Title
Conservation of the lastfrontier forests of the Venezuelan Guayana: Guidelines proposal for the Caura River watershed
Author(s)
Bevilacqua, M; Ochoa, J
Published
2001
Publisher
Interciencia
Abstract
Venezuela includes an important proportion of the world's threatened ecosystems and an extensive surface of natural areas in primary, conditions. Many of these areas correspond to forest ecosystems considered as the last frontier forests of the tropical region. Social and environmental conflicts occur in these areas, as result of their value for natural resources use, their potential for extractive activities and the proposal of large scale environmental projects. The Caura watershed, in the Venezuelan Guayana Region, is one of the most important frontier forests in the world, due to its extension (45336km(2)), high level of biodiversity, and the presence of a significant proportion of the Venezuelan indigenous population. The highest proportion of its territory is included in geographic units corresponding to the Areas Under Special Administrative Regime (ABRAE). Among them, the Caura Forest Reserve (with wood production objectives) and the Natural Monument Sierra of Maigualida (with restrictive protection objectives) embrace the largest surface. These units show a high level of overlapping, in addition to opposite objectives. Furthermore, management plans and other conservation tools are lacking in the ABRAE from the Caura region and many of their boundaries correspond to traditional indigenous territories. Land use is mainly associate with shifting cultivation, extensive cattle raising, small forestry plantations, the development of towns, and the presence of indigenous communities. In addition, several large scale projects have been proposed for this area. Among the opportunities for the conservation of the region are: its territory extension, the pristine condition of its ecosystems, the availability of basic information, the social acceptance and the presence of institutional webs. Any strategy focused to the long-term conservation of this region must be conducted taking into account: 1) the protection and management of natural resources; 2) the inventories and evaluations of biodiversity, and the sustainable use of its components; 3) the restoration of habitats and ecosystems; 4) the promotion of leaderships and politic incentives with the interaction and participation of different stakeholders; 5) the education and training of local people: and 6) the identification of the balance between conservation and development, based on the ecological realities of the region.

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PUB11403