The project will help to conserve the environment in Zacapa Department, Guatemala, enabling families and communities to have sustained access to renewable natural resources. Appropriate management and conservation practices will attack the twin problems of deforestation and land degradation. Direct project beneficiaries will include men, women and children from 5,000 rural households; a total number of 30,000 beneficiaries.

Population growth and highly-skewed land distribution force many farmers to plant crops or graze livestock on land that is not suitable for such uses.

This overuse has resulted in severe soil erosion, water source degradation, low agricultural yields and declining farm incomes. The area used inappropriately can be expected to continue increasing, as declining yields and population pressure push farmers to expand the agricultural and grazing frontiers further by clearing more forest land.

This clearing is the most important cause of deforestation in Zacapa; the next most crucial factors, in order, are fuelwood extraction, commercial logging, wildfires and forest diseases. Fuelwood harvest, especially for home consumption rather than sale, far outpaces the rate of natural forest replenishment.

Help conserve the environment in the Zacapa region, enabling families and communities to have sustained access to renewable natural resources

• Increase the level of awareness about local enivironmental problems and solutions, within the Department of Zacapa.
• Reforest the land within the target area with agroforestry and silvo-pastoral systems as well as pure tree stands.
• Implement soil conservation practices throughout the target area.
• Develop and carry out management plans for the conservation of existing forest areas.
• Reduce the fuelwood consumption of families through the installation and use of improved cooking stoves.
• Achieve the effective protection of Miramundo Hill, which is nominally a National Reserve Area at present.
• Ensure the sustainability and participant control of the project through the strengthening and training of community organisations.