el salvador: protecting el salvador’s precious remnant forests
El Salvador’s Cordillera el Bálsamo and El Espino forests are areas of national relevance, for their biological diversity as well as their role as rain water catchments. However, these forests are being devastated by the construction industry to give way to housing for rich people, shopping centres and hotels. Furthermore, in the case of El Espino, a highway is slated to pass through it, as part of the framework for Plan Puebla Panamá infrastructure projects. Both these forest areas are very fragile and vulnerable to climatic events such as hurricanes and storms.
what happened: To address this threat, Friends of the Earth El Salvador / CESTA worked to raise local populations' awareness on the need organize to defend their forests and water. The group also intensified its advocacy work to have both forests recognised as protected areas. Several activities, including forums on environmental conflicts in El Salvador, and demonstrations and petitions calling for the forests’ protected status, were carried out.
Coordination with local organizations, which began in the early stages of FoE El Salvador’s work, continues to contribute to the local resistance movement of the municipalities of Nuevo Cuscatlán, Santa Tecla, Zaragoza and San José Villanueva. These municipalities lie in the Cordillera el Bálsamo forest’s southern zone. A permanent committee now meets twice a month to coordinate educational, advocacy and organizational initiatives, as well as public actions.
FoE El Salvador also undertook a capacity-building process on environmental issues, with an emphasis on forests, aiming to strengthen community advocacy work. Eight organizations took part, including grassroots organizations for community development, NGOs and international aid organizations. The program covered forests, biodiversity, water, climate change and current threats posed by the development of mega-projects (such as mining, big dams and Plan Puebla Panamá).
There were also legal strategies; three initiatives were taken to at El Salvador’s Parliament to stop the destruction of La Cordillera el Bálsamo, while a fourth was taken to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, calling for the area to be declared a protected area. In addition, a human rights attorney initiated a case to halt the threats of eviction being directed at impoverished communities in the area, which are occurring as a consequence of road and constructions projects.
The organizations involved in this campaign also called on Parliament to review procedures followed by majors in giving licenses to construction projects; and to investigate the expansion of the Puerto de la Libertad road, which will wreak further destruction on the Cordillera El Bálsamo forest, increase the eviction of poor communities, and generally heighten the forest’s vulnerability.
what we learned: The powers behind the projects which erode these forests are extremely strong; strong enough to buy the political will of decision makers. FoE El Salvador also observed that organizing affected communities, and capacity-building initiatives which engage them, are key elements to strengthening the resistance processes to confront such powers in the territories. A set of further strategies is needed to defend the natural heritage and peoples' rights to biodiversity and water. Public awareness, advocacy work and legal initiatives are all complementary strategies in the struggle against the power of money.
what next: FoE El Salvador expects the process they initiated with relevant local and national actors to continue; and that the organizations and communities involved in the struggle will continue to engage in advocacy work, awareness raising, and social organising around the defence of their forest territories.
with thanks to our funders: the dutch ministry of foreign affairs
