Indigenous leaders coordinate actions to protect communal forests
By: Ligia María
Translated from Spanish; original version below. If the link below does not work, is because the news service is making some changes. It will be working shortly.
Guatemala January 1st, 2010. The net of indigenous authorities of 201 villages and 11 departments of the country are coordinating actions with Environmental Ministry and the National Institute of Forests (Inab) in order to protect and preserve communal forests.
Versión original en Español, abajo
Juan Pu Hernandez, representing the net of indigenous authorities said: “some sectors of Chimaltenango and Escuintla are receiving the forest incentives but are not taking care of natural reserves”.
Luis Ferrata, minister of Environmental Issues, communicated that it is going to create sub-councils around all communities. These sub-councils will be actively participating in the process of protection and preservation of the forests.
Ferrata said also that the indigenous pueblos are eager to participate because they consider those ecosystems as a source of water production, animal species preservation and medicinal plants…not just places to get wood from and to receive monetary income.
Representative of the region, Edwin Pereira, considers that this is the right time for these actions, since every month there are new projects of forest protection.
The indigenous leaders, environmental employees, and employees of Inab will be having meetings this week in order to coordinate and to plan priorities, actions to protect the forests, and manage garbage, water and local cleaning-up.
The departments getting benefits from these actions are: Chimaltenango, Escuintla, Sololá, San Marcos, Sacatepéquez, Retalhuleu, Suchitepéquez, Totonicapán, Huehuetenango, Quiché, and Quetzaltenango.
Source: http://prensalibre.com/pl/2010/enero/21/370149.html
Spanish version. Versión en Español.
LÍDERES INDÍGENAS COORDINAN ACCIONES PARA PROTEGER BOSQUES COMUNALES
Guatemala 1 de Enero de 2010. La Red de Autoridades Indígenas de 201 municipios de 11 departamentos del país informó ayer que junto al Ministerio de Ambiente y el Instituto Nacional de Bosques (Inab) coordinará acciones prioritarias para la conservación y protección de bosques comunitarios.
Puede encontrar esta noticia en español en el siguiente link. Si el link no funciona es porque la agencia de noticias está haciendo algunos cambios. Estará listo en dos semanas.
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