Bombs For Butterflies – An Interview With Dr. Nick Haddad

Bombs For Butterflies – An Interview With Dr. Nick Haddad

Author and conservationist, Dr. Nick Haddad will be joining us the evening of October 15th to talk about conservation biology and rare butterflies.  I sat with him to chat about bombs, indictments, and burning wetlands… you know, butterfly basics.

How did you end up studying butterflies?

I leapt at an opportunity to go to Guatemala to do work with butterflies, which I knew nothing about.  I was dropped off in Guatemala with three things: a tent, an old mountain bike, and a butterfly net, and was told the catch everything I could.  That’s all I did. I collected thousands of butterflies over a 2-year period, but I thought I was going to study birds. I ended up in grad school I had an aspiration to do a habitat fragmentation experiment, but butterflies were a better model organism for my habitat fragmentation work since I was working with hectare plots, rather than the tens of thousands of hectares that would be needed for birds.

Let’s step back to that tent in the Guatemala forest.  How do you store thousands of butterflies?

The reason I ended up there is that there were a few other tents near me from a group that was ironically studying birds, and they had a field shack.  In this building I could take the butterflies, dry them, and put them in glassine envelopes, and you can fit quite a few butterflies in these stacks of envelopes.  I had a collaborator in Guatemala City and every few months I would go to Guatemala City and either bring them to him or send them back to the United States.

You did end up working on habitat fragmentation experiments, can you talk through what that is?

I worked with US forest service to create a network of habitat fragments that were all a hectare in size, but I was asking how can we overcome the negative impacts of habitat fragmentation?  The experiment was to create landscape corridors connecting the fragments. This was – and still is – the world’s biggest experiment to test the effects of landscape corridors.

We started looking at the impacts of corridors on dispersal, and some of the corridors are acting the way they are supposed to as highways for plants and animals.  But then I went on to ask how they impact populations and diversity. And I have shown that corridors have a huge increase in plant diversity and that increases over the course of 20 years.

What is it about a corridor that allows all of this to happen?

For butterflies, they bounce off edges of fragments and they end up in the corridor and then follow it to another patch.   The birds go to the edges to perch and eat and they will go from the middle back to the tree – the middle – to the tree – and they do that over and over until they make it down the corridor.  The corridors funnel wind, too, so wind-disperse seeds travel down the corridor. But the next question is, how does that lead to higher diversity? We think the diversity of plants is related to their ability to disperse through corridors.  We have a whole new area of research on plant traits that allow them to use corridors.

You’re currently conducting research in Fort Bragg (with graduate student Elsita Kiekebusch) What is it like there?

That is what launched me into rare butterflies.  I’m a conservation biologist at heart so when the army called to ask about a problem they were having with an endangered butterfly, well, I jumped right in.  The interesting thing with the St. Francis Satyr butterfly and what attracted me to it was that it lives in wetlands along streams. So the habitat that gets between the wetlands are riparian corridors, and it was a chance to think of corridors for a species that actually mattered in conservation as an endangered butterfly.

The St. Francis Satyr only occurs on Fort Bragg army installation and nowhere else.  Within the installation, it’s mainly found in the artillery ranges, so it’s this crazy case where a butterfly that is endangered lives in seemingly the most inhospitable damaged environments.  But they are actually some of the most beautiful places in North Carolina.

Because people can’t go into artillery ranges?

That’s one reason, but another reason is that the bombs ignight annual fires which keeps the wetlands open.  So that’s one reason, the other is that the butterflies require beaver ponds, and there are healthy beaver populations in the artillery ranges.  Those three things combined create environments healthy for the butterfly and other endangered plants, birds, and there’s no place anywhere else in North Carolina or the world.  Artillery places are the place to be!

How did the St. Francis Satyr butterfly come to be endangered?

It was determined to be endangered right away.  It was discovered at Fort Bragg by a soldier in training, an 18 year old guy who happened to have a butterfly collection as a kid.  When he found it, it was thought to be one population numbering 100 butterflies, but it wasn’t considered endangered. It’s a bit of a story, but the next person who discovered these butterflies was one of many indicted under the Lacey Act as one of many people trafficking rare butterflies, trying to force them closer to extinction to increase the worth of their collections.

That’s what really precipitated the butterfly to be listed as endangered to be better protected.  It was already rare, but this was a threat, and it needed protection. And why did it become rare?  Because people pulled fire from the landscape and they pulled beavers off the landscape, intensely over the past 50 years.

How do you monitor their populations?

Once we know where they are, we are out there everyday of the field season, in the summer months.  Now we count as many as we see, then we convert those counts to population sizes. We have also caught and marked butterflies with letters/numbers and then released them, then we can get a rigorous estimate of their population size, but we found that the counts are correlated with these mark/recapture numbers.

So when did you decide to write The Last Butterflies?

I realized I had all of these interesting stories about rare butterflies, but beyond that there are themes that wind through all of the rarest butterflies.  So it became a way to try to look more panoramically to the messages for biology and conservation biology in general.

Llamativa nube: cómo se formó y cuál es su relación con la actividad que mantiene el volcán de Fuego

Llamativa nube: cómo se formó y cuál es su relación con la actividad que mantiene el volcán de Fuego

Una “extraña” nube despertó el interés de los guatemaltecos y un experto explica las razones detrás de este fenómeno y su conexión con el volcán de Fuego.

Este viernes 19 de enero, un fenómeno natural inquietó a internautas cuando una nube expansiva se formó sobre el Volcán de Fuego.

Sobre este llamativo evento, los meteorólogos han ofrecido una explicación de cómo ocurrió.

Según el Instituto de Meteorología (Insivumeh), todo sucede en una altura donde la temperatura experimenta un cambio significativo, marcando el inicio de la estratósfera, que es clave para entender este fenómeno.

Allí, los gases calientes del volcán de Fuego encuentran una barrera que impide que puedan seguir subiendo continuamente, y por lo tanto comienzan a dispersándose y dan origen a la majestuosa nube.

En este caso, el viento jugó un papel fundamental y tuvo que ser moderado, permitiendo así que la fumarola del volcán alcanzara altitudes notables y se expandiera, entre 11 y 12 kilómetros.

¿Cómo se forma la nube?
El doctor Paris Rivera, del Servicio Meteorológico de Guatemala (SMG), explica que estas nubes llegan a formarse cuando un volcán está en acción.

Según Rivera, cuando un volcán entra en erupción, lanza al aire pequeñas partículas candentes. Estas partículas no solo viajan hacia arriba, sino que se agrupan formando lo que se llama un “pirocúmulo”.

Este pirocúmulo se eleva en el cielo y convive en las alturas con otros gases, vapor de agua y pedacitos de roca volcánica, conocidos como piroclastos.

Entonces, es en ese momento en que todo este calor generado por la actividad volcánica puede tener un efecto y hacer que la humedad en el aire se condense, como cuando se ven gotitas de agua en el exterior de un vaso frío en un día caluroso, explica el experto. Esto da lugar a la creación de este tipo de nube.

Este fenómeno, según Paris, es parecido al de las nubes lenticulares que suele formarse en las montañas más altas del planeta, y que muchos aficionados insisten en atribuirlo a la actividad alienígena. Sin embargo, son nubes comunes en los ecosistemas montañosos, apuntan los expert

Clima en Guatemala- Insivumeh explica cómo sigue influyendo un sistema de alta presión en el país y cuál es el pronóstico para esta semana

Clima en Guatemala: Insivumeh explica cómo sigue influyendo un sistema de alta presión en el país y cuál es el pronóstico para esta semana

La nubosidad y lloviznas o lluvias seguirán presentándose del norte al centro del país por la influencia de un sistema de alta presión, mientras que en otras regiones las condiciones serán favorables.

Según el Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología (Insivumeh), en las regiones del Norte, Franja Transversal del Norte y Caribe, seguirán los nublados parciales, posibilidad de precipitaciones, con ligero incremento gradual en la temperatura diurna.

Mientras que, para el resto del territorio, se esperan pocas nubes en el período con alta radiación solar, y hacia la costa sur habrá presencia de bruma.

En Altiplano Central, que incluye la capital, se descarta la posibilidad de lluvias, mientras que en Oriente, únicamente se pronostican lloviznas o lluvias en zonas de montaña en inicios de semana. En ambas regiones la velocidad del viento norte prevalecerá moderado, entre los 20 a 30 km/h.

El Insivumeh también espera que para esta semana comprendida del 22 al 26 de enero, continúe el frío en la noche y madrugada en Occidente y algunas zonas de Altiplano Central, por lo que recomienda abrigarse.

Próximo frente frío
De acuerdo al SMG, una chorro subtropical favorecerá la formación de una vaguada y esto a su vez contribuirá al incremento de la temperatura. Debido a estas condiciones, combinado al ingreso de humedad proveniente de los océanos, se esperan lluvias y actividad eléctrica a partir del jueves, con posibilidad de extenderse hasta el fin de semana.

El Insivumeh también monitorea un frente frío que, de continuar su trayectoria, para el fin de semana incrementaría la nubosidad y posibilidad de lluvias en las regiones del Norte y Caribe.

Pronóstico por región
El Insivumeh dio a conocer en un boletín el pronóstico del clima por regiones para esta semana.

Meseta Central (incluye la capital)
Se esperan áreas con niebla o neblina en las primeras horas de la mañana, luego parcialmente nublado alternando con poca nubosidad, y finalmente soleado. Viento del norte y nordeste ligero a moderado, cambiando a sur a mediados de semana.

Temperaturas
Máximas: Ciudad Capital 26.0 ºC a 28.0 ºC.
Máximas Altiplano Central y Occidental: 23.0 °C a 28.0 ºC.
Mínimas: Ciudad Capital 10 °C a 12 °C, Altiplano Occidental -2.0 °C a 0.0 °C.
Región de Bocacosta y litoral Pacífico
Poca nubosidad con ambiente cálido y presencia de bruma, con viento suroeste de ligero a moderado.

Temperaturas
Temperaturas máximas: 34.0 ºC a 36.0 ºC.
Región Norte (Petén)
Se prevé áreas con niebla o neblina en primeras horas de la mañana, parcialmente nublado alternando con poca nubosidad. Se esperan lloviznas y o lluvias dispersas en inicios de semana en horas de la tarde y noche. El viento será nordeste ligero a moderado.

Temperaturas máximas: 30.0 °C a 32.0 °C, incrementando gradualmente.
Alta Verapaz, Caribe y Franja Transversal del Norte
Persistirá la niebla o neblina en las primeras horas de la mañana y noche, parcialmente nublado alternando con poca nubosidad. Las lloviznas o lluvias dispersas se presentarían al inicio de la semana, en horas de la tarde y noche. El viento norte y nordeste será ligero a moderado.

Temperaturas máximas
Alta Verapaz: 24 ºC a 26.0 °C.
Caribe: 30.0 °C a 32.0 °C, incrementando gradualmente.
Región del Motagua y Valles del Oriente:
Se presentará neblina en las primeras horas de la mañana, luego permanecerá parcialmente nublado alternando con poca nubosidad. La posibilidad de lloviznas o lluvias es solo en zonas de montaña, al inicio de la semana.

Temperaturas máximas: 33.0 ºC a 35.0 ºC, incrementando gradualmente.

Traveler Tips- Best Times to Visit Guatemala for Different Experiences

Traveler Tips: Best Times to Visit Guatemala for Different Experiences

The travel landscape of the beautiful and eclectic country that is Guatamala is diverse beyond compare. Planning to navigate this country is a thrilling, captivating and exciting adventure on its own, with many tourists outsourcing their planning to agencies, for example, this travel company offers a great many selections of trips and tours for travelers to choose from and maximize the thrill of their Guatemalan trip.

Located in Central America, Guatemala is nestled between Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. With openings on either end to the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, it is known for its relatively warm and tropical climate. Depending on what you’d like to experience, it’s good to take note of the weather and seasons in Guatemala so that you can plan your trip accordingly.
Going Outdoors: The Dry Season
People say that the best time to visit Guatemala is between November and April, as this is their dry season and tourists can make the most of their dry days by visiting many of the beautiful cities and towns within Guatemala. The perk of going in the dry season is obvious, very few wet days. This is especially useful for tourists looking to spend a lot of time outside.

If you are looking to explore the Caribbean Sea side of the country of Guatemala, like visiting the beautiful and tranquil Puerto Barrios for an adventure on the beach, then it makes sense to take advantage of the November – April dry spell with temperatures reaching between 72°F and 90°F, making it ideal weather to lounge around the beach drinking their famous ‘Gallo’ beer. The months of March and April are the hottest, so take that into account. For a moment though, picture sunbathing and dipping into the Caribbean Sea while sipping on a cold beer – this is Puerto Barrios.

Should you be planning a city trip, for example, visiting the famous city of Antigua where you can get lost in the winding streets that lead you from a cultural and historical sight with every turn in the road, then going during the dry seasons mentioned above is also advantageous. Don’t forget, this is a tropical country, so the heat there, even in the slightly cooler months of December and January can still be intense for tourists. Spending hours walking through the city, entering museums, churches and other culturally important spots takes a considerable amount of energy. So even if you plan on staying indoors most of the time, it’s still good to go when you’re not getting drenched in the rain.

Staying Indoors: The Wet Season
Guatemala is known for receiving more rain during May – October. The general rainfall during this period is between 40 – 80 inches of rain, however, if you move to the east toward the Caribbean Sea, there is often double this amount of rain and the eastern part of the country often experiences strong rain storms which results in floods. It is not an ideal time for tourists to go visit unless they plan on truly staying indoors more, which is indeed possible in a country as diverse as Guatemala.

This country is known for its beautiful forestry, in which retreats have been set up. The Guatemalans are known for leading a healthy, wholesome and holistic lifestyle, which they offer any travelers who sign up for one of the many forest retreats on offer. These often include hours of meditation and yoga practices, foraging in the forest for food with locals who can advise you and keep you safe and endless indoor spa and jacuzzi facilities. Making for an ideal way to spend months in Guatemala without letting the idea of rain get in the way.

Consider Visiting Guatemala
A country rich in history, natural beauty and cultural sights, this is a place that everyone must visit once in their lifetime. Whether to bathe in the sunshine, spend hours walking through the bustling streets of the cities or put on some trekking boots and scale the forest and mountains – this country has something thrilling for everyone.

Fast approval and cost-effective logistics- The path to 'filling' the world with Guatemalan flowers and plants

Fast approval and cost-effective logistics: The path to ‘filling’ the world with Guatemalan flowers and plants

“National producers of flowers and ornamental plants in Guatemala project closing 2023 with $142 million in sales, but the volume could increase with a more aggressive international lobby from elected authorities and fewer procedures.

Increasing the volume of exported products and streamlining the requirements for approving new varieties are two challenges facing the sector of ornamental plants (for pots), foliage, and cut flowers in Guatemala. The country could increase its sales in this sector to two or three times the current $100 million annually, but it requires the agility of incoming authorities to access new markets and maximize existing ones.

According to Lorena de Luna, president of the Ornamental Plants Committee of Agexport, despite the sector’s wealth due to the country’s rich diversity, there are still “some barriers in terms of agility to approve new varieties, too many procedures. For example, a Plant Risk Analysis, a study to certify that the plant does not pose a risk to the country, takes months, if not years, to admit a new species.”

While the Ministry of Agriculture has accelerated some processes this year, according to De Luna, it has not been with the agility needed to bring in necessary seeds and plants. She emphasizes the need for the ministry to have a larger budget and personnel to meet the demand the sector aspires to scale.

A factory for specialized nurseries Both Guatemalan plants and foliage have been valued in the United States for many years.

Species exported to the U.S., such as Antirrhinum (snapdragons), adapt to cultivation cycles to produce colors according to the season. Roses, gerberas, bird of paradise, and other exotic cut flowers and foliage for arrangements, such as leatherleaf and tree fern, are also part of the portfolio.

Guatemala is also becoming a major exporter of cut flowers for large companies, garden plants like chrysanthemums, which are planted in U.S. nurseries and then marketed as ornamental plants. De Luna sees the country as “a product maquiladora for very specialized nurseries.”

However, the sector now feels ready to seek acceptability in other regions, such as South American markets. With the support of the Ministry of Agriculture (Maga), they have pushed for the reduction and facilitation of requirements for importing vegetative material, achieving new products such as dianthus, mini callas, and solanaceae, for which acceptability is being processed in the U.S. and Europe.

However, the speed challenge for acceptability is joined by a significant logistical limitation in the country. “Costa Rica and El Salvador are more agile in exporting a plant and sending it to another country—even though they are farther than Guatemala. If we project doubling the volume, we necessarily have to go to the United States, the European Union, and South America, the latter having a high population, and the economy is not suffering as much as other countries,” says De Luna.

She emphasizes that, due to insufficient volume, “we are not competitive to enjoy good maritime and air rates. Costa Rica pays up to $500 or $1,000 less per container, but due to their volume, they can negotiate better rates.”

A message from the sector to the elected authorities is to have a real lobby between governments, opening the market not only individually on the private side but also with Maga authorities and their bilateral counterparts.

“The migration to the United States has also affected the availability of labor,” De Luna continues, as “the sector employs women for greenhouse work (up to 80% of the staff), and personnel are also needed for precision agriculture.”

Good practices Brigitte Obrock, coordinator of the Ornamental Plants Commission of Agexport, adds that there is potential in pony and rose producers to increase volume and quality to reach international markets. However, it requires applying technologies, access to bank credits, training, and technical assistance to enable them to become exporters, she said.

It is a challenge for people to be trained in good agricultural practices to meet Maga’s verifications regarding phytosanitary issues, Obrock said.

For Lizzy Montero, Marketing and Sales Manager of Sunfresh Farms, a company that recently received the Exporter of the Year Award, authorities should focus on supporting producers to improve the quality of flowers and ensure they apply good practices. They should also promote their participation in international fairs with their products.

Farms work to maintain standards; Sunfresh Farms has Rainforest Alliance certification—covering good agricultural, environmental, and social practices—and others are in the process of certifying, Montero explained. While not a requirement to enter markets like the United States, some customers require it for purchase.

Every year, audits are conducted to maintain certification, representing significant challenges, Montero added.

Overview in numbers More than 55,000 hectares in seven Latin American countries, including Guatemala, are dedicated to the cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants, according to data from the specialized site MetroflorColombia, which recognizes the region’s advantages for developing this important business.

In Guatemala, the Ornamental Plants, Foliage, and Flowers Commission of the Guatemalan Exporters Association (Agexport) indicates that there are approximately 3,500 hectares of production, allowing for exports of over $100 million annually in both cut flowers and ornamental plants.

Last year, the Directorate of Policy and Economic Analysis of the Ministry of Economy reported that the sector exported 30,677 metric tons of flowers and foliage and 17,798.4 metric tons of roots, bulbs, seeds, and ornamental plants to destinations such as the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, El Salvador, Honduras, Japan, and Colombia. In total, these exports generated $142.3 million in foreign exchange.

The most demanded products in this sector include leather leaf, yucca, beaucarnea (Pony), dracaena, roses, chamadorea SP, asparagus SP, tillandsia, sansevieria, and croton plant.

Colombia and Ecuador stand out as rose exporters in the region and represented $975 million, 34% of the total global, according to a note from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2020.

The quality and durability of the roses exported by Guatemala are comparable to the Colombian offer of these flowers, Montero explained.

The size of the flower and the length of the stem are characteristics that must be carefully maintained to meet the standards of exported roses.

Promising horizon The Ornamental Plants, Foliage, and Flowers Commission estimates closing with $142 million for this year and projects an 8.5% growth in 2024 with sales to European destinations, the United States, Canada, Hawaii, and Japan, among others.

In addition to strengthening the production chain of the sector and adding value to the exportable offer with bouquets and diversifying varieties to enter new markets, Montero said, “We seek to change the market; we are already positioned, but we need to increase production to meet demand.”

Guatemala participates in forums, international fairs, specialized magazines, and ventures into floral tourism with visits to botanical gardens and fields, flower festivals to attract travelers interested in these tours, and to stimulate the local market.

The sector aligns with the most important trends that involve producing plants that contribute to reducing air pollution; colors that mark a fashion trend, for example, the Pantone Color Institute designated Peach Fuzz as the color of the year for 2024—a pastel shade that combines with a wide range of colors from reds, fuchsias to blues and greens, providing great possibilities for design, decoration, and color varieties in trending flowers.

Guatemala supplies the demand of supermarkets and clients who are distributors and decorators, requiring good logistics to arrive on cargo flights, maritime containers, or land transportation with punctuality and quality.

The flower growth cycle is 16 weeks, and harvests occur year-round.

In the current season, demand is growing by 300%. However, market coverage depends on production. Over the past three years, the climate has been very cold between November and January, delaying production, Alvarez commented. About 40,000 stems are cut each week, and in peak seasons like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, the harvest doubles.”

Mayan Jungle Ruins in Guatemala Could Become Major Tourist Attraction

Mayan Jungle Ruins in Guatemala Could Become Major Tourist Attraction

Deep within the lush, tropical Guatemalan forest lies the ancient Mayan city of El Mirador, a site over 2,000 years old. However, it’s not just an archaeological treasure; it’s at the center of a heated debate over its future and that of the surrounding jungle – a UNESCO-designated forest called the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR). The question looms: who should dictate the destiny of this precious heritage: local communities, or foreign scientists? Dr. Richard Hansen, an American archaeologist, has dedicated much of his life to El Mirador. Over the past two decades, he’s been striving to establish a privately-managed park in the area. His vision is to protect not only the ruins but also the jungle, believing it can be done more effectively than what the Guatemalan state can provide.

This proposal has ignited a fierce battle, pitting conservation against local livelihoods. Hansen’s plan would require reclassifying El Mirador from a national park to a wilderness area, potentially disrupting existing forestry concessions that sustain local communities. As the debate rages on, the future of El Mirador and its surrounding jungle hangs in the balance, highlighting the delicate equilibrium between preservation and progress, as well as the complex web of interests and values at stake.

How a Family Cares for Llamas in Guatemala — and Teaches Climate Action

How a Family Cares for Llamas in Guatemala — and Teaches Climate Action

The highest mountain range in Guatemala is known for its uniquely cold and humid temperatures. La Sierra de los Cuchumatanes is unlike the rest of the country — a difficult region to farm. But it’s also one of the most biodiverse spots in the country, and where llamas, who thrive in a cold climate, can be found.

More than two decades ago, the residents of Todo Santos, a small town in Chiabal, Huehuetenango, came up with the idea of importing llamas from Chile. The cool temperatures of their village were closer to the Andean Mountain Range in South America rather than the rest of Guatemala. In Latin America, llamas are found in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Chile — they need low temperatures to survive.

The residents brought 32 llamas from Chile to use as a means of transportation, to produce wool and sell their meat. The animals were distributed among different families of Todo Santos; to use however they saw fit. Marcos Cruz, 46, and his family received four of the llamas. A long-time animal lover, Cruz could not bear the thought of using the animals for any of these purposes — each struck him as exploitation. As a practitioner of the Mayan culture, Mam, “protecting and caring for animals is a priority for me and my family,” he explains in Spanish.

Cruz learned how to care for the llamas instead, and since he had experience with other animals, like sheep and horses, he realized what kind of maintenance they required to survive. “It was a challenge at first because coming from another country, for example, the grass they ate was not the same we have here, and we did not know when they were sick and how to react to their illnesses,” says Cruz.

Along with his family, he came up with an innovative idea: show tourists who visited Huehuetenango that llamas can live safely and unharmed in this area of Guatemala. It took several years for Cruz to transform his ranch into a tourist site where visitors can observe and learn about the animals. “Now, we show both locals and foreigners how we care for them, what they eat, how they are treated daily and most importantly, we let them interact with them. After all, they are animals only found in this part of the country, making their visit unique,” he says.

Cruz and his family currently have 13 adult llamas and three newborns. “We are proud to know how to reproduce and not misuse them. The other families that received the llamas abused and mistreated them, and this was miserable to witness,” Cruz says.

Huehuetenango is a region that, due to its cultural richness and Mayan legacy, is seen as significant by the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism, especially the way residents protect the environment, including the animals who live in its ecosystem. “Within our framework, our number one project is to promote sustainable tourism in Huehuetenango,” and this has everything to do with climate change, says Edy Chicas, Delegate of Huehuetenango for the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism.

Chicas works with the villagers, a very close-knit community, on a wide range of environmental issues, including dealing with waste, climate change and sustainable tourism. So far this year, the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism has given around fifteen talks to each village. “Our goal is to make sure that this tourist culture, composed of both the visitor and the person who receives the tourist, interacts with one another in the best possible way. By this, I mean that both parties are aware of the importance of keeping the tourist sites impeccable, so that their beauty is shown and its environment is maintained in excellent condition,” says Chicas.

There are programs aimed at forest governance, for instance. Some villagers have been reportedly cutting off the tree bark, which can be damaging not only to the tree, but the entire ecosystem. Through the training, villagers learn how essential it is to prevent this kind of damage, as well as other types of illegal logging, with sustainable forest management strategies. “This is a way to reduce climate change through the preservation of forests,” says Chicas.

Another example is a project used by the Cruz family to keep the village free from garbage. The characteristics that make plastic a durable material for humans also make it a danger to animals when left uncollected. “In some cases, we see farm animals try to eat the plastic,” says Cruz. “We visit the sites and do cleanup days where we bring rakes, brooms and garbage bags to clean the areas and teach villagers the importance of keeping these places intact,” says Chicas.

The villagers in turn teach tourists how to do their part to minimize their environmental impact. Community members make signs that say, “No littering, please. Leave it with your belongings.” During these campaigns, villagers collect large amounts of solid waste, separate and transport the waste to a treatment plant for final disposal. According to residents, the quantity of abandoned garbage has since decreased.

Maintaining the farm is of paramount importance to Cruz and his family, and Chicas sees this as a powerful form of . “Because tourists find it wonderful and desire to come back, we want to replicate this in all the tourist communities of Huehuetenango.” Chicas adds that for him, sustainable tourism creates what he refers to as responsible tourism, where a link is established between the visitor and the receiver, and where both are conscious of protecting the environment.

Cruz and his son have also learned to use different social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok to launch the Llamas de los Cuchumatanes Project, which shows how they give care to the llamas, and how they work to protect their surrounding environment.

“We like to show how this is a community initiative and a family project. We also want our audience to know that the llamas are well-maintained and that we keep the farm clean,” Cruz says. He explains that he wishes to encourage other families in his community who own llamas to care for them similarly, and avoid misusing them.

“The llamas are one of the main attractions of the La Sierra de los Cuchumatanes,” says Chicas. The Cruz family has been able to make the most of hosting the animals while treating them well. “The goal is to replicate their tourism strategy with other families from the village.”

“We are humble people with scarce resources who come from a tough socio-economic background. However, this does not stop us from protecting our land, animals and culture,” says Cruz. “We are family people and we like to interact as a community. For us it’s like having a child, a family member.”

This piece has been updated.

Lake Atitlán in Guatemala- The land of eternal spring

Lake Atitlán in Guatemala: The land of eternal spring

One of Guatemala’s most frequently visited sites is Lake Atitlán.

To the naked eye, it is stunning. Its teal-colored freshwater sits just over 5,000 feet above the ocean in the highlands of Guatemala. It is surrounded by culturally rich Maya towns and three volcanos – San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán. Below the water, things get even more interesting. There are volcanic formations, hot springs and even a flooded Maya city.

About 84,000 years ago, this lake used to be the super volcano Los Chocoyos. After it erupted for the final time, the volcano’s chamber collapsed inward and formed a caldera. It was then filled with water from nearby rivers.

Today, these attractions bring in a large amount of ecotourism for the region–about 80%.

The 12 towns surrounding the lake each have something to offer. In Santiago Atitlán, you can visit the Maya deity Maximón. You can hike a volcano in San Pedro La Laguna. Consider visiting a hot spring in Santa Catarina Palopó. Or go scuba diving near Santa Cruz la Laguna. And in San Juan la Laguna, you can visit a honey or Maya textile co-op.

David Alinán, a tour guide with Contemporáneo Tours & Travel, says that a high dependency on tourism comes with positives and negatives. On one hand, it provides more economic growth and better access to technology and education. However, the rise in tourism has had some substantial impacts on Guatemalan culture.

“The negative part is a loss of identity,” Alinán told Morning Edition. “Perhaps we identify with Maya roots, but many of us born in the 90s lost our native language. Many of us only speak Spanish and perhaps an international language.”

Alinán says this loss is not immediate, rather gradual. He believes this loss of identity may come from adopting new cultural traditions that visitors bring. For example, in San Pedro an influx of Jewish tourists has led to the establishment of kosher restaurants, and you’re likely to hear Hebrew spoken in this town.

For locals like Glenda Rosales, ecotourism supports her family. She’s been a shop owner in Panajachel for over 15 years.

“We all rely on tourism here,” said Rosales. “If there is no tourism here, then our sales are low. It’s our job. So, we benefit from tourism coming to Guatemala, especially to Panajachel.”

If you needed a final reason to add Lake Atitlán on your list of places to visit, Guatemala is known as the “land of eternal spring” due to its advantageous rainy and dry seasons, with average high temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

It’s no wonder with such good weather and attractions that this lake is a top destination in Guatemala.