Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Ex-Paramilitaries Plant Trees

By - - and IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Jun 24 2006 (IPS) - – Guatemala's President Oscar Berger planted the first tree in a two-year program for planting 75 million — half of which will be done by former paramilitaries. “The reforestation of the country is a national emergency. We must reverse the loss of our forest resources,” said Héctor Centeno, presidential commissioner for science and technology, and one of the promoters of the tree initiative.

Participating in the project are some 35 state and private entities, as well as 544,000 ex-paramilitaries, who will plant trees in exchange for a state compensation for their support of the army during Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war.

Through the program “Forests and Water for Peace”, the former members of the Civil Self-Defense Patrols, PAC, will plant 30 million trees on 250 square kilometers.

According to official figures, each year around 173,000 hectares of forest — 28,000 in protected areas — are destroyed in Guatemala.