APAMO Says They are not to be Taken Lightly 

Earlier this year, a series of wildfires spread rapidly throughout the country, devastating the livelihoods of farmers and displacing dozens of families. Also impacted by these fires were several protected areas and natural resources. To save these assets, multiple government and private sector organizations banded together to douse the flames. Also, on the ground during this process were the comanagers of these protected areas. Today, the Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations, APAMO, held a press conference to voice concerns regarding the recently proposed policy changes and demand recognition for the work put in by comanagers. Christina Garcia, Executive Director of the Ya’axche Conservation Trust voices these complaints.

 

Christina Garcia, Executive Director, Ya’axche Conservation Trust

“One of the main things is capacity. And I say capacity from the side of the government. Because nobody thought that huge of a disaster would have happened in these areas.  And I think that earlier someone mentioned the commitments that the government has signed on to. We get a lot of forest loss. What do you think will happen to the carbon there?  And I know government debunk on that. There’s a legislation that is going to go forward specifically for carbon.  The legislation does not inspire any confidence to sign a comanagement agreement. So who will manage these protected areas?  The government?  We have seen over and over that there’s no capacity and funding to do this. So how are they going to meet those commitments?  So I think that the conversation is long overdue.  It needs to happen, whether they want it or not, because there’s lots at stake at the moment, and I don’t want to say this in a mean kind of way. But we bring a lot to the table. We bring a lot of changes. There’s not only protected areas involved, but communities as well. We work heavily with communities, unless if they want to see the deforestation rate goes up, we already, they have problems with deforestation. The fires even made it worse. . So what’s going to happen next? The training and community, the training of the community, a lot invested in these areas, so  they shouldn’t take us lightly.”