13 Policy Matters.qxp

Moreover, government policy to colonise the

area, followed by internal displacements

resulting from Guatemala’s civil war, led to a

dramatic increase in the Petén’s population.

In the mid-1960s, about 25,000 people

lived in the area; by 1990, the population

increased to 300,000 in 1990 and is cur-

rently believed to be over 500,000.^11

Activism by concerned environmentalists

from Guatemala and the United States led

to legislation creating a new system of pro-

tected areas and an administrative agency

responsible for its management: the

National Council of Protected Areas

[Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegídas

(CONAP)]. This legislation established the

Maya biosphere reserve to protect 1.6 mil-

lion hectares of tropical forest, rich with

diverse species of flora and fauna (Figure

Two). Although CONAP had the legal

authority to implement the reserve, the

state turned to the international community

for financial and administrative support. In

Guatemala, as in other Latin American

countries, the shift to neo-liberal models of

state-society relations and structural adjust-

ment policies have meant that the state is

unable or unwilling to provide many neces-

sary social and environmental services.^12 In

this context, the Guatemalan government

signed an agreement in 1990 with the

United States Agency for International

Development (USAID) to fund and partici-

pate in the reserve’s management. The

USAID contracted three US-

based international NGOs to

carry out conservation proj-

ects: The Nature Conservancy

(TNC); Conservation

International (CI); and CARE

International.

The goal of the Maya

Biosphere Project is to

“improve the long-term eco-

nomic well-being of

Guatemala’s population

through the rational manage-

ment of the natural

resources.”^13 The primary

goal of the reserve’s Master

Plan is stated as follows: “...to

yield a harmonious and sus-

tainable development in the

region, guaranteeing the sta-

bility of the present natural

and cultural resources.”^14 The

biosphere reserve model was

chosen in light of its stated

aim to make sustainable

development compatible with

nature protection.^15 To achieve this goal,

biosphere reserves are divided into nuclear

zones with a high degree of protection;

multiple use zones that permit “traditional”

use; and buffer zones wherein sustainable

development projects are implemented to

History, cculture aand cconservation

Figure 2 The Maya biosphere reserve’s management zones.
(Cartography: Paul Jance)