The Sarstoon Temash National Park (STNP) was created in
1994 and is the second largest National Park in Belize.
However, intimate biological details of the area have never
yet been recorded. No specific species lists for flora and
fauna exists, and even the local residents are uncertain
about the full variety of wildlife that may occur in the
park. A Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) of the biological
resources within Sarstoon-Temash is expected to confirm
the global significance of the Park's wetland and wet forest
ecosystem.
The "Community Managed Sarstoon Temash Conservation
Project" (COMSTEC) was identified when five indigenous
communities in the Sarstoon Temash region (4 Q'eqchi' Maya
and 1 Garifuna) indicated that they wished to continue to
actively participate in the preservation of their ancestral
lands, which included the STNP. The International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Bank were
approached for funding. Approval for funding resulted in
the establishment of the "Sarstoon Temash Institute
for Indigenous Management" (SATIIM),
a formally registered NGO.
The objective of the COMSTEC project is to reduce land
degradation and conserve globally significant biodiversity
resources in the STNP and its buffer zones. Proposed activities
are based on the concept of co-management, as the most effective
means for addressing open access problems related to indigenous
peoples and natural resource use. Co-management aims to
reconstitute the incentives at the local level in a way
that those closest to the resource - the local indigenous
people - are given a greater stake in its long-run viability
and to directly involve the population in the effective
protection of resources. In practice, this means increasing
the feasibility of exclusion (promoting a sense of responsibility
for the resource, improving control) and creating awareness
for joint benefits of the resource (biodiversity, soil and
water conservation).
The underlying objectives of the REA are: (a) to carry
out a detailed rapid ecological assessment; (b) to complete
a field methodologies training program with selected members
of the buffer communities; (c) to compile a detailed species
list (flora and fauna taxa) with both common and scientific
names; (d) conduct both terrestrial and aquatic assessments
(during both the wet and dry season); (e) to produce a detailed
ecosystems map; (f) to identify indicator, keynote and/or
flagship species, establishing benchmarks, from which to
monitor ecosystem change; (g) to establish a standardized
field methodology for the monitoring program.
On April 15, 2003, the contract for the REA was granted
to Jan
Meerman and his team (Peter Herrera, Augustin Howe).
A formal training workshop was carried out
April 23-25, 2003 in the village of Barranco. A total of
19 volunteers from 4 villages (Barranco, Midway, Conejo,
Sunday Wood and Crique Sarco participated. Participants
included: Aurelio Pop, Maximiliano Tush, Adriano Tush, Alberto
Salam, Alfonso Makin, Armando Coc, Juakin Cucul, Valentin
Makin, Daniel Sam, Rolando Caal, Manuel Cab, Ricardo Rash,
Raymon Ramirez, Egbert Valencio, Beatrice Mariano, Marcus
Coy, Wayne Bo, Juan Pop and Mateo Ceh jr. In the picture
also: Augustin Howe, Peter Herrera and Jan Meerman.
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One of the aspects of the
training was how to carry out a vegetation transect.
Here participants can be seen taking measurements and
taking notes. Identification in the field was by Augustin
Howe and Jan
Meerman |
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Results of the REA are presented at the scenes
page. Also an entirely un-described
ecosystem was discovered during one of the surveys!
Final Report was completed in December 2003 and can be
downloaded from here (large files!) Sarstoon
Temash REA Final Report December 2003 (pdf 3,560 kb),
Sarstoon
Temash REA: Appendices with Final REA Report (pdf 4,622
kb)
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