ACTION
ALERT
***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Locally
Motivated Guatemalan Biodiversity Reserve Threatened
***********************************************
Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
http://forests.org/
12/25/96
OVERVIEW,
SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
The
following action alert comes from the Committee of the Biosfera Itz
reserve
in Guatemala. "The reserve protects 6 km2 of threatened
primary
forest under the guidance of a Management Plan. this community
organization
has effectively protected a 36-square kilometer municipal forest
reserve
and promoted activities for environmental conservation, cultural
revitalization,
and community development." The following
action alert
reports
on threats to the area's indigenous based environmental movement, and
requests
letters of concern.
g.b.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Date:
Wed, 18 Dec 1996 13:04:42 -0500
From:
(EcoLogic News) <news@ecologic.org>
Subject:
ALERT: Help Maya Itza of Guatemala with a Holiday Letter
To:
(Friends of the Maya Itza) <Friends_of_the_Maya_Itza@ecologic.org>
X-MKSIA-SN:
3990455095
A C T I O N A L E R T !
December 1996
THE
FOLLOWING ALERT REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
C O N T E N T S
(1) The Crisis in Brief: Peten, Guatemala and the Maya Itza
(2) Statement from the Bio Itza Committee
(3) Authorities for You to Contact
(4) Open Letter from the EcoLogic Development
Fund, English and
Spanish
CRISIS IN BRIEF
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
* The Maya Itza are one of 21 Mayan
linguistic groups in Guatemala.
* The Itza are on the verge of cultural
extinction as fewer than one
hundred people now speak the language
fluently.
* In 1991, the Itza of San Jose, Peten banded
together to halt
illegal logging in their municipal forests
and established THE
COMMITTEE OF THE BIOSFERA ITZA RESERVE.
* Since that time this community organization
has effectively
protected a 36-square kilometer municipal
forest reserve and promoted
activities for environmental conservation,
cultural revitalization, and
community development.
* San Jose's current Mayor has recently
announced under municipal
decree that he is disbanding this
community group. Like his
predecessors he sees greater personal and
financial benefit in logging
the forest reserve than protecting it.
* The Mayor has appointed his father as the
new leader of the Bio
Itza Committee and secured the support of
immigrants to serve on the
committee.
* These immigrants have been very clear in
expressing their desire
to cut down the forest for agricultural
plots.
* To reverse this injustice, the Bio Itza
Committee has requested
immediate letters from international
organizations to be directed at
local authorities.
* This is a situation when a letter can both
save a tropical forest
and ensure that the efforts of a
threatened cultural group continue.
For more information contact:
Shaun
Paul Reginaldo Chayax Huex
EcoLogic
Development Fund Presidente
PO Box
383405 Comite Bio Itza
Cambridge,
MA 02238 USA San Jose, Peten,
GUATEMALA
tel
(617) 441-6300 community
telephone 011 [502] 928-8135
fax
(617) 441-6307
email:
news@ecologic.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LETTER
OF APPEAL
WRITTEN
BY THE BIO ITZA COMMITTEE
November 19,
1996
DEAR
FRIENDS IN THE CONSERVATION AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES COMMUNITY.
The
Committee of the Biosfera Itza reserve wish to make known, both
nationally
and internationally, the following.
Since 1991, when the
reserve
was founded, this organization has pioneered the conservation
of the
environment in the Department of Peten, Guatemala in Central
America. As the last indigenous inhabitants of the
Peten's forest, the
Maya
Itza have fought to maintain the forest, culture and language of
their
great civilization. The reserve
protects 6 km2 of threatened
primary
forest under the guidance of a Management Plan; we also have a
Forest
Inventory, a map of the area, archaeological studies of the
sites
within the reserve, and currently have five on-going projects
that
are compatible with the environment.
Furthermore, we have
received
technical and/or financial assistance from the following
institutions:
the University of Michigan, Cultural Survival, IIZ-
Austrian
Embassy, ProPeten/CI, TNC, CONAP, CATIE/RENAR, CCAD, EcoLogic
Development
Fund, and SEGEPLAN.
Unfortunately, for the past three years
the Biosfera Itza
Committee
has suffered at the hands of the current municipal leader,
Julian
Tesucun y Tesucun, who together with members of the immigrant
population,
want to extract the forest resources protected within the
reserve. With this purpose in mind, the municipality
held a meeting
Saturday,
November 16, 1996 in which Mr. Tesucun y Tesucun
inappropriately
permitted the election of a new Committee to manage the
Biosfera
Itza. Those in attendance represent the immigrant population
and
other persons with personal agendas.
Their interests are not the
well-being
and development of the Maya Itza community, rather their
primary
goal is to log the reserve and divide it up for the extraction
of
forest resources--thereby converting it into a desert.
As such, we urgently protest before you,
asking for your moral
support
to exert pressure on the authorities and institutions whose
role it
is to protect the rights of the indigenous communities and the
environment.
We want this situation to be resolved through the
appropriate
legal channels so that we can live and work in peace for
the good
of the environment and future generations.
We are the first
indigenous
organization to worry about our natural environment in the
northern
forested region of the Peten, which has suffered deforestation
and
destruction due to the increasing number of immigrants from other
parts
of the country.
With the hope of receiving your words of
support, we thank you for
your
consideration. For more information,
please communicate with us
by
means of the community telephone in San Jose ([502] 928-8135).
Ecologically,
REGINALDO
CHAYAX HUEX FELICIANO TZUL
COLLI
PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT
LUIS
FERNANDO LOPEZ CESAR MUNOZ
SUNTECUN
JUAN
JULIO TUT BERTA HUEX
CHAN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE
AUTHORITIES IN GUATEMALA NEED TO KNOW THAT INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
OBJECT TO WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE ITZA!
PLEASE
WRITE A LETTER, PREFERABLY IN SPANISH, TO THE AUTHORITIES
IN
GUATEMALA.
AUTHORITIES
FOR YOU TO WRITE IN ORDER OF PRIORITY:
(1) Ing. Juan Francisco Asturias Fajardo,
Coordinador Nacional
Comision Nacional del Medio Ambiente, CONAMA
5 Avenida 8-07, Zona 10
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Tel: 011
[502] 332-7174
Fax: 011
[502] 362-6845
(2) Dr. Edgar Armando Aragon Gonzalez, Gobernador
Gobernacion Departamental del Peten
Ciudad Flores, Peten, Guatemala
Tel/Fax:
011 [502] 926-1383
******************************************************************
OTHER
PEOPLE THAT NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU
(3) Senor Diputado Mario Hugo Miranda
Presidente de la Comision de Medio
Ambiente
Congreso de la Republica de Guatemala
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Tel/Fax 011 [502] 232-1260 (Ask for the
"extension 327"
-
tres dos siete)
(4) Lic. Manuel Barquin
Delegado Departmental, Peten
Procuradur¡a General de la Nacion
Santa Elena, Peten Guatemala
Tel/Fax: [502] 926-0318
(5) Excelentisimo Senor Presidente
Alvaro Arzu
Palacio Nacional
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
EMAIL: AlvaroArzu@guate.net
PLEASE
SEND A COPY OF ALL LETTERS TO:
Reginaldo
Chayax Huex AND/OR Shaun Paul
Presidente EcoLogic Development Fund
Comite
Bio Itza PO Box 383405
San
Jose, Peten GUATEMALA Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
fax c/o
PROPETEN [502] 926-0495 fax
(617) 441-6307
email:
news@ecologic.org
OPEN
LETTER FROM THE ECOLOGIC DEVELOPMENT FUND
December 16,
1996
Dr.
Edgar Armando Aragon Gonzalez, Gobernador
Gobernacion
Departamental del Peten
Ciudad
Flores, Peten, Guatemala
Tel/Fax:
011-502-926-1383
Dear
Dr. Aragon Gonzalez,
I am
writing on behalf of the EcoLogic Development Fund, an
international
charitable organization, to bring your attention to a
problem
of great concern to us regarding San Jose, Peten.
Both my
organization and many other international agencies have
recently
received reports concerning the questionable dissolution on
November
16, 1996 of the "Committee of the Biosfera Itza Reserve" in
San
Jose by Mayor Julian Tesucun y Tesucun.
If this is true, I am
confident
that you will join us in supporting the valiant efforts of
the Bio
Itza Committee to protect their natural resources, promote the
sustainable
use of these resources, and preserve of their language and
culture.
The Bio
Itza Committee was formally established in September 1991 in
San
Jose when Itza community members
established their general
assembly. The area in which their development has been
centered is
located
in the buffer zone of the Mayan Biosphere along the perimeter
of El
Zotz-San Miguel-La Pelotada Biotope.
This 36-square kilometer
area
was conceded by the Honorable Corporation of the Municipality of
San
Jose as a municipal forest reserve (in the 34-91 session, of the
folio
312-317 of the Act No. 37). The Bio
Itza Committee, under the
leadership
of Reginaldo Chayax Huex and Feliciano Tzul Colli, developed
a
management plan and established projects to protect this fragile
area. These projects include the protection of San
Jose's threatened
forests,
the reforestation of degraded areas, the promotion of
ecotourism
and most importantly, the education of Maya Itza youth in
their
nearly lost traditions and language.
They have been effective
not
only in their conservation work, but also in promoting the economic
development
and cultural well-being of the Maya Itza people.
Because
of its important work, many national and international
organizations
have supported and are willing to continue supporting the
Bio
Itza Committee. Institutions that have joined forces with the Bio
Itza
Committee by donating their financial, technological, and human
resources
include: Secretar¡a de Planificacion Economica (SEGEPLAN);
Direccion
General de Bosques y Vida Silvestre (DIGEBOS); Plan de Accion
Forestral
Maya (PAF-MAYA); Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala;
Comision
Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarollo (CCAD); Asociacion del
Rescate
y Conservacion de la Vida Silvestre (ARCAS); Centro Argonomico
Tropical
de Investigacion Ensenanza (CATIE); Consejo Nacional para un
Bosque
Sostenible (PROPETEN); OEW, Austria; Le Centre National de la
Recherche
Scientifique, France; Cultural Survival, USA; The Nature
Conservancy,
USA; UNESCO, UNICEF, the EcoLogic
Development Fund, USA;
University
of Michigan, USA; Instituto para la
Cooperacion
Internacional,
Austria; US Agency for International
Development (US
AID).
We
support the leaders of the Bio Itza Committee, elected by the Itza
themselves,
in their claim to their rights as indigenous people under
United
Nations Convention ILO 169, Article 15, ratified by the
Government
of Guatemala, which states that indigenous people have the
right
to participate in the use, management and conservation of their
natural
resources. The removal of the Bio Itza
Committee's leadership
and
their replacement by three of the Mayor's relatives and recent
immigrants
with little understanding of the local culture and intent on
converting
the forest into agricultural lands is in clear violation of
this
Convention.
Please
join us by helping to resolve this conflict in San Jose. We
believe
that the Bio Itza Committee should be rewarded for its valiant
efforts
rather than punished. This is the
second time that Mayor
Tesucun
y Tesucun has tried to take land away from a community
organization. The first involved the Ixchel group, under
the
leadership
of Brenda Mayol. Please join with us to
stop this second
attempt.
Both
the EcoLogic Development Fund and many other international
agencies
would be most grateful to you for any action taken by your
office
to settle the conflict in San Jose for the well being of the
Maya
Itza and all of Peten. We, in turn, are
committed to investing
financial
and technical assistance to promote economic development and
conservation
in San Jose.
The Bio
Itza Committee has realized projects that serve not only as a
model
to other Guatemalans, but to the international community as well.
I am
sure that they would welcome you if you visited them to see first-
hand
the results of their efforts at reforestation and ecosystem
preservation. We believe that this fragile parcel of land
should
remain
with the Bio Itza Committee, who has shown the desire and
ability
to improve and preserve it.
Knowing
of your dedication to environmental and cultural conservation,
I
kindly ask you, Mr. Governor, to help ensure that the Bio Itza
Committee's
vital environmental and cultural work continues. On behalf
of the
government you represent and in the interest of preserving the
environment
and upholding the human rights of the Maya Itza, we await
your
assistance in resolving this urgent matter.
Thank
you again for your attention.
Sincerely,
Shaun Paul,
President
EcoLogic
Development Fund
cc: Juan Francisco Asturias Fajardo, CONAMA
Senor Diputado Mario Hugo Miranda,
Presidente de la Comision de
Medio Ambiente
Lic. Manuel Barqu¡n, Delegado
Departamental, Peten; Procuradur¡a
General de la Nacion
Arq. Jorge Cabrera, Director Ejecutivo,
CCAD
Senor Reginaldo Chayax Huex, Presidente,
Comite Bio Itza
####################################################################
This
alert was provided by the ECOLOGIC DEVELOPMENT FUND
(news@ecologic.org),
P.O. Box 3405, Cambridge, MA 02238-3405 USA
EcoLogic
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the
destruction
of biodiverse tropical ecosystems by advancing economic
development
and self-determination among local communities in
threatened
habitats. To subscribe to EcoLogic News, respond to this
message
by providing your name, address and organizational affiliation
if any.
####################################################################
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
You are
encouraged to utilize this information for personal educational and
campaign
use. All efforts are made to provide
accurate, timely pieces; though
ultimate
responsibility for verifying all information rests with the reader.
Check
out our Gaia Forest Conservation Archives at URL=
http://forests.org/
Networked
by:
Ecological
Enterprises
Email
(best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org