Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Protecting Rivers

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, May 31 2004 (IPS) - Guatemala's Ministry of Agriculture is set to protect the Xayá and Pixcayá rivers in the western department of Chimaltenango, which supply 38 percent of the potable water consumed in the capital. The program already has the approval of President Oscar Berger, but its cost has not yet been established, nor the source of financing, José Duro, the ministry's geographic planning coordinator, told Tierramérica.

The protection strategy for the two river basins consists of three phases, says Duro. The first is focused on preserving forests and parks, the second promotes planting of fruit trees in the high erosion zones, and the third is to diversify economic activities in the river valleys, located some 150 km west of the capital.