Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Environmental Issues
With a developing economy, poor infrastructure and limited resources, Nicaragua faces a
tough task in protecting the environment at the same time as lifting its citizens out of
poverty.
While there has certainly been progress in recent times, the country still faces a variety
of pressing environmental issues.
Deforestation
One of the biggest environmental issues facing Nicaragua is deforestation - the country has
lost about 85% of its virgin forest cover since the Colonial period. Since the end of the war,
overall forest cover has fallen from 63% to 42%, although the rate of deforestation has
slowed somewhat since 2000.
Deforestation is a major issue because it affects the entire biosystem. Root systems pre-
vent erosion, thus keeping water supplies clean of soil runoff. Foliage supplies habitat for
wildlife. Trees also help maintain climatic conditions. With climate change, scientists are
noticing that pollinating insects are migrating to more favorable environments, leaving
plants unpollinated.
Part of the problem is commercial logging. With the national economy struggling after
the war, environmental issues took a back seat and liberal governments granted a number
of forest concessions that contributed significantly to deforestation.
Illegal logging is another contributing factor, particularly on the Caribbean coast, where
the environment ministry has limited resources to patrol and manage vast reserves with dif-
ficult access.
Sustainable Harvest International works with indigenous communities to help them move
away from slash-and-burn agriculture and toward more sustainable methods. For more info
go to
www.sustainableharvest.org
.
Another major factor is the advance of the 'agricultural frontier' - the eastward migra-
tion by small farmers slashing and burning forest in the hope of carving out a subsistence
livelihood. As the land often occupied is usually humid tropical forest, the soil generally
only has enough oomph for two or three harvests, when the would-be farmer has to carve
