Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and still has the largest area of forest. But although the population is only six million (in an area the size of England and Wales) the forest is disappearing quickly.

There are many reasons for this, including timber exports and cattle ranching. One of the biggest factors is firewood. It still provides half the country's household energy and although people are replanting trees, they still disappear faster than they can replace themselves. Even near the city of Masaya, in an area where the tree coverage is still fairly good, the sound of the motor saw can be heard daily.

Cool Earth has financed a local project designed to build an understanding of how important the role of trees in the community is and help to change attitudes towards them. With a small grant, the UK-based Leicester Masaya Link Group has been working with its local Nicaraguan partner ADIC Masaya to run a project called ‘Trees for Life'. In the last two years, classes of around thirty primary school kids in the small village of El Pochote have been learning about the importance of trees, their role in climate change, and how they can take action themselves.

They have planted trees around the school and each pupil has taken young forest trees home to plant in their backyards. The message is passed on to parents at an annual tree-planting day.

There have been some permanent benefits. A framework has been built for a water tank in the school to improve the water supply. Educational materials have been produced. And of course the school is now surrounded by tree saplings that one day will provide plenty of shade. Most important of all, simple tests conducted with the children who took part showed that they do now know more about the importance of trees and the role they play in climate change. The teacher, Oscar Arias, said ‘All this work has been important to get the students to value and care for the natural world'.

The plan is to run further classes next year and Cool Earth also hope to start a similar project in a village school near Masaya's volcanic lagoon. As well as the school programme, ADIC will run a sustainable farming project that will encourage tree-planting and the creation of footpaths on the wooded slopes leading down to the lake. By working with adults and children at the same time, this small section of Nicaragua's forests might be given a chance to survive and even grow. What is now needed is hundreds of initiatives like this one to take the message to all the parts of Nicaragua which still have forests.