CentAm Nature Reserves Push Out Native People eNews Channel
go to original December 10, 2016

The Kaiowa Guarani of Mato Grosso in Brazil (Flickr/percursodacultura)

The creation of protected areas and parks in Central America aimed at conserving tropical forests has pushed indigenous people off the land they have nurtured for generations, researchers say.

Protected areas are more effective when the rights of indigenous people living on the land are formally recognised, said the report released on the sidelines of a UN conservation conference in Cancun, Mexico.

A lack of consultation between governments, environmental groups and indigenous communities hurts conservation efforts and leads to land conflicts, said researchers from Mexico, the United States and El Salvador which analysed five conservation areas across Central America and Mexico.

"A wall has effectively grown up around many protected areas, shutting out the people who depend on the forests for their survival," said Andrew Davis, a researcher with the El Salvador-based Prisma Foundation and one of the study's authors.

In northern Guatemala, indigenous Q'eqchi communities occupied the Semuq Champey park earlier this year, saying they had not received any revenue from the park entrance fees as they had been promised.

Security forces used tear gas on the protesters leading the death of a community elder in the popular tourist destination of freshwater turquoise pools and natural limestone formations.

Some guardians of region's protected areas are starting to respond to the concerns of indigenous people, however.

Read the rest at eNews Channel

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