In view of the imminent termination in 2016 of the Guatemalan State Forestry Incentives Program (Pinfor), the President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina, delivered to the President of Congress, Aristídes Crespo, the Probosques bill, which aims to promote the economic and social development of the country's rural areas through the joint integration of public and private investment in the forested regions of the country's interior.
The presentation of the Probosques law initiative took place last Thursday, February 20, and was attended by members of the Board of Directors of the National Forest Institute (INAB), about 500 community leaders, the Association of Forest Communities of Petén (ACOFOP) and the National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations for the Environment and Natural Resources (ASOREMA), the latter represented by Mr. Marcedonio Cortave, who said:
"With these actions we all contribute to soil conservation and maintain the high biodiversity of the country, the water cycle and help us adapt as a country to climate vulnerability as a result of global climate change. We all know that we are one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change", he also urged the executive and legislative bodies to approve this type of policies for the real benefit of the communities.
The Proboques bill is intended to replace the PINFOR program, which began in 1998 to promote sustainable forestry production and forest conservation.
Within the framework of the PINFOR program, more than 100,000 hectares of forest have been reforested with a total investment of 1.5 billion Quetzales (Q), and a total of 202,000 hectares have been managed with Q245 million delivered to the program's beneficiaries.
The Probosque initiative is expected to start in 2017 with an annual investment of Q 465 million during the three decades of its implementation. On the other hand, the executive authorities of the Guatemalan government estimate that this project has the potential to generate up to 900,000 non-agricultural jobs in rural areas, providing a valuable boost to other sustainable activities in the main impact regions.
Among the main environmental benefits that the project will produce are:
- the creation of a supply of 1.7 million tons of fuelwood per year from energy and natural forests;
- production of 2.5 million cubic meters of timber per year to supply the demand of small and medium-sized companies;
- the loss of 8.7 million tons of soil will be avoided;
- will stimulate better governance of the country's forests, thereby guaranteeing water sources, protected riverbanks and reducing losses due to climate variability. [1]
One of the points in which the Probosques initiative has improved in relation to its predecessor is that it aims to be a more democratic proposal by allowing even more community participation in forest management, as it includes not only the owners of large tracts of forest but also medium and small forest owners.
