Some 4,000 hectares of Los Esclavos and María Linda river basins, in central and southern Guatemala, will be reforested by the ministries of Agriculture and of Energy and Mines The project seeks to benefit 85 communities in the departments of Guatemala, El Progreso and Jutiapa, Fredy López, spokesman for the National Electrification Institute (INDE), told Tierramérica.

Electricity-generating plants are installed on both rivers.

“The idea is to help the small coffee growers so that instead of planting maize, they plant fruit and lumber trees in order to improve water retention when it rains,” López explained. Through a trusteeship, INDE will finance the effort.

Deforestation has reduced the flow of the two rivers, cutting into the generating capacity of the hydroelectric plants of Aguacapa and Los Esclavos.