Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Pinabete Tree in Danger

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 28 2005 (IPS) - The national forest institute, INAB, issued a warning about the extinction of the pinabete tree in Guatemala — the result of illegal cutting of this tree during the Christams season. INAB estimates there is an annual output of 22,000 pinabetes, or Guatemalan firs, but demand during the holiday season surpasses 45,000 trees.

Ana Luisa Noguera, executive secretary of the National Coordinator of Protected Areas, CONAP, announced a campaign to prevent the illicit sales of pinabete, or “Abies guatemalensis”, a unique species in this country.

The campaign aims to guide the buyers, encouraging them to look for pinabetes with a white seal, which is granted to authorized producers, and to warn about legal penalties for acquiring the tree illegally, Noguera explained to Tierramérica.

Illegal extraction of this tree carries fines of 10,000 to 20,000 questzales (1,317 to 2,635 dollars) and possible prison terms of five to 10 years.