Regional project encourages biodiversity
With more and more of the region’s forests falling victim to machetes, chainsaws, bulldozers and wildfires, it is clear that more than just local efforts are needed to prevent wide-scale environmental degradation. This morning journalists were invited to support a regional approach. Jose Sanchez reports.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
The Mesoamerican Biological Corridor is an ambitious six year planning project to conserve land in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama and Belize. Anselmo Casteneda, Technical Liaison Officer for the M.B.C., says that natural resource management is necessary in an age where forests are being cut down to sustain growing populations.
Anselmo Castaneda, Technical Liaison Officer, M.B.C.
“We have over 30 million people in the region, excluding Mexico. Today when we add the five south eastern states of Mexico, we have sixty-five million people in the Mesoamerican region. Of this, over sixty percent is below the poverty line. The main issue is that when people are poor, where do the go for their livelihood on a daily basis? They go to the rivers, lakes and forests to get food, shelter and medicine.”
When that happens, those same resources are depleted. Hence the need, according to Castaneda, for the preservation of natural corridors.
Anselmo Castaneda
“The corridor from the biologist’s perspective is trying to link protected areas, whatever the size they are, in order to allow the free movement of plants and animals, in order for them not to reach the level of extinction; that’s the biologist perspective.”
“Now we’re looking at the biological corridor as a tool on how we could reduce vulnerability to natural disasters. We are looking at biological corridors as a tool on how we can arrange or plan marketing of our traditional commodities, add value to them so we can get better prices out there.”
Because the project has a very wide perspective, it needs input from both civil society and government. Sandra Ramirez, Communications Specialist for the M.B.C., says to reach the public, members of the media need to become active participants.
Sandra Ramirez, Communications Specialist, M.B.C.
“We are working on the Mesoamerican Biological project to share this experience with many different stakeholders. So we have been developing some activities with journalists of all the region from Mexico to Panama, just to let journalists know how the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor is working and how journalists can be involved in the participatory process that we are trying to implement around the region.”
Emir Correa, More FM
“More FM is a young station for the youths. Basically I would like to say that the youth’s out there don’t really have that knowledge about the environment. When I came to this conference I can basically say I lacked that knowledge also. Now when I leave from here my objective is to pass on the information I have learned today.”
While no one can fault the project’s directors for involving the media, the question remains of how far journalists should go to become advocates as opposed to reporters. Reporting for News 5, Jose Sanchez.
A related project to protect the region’s reef systems will be launched next week.
