U.S. to donate $11 million to help protect Guatemala's environment
Copyright 2001 Associated Press
October 22, 2001
GUATEMALA CITY--The U.S. government said Thursday it will donate more than $11 million over the next three years to help Guatemala protect its jungles, rivers and volcanos.
The $11.159 million donation will go to ensure "better management of natural resources and conservation of the Guatemalan biosphere," the U.S. embassy in Guatemala City said in a statement.
Environmental Minister Carlos Caceres said the money would help preserve the Biosfera Maya, a 4.45 million-acre jungle reserve in Guatemala's northernmost state of Peten, home to the ancient Mayan city of Tikal.
The funds will also help state scientists protect the northern Sierra de las Minas mountains and the Rio Polochic, a river that runs through Guatemala's central highlands.
The donation also may allow the government to begin a massive cleanup of the volcanos that ring Lake Atitlan. A picturesque locale popular with tourists, trails in the area have become littered by passing hikers.