Current Threats
• Permanent human intervention and lack of insitutional control
• Advance of the agricultural and cattle frontiers
• Illegal extraction, hunting, and fishing
• Introduction of exotic species
The Chocón Machacas biotope is critically threatened; efforts to protect and preserve the biological diversity have failed. Inventories carried out in the zone report exotic vegetation and species of wild animals that are typical of altered forests, which suggests that the area is under extreme human pressure (Pérez et al., 2001). The main threats are due to permanent human intervention; invasion of the protected area; the advance of the agricultural and cattle frontier; illegal extraction, hunting and fishing, and the lack of institutional control of the area. The biotope's forest has been isolated by the fragmented surrounding habitat. Emergency actions are deemed necessary for the recuperation of the biological diversity of the area.
Permanent human intervention and lack of institutional control
This very serious problem will further threaten the biotope. The communities that have settled in the eastern and western areas of the biotope have claimed ownership of a large part of the protected area and their activities are not under control. At present, agricultural and cattle lands are creeping upon the biotope and the forest is becoming more fragmented by the minute.
The Puntarenas community, to the West, has grown almost 30% since it was originally measured in 1993 (Ruiz, 2003, pers. comm.). The fact that CECON has not been able to control the advance points out to the severity of the problem. Two families established 1 km southwest from the biotope's administrative center as the Lagunita Salvador community in 1993, and the managers did not become aware until 1996 (Ruiz, 2003, pers. comm.). This clearly indicates that the authorities of the protected area are not capable of controlling human activity. Today, the actual size of the community is unknown, and the two original families have become 24 (Anleu et al., unpublished). One more problem in the protected area is that lands therein are bought and sold.
Different strategies have been implemented to deal with human intervention. Sometimes, such as in the case of Lagunita Salvador, negotiations to re-locate the illegal occupants have been initiated, but there are no results yet, mostly due to the fact that groups that defend land rights support the communities, and also because the authorities of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala have not undertaken any initiatives, mainly to avoid social conflict.
Another settled area within the biotope. This is a cattle farm along the Chocón River banks(photo © PW-Guatemala)
Other efforts include steps to improve the financial status of the populations and therefore alleviate some of the pressure upon the forest. In this sense, the RECOSMO project invested funds to identify financial alternatives, and some non-government organizations promulgate handicrafts projects among the biotope's inhabitants. In view of the present status of the protected area, it is evident that the search for financial alternatives has not succeeded, mostly because control measures, surveillance and law enforcement have not been supported. As in other protected areas of Guatemala, it is evident that integrated conservation and development projects have not been successful.
Most of the time, managers have simply forgotten that human intervention jeopardizes the protected area, which worsens the problem even more. One of CECON's shortcomings has been that it has never tried to promulgate the Protected Areas Law, which penalizes invasion of protected areas and threats to the natural heritage. For this reason, the biotope's conservation exists only in documents.
Advance of the agricultural and cattle frontiers
This activity is very much linked to permanent human intervention. The advance of the agricultural and cattle frontier threatens the western half of the biotope, from the Chocón River to the Ciénega River boundary, and an important area to the northeast, from the Cáliz community to the lagoons of Río Dulce's Golfete. As in other areas, the surface directly compromised by this activity, although important, is not as significant as the fragmented forest area. Pérez et al (2001) state that by the year 2000 the biotope's forest had diminished in more than 9% in the six previous years. Satellite imagery, however, shows that more than 50% of the biotope is fragmented, a very disturbing fact.
Detail of an invaded territory, crops and the fence to mark off the "properaty" are clearly visible and an area used for agriculture within the biotope (photos © PW-Guatemala)
To the west of the Chocón River only a few large patches of original forest remain, which is also true for the northeastern area. The central area of the biotope, to the west of the Chocón River, has not been disturbed because flooded lands are not suitable for agricultural purposes. On the other hand, the cattle frontier has crept into the boundaries of the biotope and has thus isolated the area, which is connected to another fragmented ecosystem in the West. If the forest continues to be depleted, as has been the case to date, the protected area might lose most of its natural characteristics in the short term.
Cattle along the borders of the biotope (photo © PW-Guatemala)
Illegal extraction, hunting, and fishing
As in other areas of Guatemala, the problem with pillaging of forest products and illegal hunting are out of control due to the fact that the established population easily access the forest areas and water bodies, and the managers do nothing to prevent it. During field visits we were able to see places where illegal logging and palm extraction were blatantly carried out. Illegal hunting and fishing occur every day and are not prosecuted. The crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) is one of the species that has become extinct, and it is very likely that many others will follow suit.
Introduction of exotic species
The biotope is being invaded by exotic flora and fauna species. Pérez et al. (2001) identified at least one introduced aquatic species, Hyparrenia rufa, to the protected area, plus another one that may be exotic, Eichornia crassipes, and the fish Parachromis managüense, which is not native. The exotic Napier grass has invaded some spots of the forest. Hydrilla verticillata, an aquatic invader plant, has been seen south of the Golfete (Arrivillaga, 2002), although it has not yet been reported for Chocón Machacas. There is no research about the effects of exotic species of flora and fauna on the area, and there are no exhaustive inventories of the number of species or of the characteristics of intruder populations.
Future Threats
Most of the future threats to the biotope originate from the possibility that present threats continue escalating or remain at the present levels, which might bring about the total loss of the area in a few years. There is enough evidence to support the idea that efforts to preserve the biological diversity of Chocón Machacas have failed and, that if corrective measures are not soon implemented, further investments in the biotope will be futile.
View of one of the southeastern lagoons (photo © PW-Guatemala)
