Guatemala:
sugarcane’s bitter consequences
In
our country, one of the crops that has caused the most negative
impacts from its start to the present day is sugarcane. The sugarcane
plantations are located in the Pacific Plains, a rich area with
fertile soils of volcanic origin and abundant water from rainfall
and the rivers born in the volcanic chain. These conditions were
perfect for the development of this crop and the expansion of sugar
mills. Today Guatemala is the fifth largest exporter of sugar in
the world and second in production in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Presently,
14 sugar mills are in operation and in 2007 sugarcane plantations
covered 216,000 hectares, approximately the same size as the Department
of Guatemala (225,300 hectares) an appreciable area considering
the size of our country (108,889 km2).
One
of the most serious problems of monoculture sugarcane plantations
is the total destruction of the ecosystems where they are located.
In Guatemala this has led to the disappearance of vast areas of
forest.
Added
to the above is the exaggerated use of water which affects the human
communities and causes direct and indirect negative impacts on terrestrial
and coastal marine ecosystems. Burning sugarcane contaminates the
environment, affects the health of neighbouring communities and
releases CO2, one of the greenhouse gases. The burning of these
plantations, year after year contributes to increasing global warming.
During the harvest, the sugar mills change the course of rivers
towards their plantations, leaving the communities without water;
while at the same time also dumping their contaminated waste in
them.
The
canals and ditches, opened up for irrigation in the plantations,
carry the water inland and cause flooding during the rainy season,
placing many villages at risk. To this is added the contamination
caused by the excessive use of agrochemicals, pesticides and chemical
ripeners that are transported by the rivers towards coastal marine
ecosystems such as mangroves.
One
of the problems encountered by the sugar industry is the amount
of land available to expand its plantations. According to statements
made in 2007 by Armando Boesche, manager of the Guatemalan Sugar
Growers Association (Asazgua - Asociación de Azucareros de
Guatemala) “Now there is no land available because we have
reached the limit.” This situation has become a threat
to ecosystems and local inhabitants and is sensitive in a country
where land disputes have led to wars, disappearances and death.
A
clear example of the lack of land was the transfer in 2006 of the
Guadalupe sugar mill to the Polochic River valley in Izabal near
the wildlife refuge and Ramsar Site of Bocas del Polochic. This
situation directly and indirectly threatens the wetlands and wildlife
due to the changing of river courses and the use of agrochemicals
that are transported to this body of water by rain and runoff, risking
stepping up the growth of Hydrilla verticillata, an invasive plant
that has been established in this location for several years now.
However,
in the South the sugarcane plantations do not seem to have reached
“the limit,” as they continue to expand, with the felling of the
last trees and riparian forests that protected the river courses.
They have had negative impacts on endangered species such as the
Yellow-necked Parrot, in serious danger of extinction. The sugarcane
frontier has reached the mangrove shores and localities such as
Iztapa and Hawai, two areas that still conserve this endangered
ecosystem. The plantations reach their borders, causing isolation
and pressure.
No
assessment has yet been made in Guatemala of the accumulative negative
impacts of these monoculture plantations that affect both the neighbouring
communities and local ecosystems. In the meanwhile, the people continue
to sweeten drinks and food, oblivious of the bitter impacts of this
monoculture on nature and on people.
By
Carlos Salvatierra. SAVIA –Escuela de Pensamiento Ecologista-Guatemala
savia.guate@gmail.com
salvatierraleal@gmail.com
www.saviaguate.org
