten with low, dry forests of the Yucatán Peninsula to the north, harboring species from both types of habitats. In addition, the park contains “El Desierto,” Guatemala’s only scrub habitat and which is home to numerous endemic species.

Besides the natural treasures of this area are Mayan archaeological sites such as El Mirador, Nakbé, La Muralla, Río Azul, Kinal and others. In fact, sites in the western portion of the park form part of the “Reino Kan” (Serpent Kingdom) of ancient cities, possibly the first Mayan state. The cities are connected by yet another unique feature of this marvelous area—a network of ancient stone roads.

A master plan that was created last year will help conserve the core of the Maya Forest, including the humid Peten region and its cornucopia of life.

Other Rain Forest Rescue projects in Guatemala in the past year include:

• Outside the core protected areas of the rain forest are “multiple-use zones.” Although these areas are legally open to logging, they provide an important buffer to the habitat in adjoining protected areas. In an effort to provide regulations and sustainable management in line with conservation, The Nature Conservancy worked with local partner Fundación Naturaleza para la Vida to build a network of forest measurement plots. The trees in these plots were evaluated for growth, structure and composition. Collected data were shared with personnel who manage forest concessions and other decision-makers so they can begin implementing best forestry management practices. The new database of forest plot information is housed in the Park Service’s Evaluation and Monitoring Center and is of great importance for the future of park management.

• Another conservation activity was the creation and planning for privately-owned preserves in the Peten area. The local partner for this was Asociación de Reservas Naturales Privadas de Guatemala. To date, 12 private reserves have been declared in the Maya Forest, four of which have a master plan. Another 12 reserves are in the process of being declared, 11 are in exploratory stages, and 19 potential reserves have been identified. Not counting these final 19 potential reserves, the 35 declared and probable new reserves total nearly 15,000 acres.

• A study has begun to better understand the impacts of human and ecological activities on scarlet macaw colonies in the rain forest. Seven nesting sites in the Maya Biosphere Reserve were monitored, including video surveillance at five of them. Last year it was found that 29 pairs of these spectacular birds mated with a success rate of 50%, or 25 chicks that were raised and left the nest.

• Problems facing survival of wild macaws include predation as well as being hunted for their feathers or captured for the pet trade. Management of preserves and protection from illegal hunting are keys to the future of this marvelous bird. But what about natural predation? To help solve this problem, local managers have constructed artificial nest boxes that keep the chicks safe from falcons. Click here to see how this works.

• The beautiful scarlet macaw is a native in the rain forests of Central America

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