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T304A Atlas Pg. 11,12 Deforestation and Water Pollution (extracted from a June 1995 publication) A recent study by the Central American Commission on the Environmental and Development said that this destruction of natural forests will have economic and social effects still not properly understood. Deforestation in the highland watersheds has caused soil erosion, floods and drought, resulting in the loss of productivity in forestry and agriculture, in the loss of biodiversity and in the increase in rural poverty. Central American presidents have taken a first step toward regional environmental protection but so far have a few results to show. In a summit last October attended by Vice President Al Gore, the presidents signed onto a regional plan for sustainable development, the term used for the rational exploitation of natural resources while at the same time protecting them for future generations. Virtually all of the countries in the alliance-Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cost Rica and Panama-have fallen behind on their commitments. The stakes are considerable. Central America covers less than 1 percent of the world's land surface but is home to 10 percent of the world's plant and animal species. Nicaragua - A forest reserve in northern Nicaragua has more birds than in all of continental Europe. The lush San Juan River area along the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border contains more species of trees than the United States and Canada combined. - Of two million species of insects in Nicaragua, 10 000 to 20 000 disappear each year, mostly because of climatic change caused by deforestation. - Since the 1950s, about 50 percent of Nicaraguan forests have disappeared, contributing to erosion, higher temperatures, lower water tables and the destruction of animal habitat. Much of the forests that remain are protected only because there are no roads to reach them. El Salvador - El Salvador has the poorest forest conservation record: only 2 percent of its original forest remains, making El Salvador the most deforested country in the hemisphere after Haiti. Nearly 80 percent of its 5.3 million people cook with firewood. - El Salvador is the smallest of the Central American countries and also the most industrialized. An estimated 90 percents of its rivers are polluted. Guatemala - Guatemala loses between 150 000 and 200 000 acres of forest each year, resulting in a 31 percent reduction since 1988. The main cause is migration by landless peasants to the northern Peten region, home to the hemisphere's largest rainforest outside of the Amazon (see map). Fewer than 5 000 acres of trees are planted each year.
