Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Exchanging Debt for Forest

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Oct 7 2006 (IPS) - The United States has forgiven 24 million dollars of Guatemala's bilateral debt, with the condition that it be used to preserve tropical forests over the next 15 years. The U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, James Dirham, explained to Tierramérica that the funds “will help conserve Guatemala's cloud forests, tropical jungles and mangroves, which are home to hundreds of species of birds, and (especially) aquatic birds that migrate” between the two countries.

The resources will be earmarked for preserving, among other areas, the western high plains volcanic chain, where there are 885 animal species, 100 medicinal plant species and a forest of conifers. And also the eastern region of Cuchumatanes, with its 13,000 hectares of rich biodiversity.

The Oct. 2 agreement is the 10th one like it to be signed by the United States and is the largest debt-for-nature exchange granted by Washington.