Voices is partnering with United Communities, and other local partners to promote environmental protection and sustainable development.
The Lower Lempa has a diverse and fragile ecosystem that has suffered tremendous damage over the years. Residents oif the Lower Lempa continue to suffer the consequences of deforestation, water, soil, and air pollution, and other degradation, which manifest as flooding, kidney failure, decrease of water tables, and other public health concerns.
The Lower Lempa is home to some of the last remaining virgin forest in El Salvador. Mangrove and tropical forests along the Rio Lempa are rich with fauna and flora, some of which is not found anywhere else in the world. Dense, rich mangrove forests along the mouth of the Rio Lempa and along the coast protect the region from hurricanes and sea surges, and provide sustainable economic opportunities for local fisherman. This valuable natural resource is under increasing threat from developers that have plans to build large resorts, as well as local farmers. The virgin tropical forests along the Rio Lempa are also under threat from developers and local farmers that want to expand their acreage or cut down trees for fuel.
The soil and water tables have a long history of contamination. Until the land reforms of the early 1980s, much of the Lower Lempa was used to grow cotton, which requires the use of large quantities of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The long-term use of agrochemicals combined with more recent unregulated, overuse has resulted in heavily contaminated ground water and top soils. As a consequence, farmers suffer from an alarmingly high rate of kidney failure, a problem so sever throughout El Salvador that the main hospital in San Salvador has opened three new wings just for renal failure
To promote just and equitable development, Voices is partnering with local organizations and communities to develop a number of initiatives to better protect the region's natural resources. These efforts include:
Solid Waste Management
Voices is partnering with Horizons of Friendship and others to fund a United Communities project to manage solid waste management throughout the Lower Lempa.
Alternative Agriculture
United Communities has developed a model garden and greenhouse to demonstrate alternative forms of agriculture to farmers throughout the region. They grow alternative crops (including fruit and coconut palms) and use organic and other alternative methods of cultivation, to encourage lower impact farming.
Advocacy
United Communities, Voices, and other organizations are organizing communities to advocate against large resort developments from being build along the coast. Such development projects will not only devastate the already threatened environment, but will require the relocation of many families and their farms.
Forest Protection
United Communities has requested that Voices assist them with an initiative to preserve the last remaining sections of tropical forest along the Rio Lempa and the mangrove forests towards the mouth of the river. The project will require that the government declare the forests wildlife preserve, and include developing eco-tourism and other alternative uses to fund the rangers necessary to end poaching and burning.
Parque Nancuchiname
Over the years, Voices has been involved in a number of environmental protection efforts including creation and management of Bosque Nancuchiname in the Lower Lempa. These efforts led the government to designate the forest a national wildlife preserve and the creation of a cooperative that protects the park and promotes ecotourism.
(Parque Nancuchiname, with the Volcan de San Vicente off in the distance)
If you would like to become involved in or support an environmental initiative in the Lower Lempa or Morazán, please contact Thomas Roddy Hughes at voices@votb.org or (202-529-2191).