Laguna del Tigre National Park

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The National Park Laguna del Tigre is located in northern Guatemala in the field of the Municipalities of San Andrés in the department of Petén . It is the largest reserve of freshwater marshland in Central America . The park was established in 1989 and forms a significant wetland area in Guatemala. The extensive, periodically flooded area has a unique character with savannahs and transitional forests . The Laguna del Tigre National Park is located in the Reserva de la Biósfera Maya (RBM) biosphere reserve , which covers the entire north of Petén. The national park is part of the list of wetlands of international importance of the Ramsar Convention . In addition, the park is recorded in the Montreux Register as one of the places where adverse changes in its ecological character have been made.

general description

The Laguna del Tigre National Park extends over 289,912 hectares and is between 60 and 182 meters above sea level. It is one of four national parks in the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya . Permanent water resources and rivers (Rio San Pedro, Chocop and Escondido) alternate with seasonal water resources. Thus, a seasonally flooded forest has emerged alternating with a slightly elevated, dry forest. This in turn has led to different vegetation zones : The park has four permanent lagoons , three of which mix in heavy rain from July to December. There are seven areas of archaeological value within the site. Around the national park, the population lives from oil production and animal husbandry . The park administration tries to stop illegal poaching.

biodiversity

There are 14 natural ecosystems in the national park and the Laguna del Tigre biotope . The area is one of the most important wetlands in Mesoamerica : the region's drinking water supply in particular depends on its nature. There are also more than 300 lakes in the entire area, including small tropical lakes.

The CONAP master plan 1999 states that there are 188 species of birds , 90 species of butterflies ( Lepidoptera species ) and 17 species of amphibians ( Tetrapoda species ) in the Laguna del Tigre National Park . Although there are few systematic studies of mammals , estimates suggest that the park is home to up to 130 different species of animals (Zarza & Pérez, 2000). The park is home to the largest number of bumpy crocodiles ( Crocodylus moreletii ) in Guatemala. The area is also home to other endemic, endangered species, such as the black howler monkey ( Alouatta pigra ) and tabas turtle ( Dermatemys mawii ). Among the cats are jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Felis concolor), and Guatemala long-tailed cats (Leopardus wiedii). Animal species such as tapirs , jabiruses and red guacamayas (species of parrot) also have their habitat in the area of ​​the Laguna del Tigre National Park. Many species in the area are on the IUCN Red List (Parkswatch, 2003).

The biodiversity of the national park and the biotope within it are of great importance for global biodiversity, as there is a high level of biodiversity in a comparatively small area. While many animals around the world are threatened with extinction, mechanisms and initiatives can protect the diversity of species and biodiversity in the Laguna del Tigre National Park and thus save them from threats. This can also be strengthened by sustainable tourism (also: soft tourism ) in the region.

Oil deposits

The area is very rich in oil reserves . In August 1985, the Guatemalan government, more precisely the Ministry of Energy and Mining, issued a license (2-85) to extract oil in the area of ​​what is now the Laguna del Tigre National Park to the French oil company Perenco (before 2001: Basic Resources ). Since such mining licenses are valid for 25 years, oil mining in this zone could not be prevented, even if it did not meet the standards of the national park.

There are currently 23 rigs and most of this poor quality oil is piped to the Caribbean coast to be refined in the United States . Only a part remains in the country and is mainly used as asphalt . The situation worsened in 1992 when the government extended the license from what was then Basic Resources to almost 200,000 hectares, which included the entire Laguna del Tigre biotope and more than half of the nature reserve. All of this despite the fact that the area is internationally protected. A state environmental report was drawn up, which in turn was approved by the Chilean environmental protection commission CONAMA . But the National Council for Protected Areas (CONAP) , which has now been introduced and responsible for all national parks, rejected this. The oil company did not give up, however, and lodged an objection, so that the Ministry of Agriculture, as the last resort, approved the whole project. Basic Resources received the funds for the oil production mainly from the World Bank , which financed the expansion of the pipeline. An expert report submitted by the Ramsar Convention in the meantime comes to the conclusion that funding should only be limited to the initially small area (DGS, 2000).

The Laguna del Tigre National Park is being massively damaged by oil production . At the end of July 2010, the Guatemalan government finally extended the production license for the French oil multinational PERENCO for a further 15 years. Several lawsuits from nature conservation associations and prominent individuals are pending against this decision.

Human intervention

The national park could get into a critical state of danger and may not be able to protect and maintain the existing biological diversity in the immediate future unless urgent steps are taken to counteract these developments. The three main dangers are the presence of permanent human settlements as well as new settlements, overarching agriculture and herding, forest fires, the oil industry, illegal acts that could collectively weaken the institutional control of the area.

In September 2010, representatives of communities from the nature reserve denounced the further destruction of the national park and blamed the oil production, the cultivation of African oil palms and jatropha plants for so-called biodiesel and the drug cartels' livestock farming . They also criticized the recent installation of six military bases in the nature reserve. The farmers and indigenous peoples in this area fear that they will be driven from their ancestral land, over which they have long quarreled with local landowners. In 2009, there were several deaths when farmers were evicted. In September 2010, the coordinator of the peasant and indigenous organization was CONIC for the region Petén , Ricardo Estrada , shot dead by unknown.

Projects and measures

Together with the Guatemalan government, an alternative to sustainable development on the subject of oil extraction is to be considered. Mechanisms similar to those currently under discussion in the Yasuní ITT initiative for the Ecuadorian Yasuní National Park would be possible . The Yasuní National Park in Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. There are as many species of trees in just one acre of the park as there are in the US and Canada combined. Since oil mining causes serious damage to biodiversity, species diversity and the preservation of nature in the region, an alternative is to be introduced: With the help of such an initiative, the extraction of oil in the national park would be completely dispensed with and the unique biodiversity would be protected. Failure to do so would avoid emissions of over 400 million tonnes of CO 2 , which is more than the annual emissions from countries such as France or Brazil . In addition, the habitat for the indigenous population would remain . As compensation, to protect nature and its biological diversity, there should be compensation payments from various partners - including Germany - to the country of Guatemala. In this way, and also by avoiding CO 2 emissions , the sustainable development of Guatemala is to be promoted.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Guatemala: Conflict over the second most important freshwater reservoir in Latin America threatens to escalate. In: Quetzal. September 19, 2010, accessed October 3, 2010 .

Coordinates: 17 ° 25 ′ 48 ″  N , 90 ° 53 ′ 26 ″  W.