The Central American Dry Corridor: a consensus statement and its background Yosef Gotlieb,Paula M. Pérez-Briceño, Hugo Hidalgo y Eric Alfaro

The Central American Dry Corridor: a consensus statement and its background

Yosef Gotlieb1,2, Paula M. Pérez-Briceño1,3,4, Hugo Hidalgo1,3,5, Eric Alfaro1,4,5 1 Integrated Dry Corridor Program (PICSC). [email protected] 2 David Yellin College of Education, Jerusalem, Israel 3 School of Geography, University of . 4 Center for Geophysical Research, University of Costa Rica. 5 School of Physics, University of Costa Rica.

Cita: Gotlieb, Y., Pérez-Briceño, P., Hidalgo, H. and Alfaro, E. (2019). The Central American Dry Corridor: a concensus statement and its backgroud. Revista Yu’am 3(5): 42-51 Recibido: 1/7/2018 Aceptado:12/12/2018 Publicado: 1/3/2019

Introduction and its first project, Space of Advanced Studies of the University of Costa Rica (Estudios Avanzados A unique gathering of climate, development and de la Universidad de Costa Rica - UCREA), environmental experts took place from September which focuses on the Guanacaste Province, with 25-28, 2017 in San José and Guanacaste Province, the financial support of a grant provided by the Costa Rica. The subject of their deliberations was University of Costa Rica4. The experts attended the Central American Dry Corridor (CADC)1, lectures, participated in field visits, and pooled which extends along the Pacific littoral from information regarding the common challenges western through northern Costa Rica2. that the CADC presents. Hailing from all of the This trans-frontier territory includes a population countries of the CADC as well as Israel5, approaching 11 million, roughly a quarter of the experts engaged in an intensive exchange of Central America’s total population. The CADC is a experiences relating to Dry Corridor conditions mainly rural area characterized by a marked and the difficulties engendered by a changing precipitation seasonality, environment that impedes development. vulnerability, rich biodiversity, entrenched poverty, Following three days of site visits in and food insecurity and outmigration. adjacent to the Costa Rican Dry Corridor, there The specialists attending the conference was ready agreement among the participants inaugurated both the Integrated Program on the concerning the common challenges that the CADC Central American Dry Corridor (IPCADC)3 presents. Consensus was reached relating to

1 Known in Spanish as the Corredor Seco Centroamericano. 2 Some studies include the Dry Arc (Arco Seco) of as part of the CADC due to shared climatic and socioeconomic conditions. However, the Dry Arc areas is geographically detached at a distance of approximately 600 km from the southern reaches of the CADC (in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica) and for this reason it is not currently included in the CADC discussions presented here. 3 El Programa Integrado del Corredor Seco Centroamericano (PICSC) in Spanish. 4 Funded by the UCR’s Center for Advanced Studies, the UCREA investigators will research two field sites in the Guanacaste Province and make recom- mendations relating to building resilience to climate change variability and climate change. The methods to be applied and the lessons gained will inform similar studies elsewhere in the CADC. More information about the IPCADC-UCREA project can be obtained at http://cigefi.ucr.ac.cr/ucrea-picsc/ 5 The IPCADC, an intra-regional and international collaboration, was initiated by several of the coauthors, Yosef Gotlieb of Israel and Hugo G. Hidalgo and Eric J. Alfaro of Costa Rica.

42 Revista Mesoamericana de Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático 2019, 3 (5) 42-51 four monthsinduration,as depictedinFigure1. on theisthmusthatexhibit adryseasonofatleast Programme [UNEP](1999). Itincludesthoseareas World Bankand UnitedNationsEnvironmental Internacional de Agricultura Tropical [CIAT]- on theClimateRiskIndexasappliedby(Centro study tostudy. Oneoftenciteddefinitionisbased resource endowmentoftheregion. influence theclimates,biodiversityandnatural distinct butinteractingweathersystems,greatly Caribbean SeaandthePacificOcean),eachwith with itsproximitytotwogreatbodiesofwater(the Network [CIESIN],2013). This topographyalong (Center forInternationalEarthScienceInformation land arealyingatelevationsoffivemetersorless the PacificCoastwithapproximately16%ofits with sharpdeclinestosealevelontheapproach terms ofterrain,theCADCismainlymountainous along anorthwesterlytosoutheasterlyaxis.In by volcanicmountainranges,theisthmusextends its lengthismorethan1,600km.Characterized isthmus variesbetween100-400kilometersand southern American continents. The widthofthis (CA) landbridgesituatedbetweenthenorthernand CADC CharacterizationandBackground Statement. and thekeymessagesinherenttoConsensus the challengesencounteredthroughoutCADC, field tourofGuanacastecontributedtoclarifying continuities thatcharacterizethisregion,howthe the physical,ecologicalandsocioeconomic Consensus Statement.Itproceedsbydiscussing projected fortheCADCthatinformedthis and environmentalsocioeconomicchallenges and thepublichadbeeninvited representatives ofnongovernmentalorganizations final sessionwheregovernmentofficials, statement to that effect was read at the conference’s to climatevariabilityandchange. A be fortifiedtomaketheircommunitiesresilient adaptive capacityoftheregionalpopulationsmust the situationinCADC,namelythat priorities andacommonapproachtoameliorating The delineationoftheCADCvariesfrom The CADCisanareaoftheCentral America This paperdescribesthesharedcharacteristics Revista Mesoamericana deBiodiversidad y CambioClimático 2019,3(5)42-51 and ranchinggenerally(Magrinetal.,2014). practices (Fund&Hogan,2014)andagriculture al. 2013)largely duetounsustainable landuse during theperiodfrom2001-2016(Hansenet throughout theCADCcountriesdeclinedby7.9% Figure 1.TheCADCdefinedbydroughtrisk notes thatincreasedwarming hasalreadybeen and projectionsfortheCADC inparticular, it America andwhileitdoes not specifyobservations change-related events have already affected Central Change [IPCC],2014)warns thatsevereclimate Change (Inter-Governmental PanelonClimate January (Taylor and Alfaro, 2005). temperatures arenormallyregisteredinDecember- warmest seasonisMarch-Aprilandtheminimum June andSeptember(Taylor and Alfaro, 2005). The a bimodaldistributionwithtwopeakslocatedin to October. The annualrainfallischaracterized by Carrazón andZelaya,2012),normallyfromMay frequent dryspellsduringthewetseason(Peralta, Amador andClaremar (MSD; seeMaldonado,Rutgersson, Alfaro, in borealwinter, amarkedMid-SummerDrought 2006). Ithasawell-definedandlongdryseason prone todrought(Pennington,LewisandRatter, than theotherareasofCentral America andis Satellite dataindicatesthatforestcover The Intergovernmental PanelonClimate The CADCischaracterizedbyadrierclimate Climate. , 2016)inJuly-August,and 43

NOTAS DE DIVULGACIÓN CIENTÍFICA Revisadas por pares The Central American Dry Corridor: a consensus statement and its background Yosef Gotlieb,Paula M. Pérez-Briceño, Hugo Hidalgo y Eric Alfaro

observed for the region as a whole and predicts a Rica (see also Ariano-Sánchez, 2018; Gillespie, continuation of the trend throughout the century. Grijalva and Farris, 2000; Griscom and Ashton, These same observed tendencies and projections 2011). Further, areas of the CADC such as the apply to stream runoff and water availability, Guanacaste Conservation Area (GAC) is the particularly due to precipitation reduction and wealth of ecosystem and habitat diversity and its evapotranspiration in semi-arid areas, with a likely interconnectedness to other ecosystems including negative effect on urban areas, and wet tropical forests along the Caribbean (United hydroelectrical generation (Magrin et al., 2014) Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural and which will significantly threaten ecosystems Organization [UNESCO], 2017). (Magrin et al., 2007). The Climate Change Index indicates that three of the five CADC countries (, and Guatemala) are in the Socioeconomic Dimension. top ten countries world-wide most at risk of severe The CADC is characterized by a high degree climate change effects (Kreft, Eckstein, Dorsch of social vulnerability. Subsistence farming and Fischer, 2015). Hidalgo, Amador, Alfaro and supports an estimated one million families (Food Quesada (2013) found an increase in the aridity of and Agricultural Organization [FAO], 2015a) and the region, especially for those countries located in an estimated 60% of its inhabitants live under the north of the isthmus. varying conditions of poverty (van der Zee Arias The impacts of , floods and other et al., 2012a; 2012b). Most livelihoods depend extreme hydro-meteorological events threaten on the production of basic grains such as rice, food security (Amador, Alfaro, Hidaldo, Durán beans and maize (FAO, 2015). The majority of and Calderón, 2016) given the dependence of the this land is low yield due to a lack of commercial population on subsistence agriculture (Peralta, and irrigation technology. Only 2.4 percent of Carrazón & Zelaya, 2012; van der Zee Arias, cultivated land is irrigated (Ramírez et al., 2010). van der Zee, Meyrat, Poveda & Picado, 2012a;b; Against this background the potential for Perez-Briceño, Alfaro, Hidalgo & Jiménez, 2016). continuing crisis in the region is clear. “Even without additional stress from climate change, the region has multiple risk factors for instability Biodiversity and Environmental Services. including areas vulnerable to water stress, high Central America boasts seven percent of birth rate, crop decline, hunger, the risk to coastal the world’s biodiversity (CCAD, 2003; Nature communities due to , and a history Conservancy, 2017) and is characterized by a high of recent conflict” (Fetzik, 2009). Poverty and proportion of the world’s tropical forests, large extreme poverty is profound in the CADC numbers of mammalian, reptilian and amphibian countries, as indicated by figure 2 (Economic species and is distinguished by a high level of Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean endemism (Harvey, Alpizar, Chacón & Madrigal, [ECLAC], 2015). 2005). This natural wealth notwithstanding, The agrarian communities of the CADC species and habitat loss due to deforestation and especially in the northern states are at particular other anthropogenic practices are reducing the risk to increased aridity deriving from global region’s natural biological endowment on land, in warming (Hidalgo et al., 2017) given their inland waters as well as in coastal marine areas. dependence on natural resources, especially Many flora and fauna species are endangered or water, for their subsistence-oriented activities. threatened (Harvey et al., 2005). Aggravating these risks are the observations of While tropical rain forests may have a greater an increasing number of extreme hydro-climatic number of species than tropical dry forests, events such as flooding which are the result not the multitude of species found in the latter is only of physical but social factors that increase enormous, as Janzen (1988) noted with respect to vulnerability (Hidalgo and Alfaro, 2012; Pérez- the Santa Rosa National Park in Guanacaste, Costa Briceño et al., 2016).

44 Revista Mesoamericana de Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático 2019, 3 (5) 42-51 (MIDEPLAN, 2014). chronic unemploymentand alackofopportunities major reasonforthissituation isunemployment, y PolíticaEconómica[MIDEPLAN], 2014). A average (MinisteriodePlanificación Nacional USDs) permonth,ortwothirds ofthenational Rican colones(approximately$119 incurrent women. The averageincomeis60,694 Costa these poorhouseholdssome44.1areheadedby extremely poorrepresent12.6%ofthetotal.Of were 34.5%ofthetotalandthoseclassified The numberofhouseholdscategorizedaspoor Rican averagesof23.6%and7.2%,respectively. lived inextremepoverty, comparedtotheCosta population wasconsideredpoor, while14.6%, planned five-yearlifespanoftheIPCADC. application elsewhereintheDryCorridorduring Project areanticipatedtoprovidelessonsfor gained fromthestudyofRAsduringUCREA of thesecommunitieswillbeformulated.Lessons basis ofthesestudies,guidelinesforthedevelopment the CADC(Representative Areas (RAs).Onthe Guanacaste representativesofotherselsewherein study tobeconductedintwocommunitiesof Percent PopulationBelowExtremePovertyLine.Source:CEPALSTAT, 2018. Figure 2.

In 2012,39%percentofGuanacaste’s The UCREA Projectentailstheintensivefield Guanacaste asaMicrocosm. Percent 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 31.9 Nicaragua National ExtremePoverty 46.1 Revista Mesoamericana deBiodiversidad y CambioClimático 2019,3(5)42-51 50.5 Honduras 63.9 Rural ExtremePoverty Costa Rica Country level development (MIDEPLAN,2017). The (local-level administrative division) withlow governmental units)inthe province havedistricts cantons ormunicipalities(e.g. sub-provincial development andstatesthat allofthe11 being atthecountry’s lowestlevelofsocial identified threeofGuanacaste’s districtsas socioeconomic vulnerabilities. (natural causes)whichexacerbatetheirexisting yearly fluctuationsofElNiñoyLaNiñaevents and severedroughtsmainlyderivingfromthe are extremeeventssuchasepisodicflooding prominently amongGuanacaste’s farmerstoday 2013; 2017). Yet, theconcernthatfiguresmore aridity attheendofcentury(Hidalgoetal., CC willworsenthis,asprojectionssuggestgreater aridity andresultingindriersoils. Anthropogenic demand ofwaterfromtheatmosphere,increasing et al.,2017). Warmer temperaturesaugmentthe trends aresignificantandwidespread(Hidalgo case inalarge partofCentral America, warming trends appeartodatebemarginal, butasisthe depend onthem.Changesinobservedprecipitation of watersupplyandtheeconomicactivitiesthat variability aremanifestedprincipallyinterms 7.4 The CostaRicanIndexofSocialDevelopment, In Guanacaste,theimpactsofnaturalclimate 11.2 12.5 17.4 46.1 Guatemala 58.2 45

NOTAS DE DIVULGACIÓN CIENTÍFICA Revisadas por pares The Central American Dry Corridor: a consensus statement and its background Yosef Gotlieb,Paula M. Pérez-Briceño, Hugo Hidalgo y Eric Alfaro

representative aspect of the localities visited was most vulnerable to climate change in socioeconomic commented on by participants from the other and biophysical terms.” Accordingly, they countries, who identified conditions to those assembled “mindful of the necessity, responsibility existing in their own Dry Corridor communities. and urgency of taking action in advance of the adverse effects of climate change in the Central One of the localities visited was Cuajiniquil in American Dry Corridor region.” the Santa Elena district where the Junquillal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary6 a combined marine-forestry The points of agreement expressed in the nature reserve that is part of the Guanacaste Consensus Statement concerning such action Conservation Area,7 is located. The inhabitants include the following key messages: of an adjacent coastal community are in a Message One: Pivotal to appropriate action is state of crisis that includes food insecurity and understanding how the dynamics of climate change unemployment owing to their inability to continue will specifically affect the CADC (as opposed to fishing, which had been their primary economic a generalized view of effects expected in Central activity. Overfishing as well as effects that appear America); to be climate-related (see Moreno, Moya and Alfaro, 2017) have largely emptied local waters of Message Two: The CADC has the sufficient stocks to support them. These people are characteristics of a distinct territory, though searching for alternative livelihoods to preserve each community is “different with respect to the their community and stanch the outmigration of problematics of development it faces.” youth seeking prospects elsewhere. Among the Message Three: Effective research initiatives options, they are considering are agricultural and programs of action deriving from them will pursuits and rural tourism based on home necessarily be multi-sectoral, encompassing hospitality. At present they have little experience environmental, economic, social, human, political and few resources to pursue these activities. and institutional dimensions, due to the interwoven “A few days after the conference participants’ nature of the realities in the predominantly agrarian visit, a fierce tropical storm, Nate, ravaged Dry Corridor. The participants resolved that “Our Cuajiniquil and much of northern Guanacaste. research will be multidisciplinary, including the natural and social sciences…they are indivisible in The environmental impacts left the storm in order to achieve integrated development.” the region were evident months later when visits by several of the authors.8 The entire area was Message Four: Notes that “the effects of affected with some families losing all their assets, extreme events like and floods especially including homes and livestock resulting in food affect the populations with the highest levels of insecurity. poverty, causes losses in productive activities (agriculture, ranching and fishing), changes Key Messages life conditions and creates inequalities on the distinct territorial levels.” Accordingly, it was During the participants’ discussions following determined that the first priority is to focus on the Guanacaste visit, a number of common those communities that are the most vulnerable to positions readily emerged and would later be food insecurity and resource degradation and lose. formulated in a Consensus Statement (Declaración “Food First” was adopted as a guiding principle de participantes; see page 51). and communities that are most imperiled should be the first to be assisted within the framework of In the preamble to this document, the participants integrated development programs. note that they had attended the gathering in light of “various scientific analysis and studies that indicate Message Five: To achieve food security that the CADC is one of the areas [of the world] throughout the region, the participants affirmed

6 https://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr/turismo/sector-junquillal 7 http://www.sinac.go.cr/EN-US/ac/acg/Pages/default.aspx 8 Eric Alfaro, Yosef Gotlieb, Hugo Hidalgo (in Guanacaste).

46 Revista Mesoamericana de Biodiversidad y Cambio Climático 2019, 3 (5) 42-51 Valley, Guatemala. and socially similar communities characterized by and sociallysimilarcommunitiescharacterizedby This entailsformulatingatypologyofphysically identifying RAsforintensivestudyisnecessary. possible tostudyeachcommunityindividually, must beplace-specific. Yet, giventhatitisnot human developmentvary. Accordingly, solutions meso levelswherethephysicalsettingandstateof change adaptationtakesplaceisatthemicroand which interventionsfordevelopmentandclimate and socioeconomiccharacteristics,thecontextin the communitiesofCADCsharemanyphysical approach, whichisbasedonthepremisethatwhile proposed action-researchandplanningguidance action,” thedocumentreads. in thespiritoffriendship,solidarityandcollective Central American countriesindialogwithexperts are confidentthatwecanreplicatetheseinthe in variousstatesofaridity,” wasstressed.“We scarce naturalresources,especiallywaterandsoil innovations intheefficientmanagementoftheir Israel, whichhavedevelopedtechnologiesand from theexperiencesofothercountrieslike interventions thatarescience-andresearch-based.” sustainable integrateddevelopmentbasedon in supporting“strategiesandapproachesto importance oftheregionalacademiccommunity development. of coordinatingandstrengtheningforces”for civil societyandacademic)withtheobjective between thedistinctsectors(public,private, countries andpromotethenecessaryalliances “take intoaccounttheneedsofvarious those whoaremostvulnerable,”itshouldalso “identify thebasicneedsofpeople,prioritizing water, land]. management oftheessentialresources[soil, that animmediateobjectivewastheappropriate the Climate2015], The participants’ endorsedtheorganizers’ Message Eight: Message Seven: The expertsstatedthe Message Six: While theProgramshould Ariano-Sánchez, D.&Campbell.J. (2018). A newspeciesof Rhadinella Amador, J. A., Alfaro, E.J.,Hidalgo,H.G.,Durán, A. M.& Calderón, B.(2016).[Regionalclimates]Central America [inStateof Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc.,96,S178–S181. Zootaxa 4442(2):338-344. The importanceof“learning Revista Mesoamericana deBiodiversidad y CambioClimático 2019,3(5)42-51 References (ex. coastal fishing, highlands subsistence farming). (ex. coastalfishing,highlandssubsistencefarming). similar environmentsandsystemsofproduction IPCADC frameworkwerenoteworthy. the desiretocollaborateinpursuingthisplan for anactionplanresultedfromthemeetingand the importanceofcooperativeaction.Guidelines shared experienceoftheCADCcommunities,and to theurgency oftheircommonchallenges,the achieved despite the distinct national realities, attests planning andongoingexchangewassoreadily research, educationalexchanges,coordinated different territoriallevels. livelihoods, generatingunequaldevelopmentat poverty, causinglossesinproductiveactivitiesand and floodsimpactpopulationwithhighlevelsof The effects ofextremeeventssuchasdroughts its social-economicalandbiophysicalcontext. most vulnerableareastoclimatechange,due that theactualstateofCADCisone that severalanalysisandscientificstudiesindicate and potentialsolutions. of experienceanddiscussionsharedchallenges opportunity forknowledgeenrichment,thesharing contiguous DryCorridorregionandprovidedan together expertsfromallfiveofthecountriesin (Grupos) and808-B5-298. 906 (PESCTMA),B8-766(Redestemáticas),B9-454 143 andB7-507(CONICIT-MICITT), B0-810, A4- Costa Ricagrants: V.I. 805-B7-286(UCREA),B6- of thisresearchthroughthefollowingUniversity That a Consensus Statement advocating joint That aConsensusStatementadvocatingjoint The participantsintheworkshophavenoticed The inauguralmeetingoftheIPCADCbrought The authorswishtoacknowledgethefunding (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)fromthedry forestofMotagua Acknowledgments Conclusion 47

NOTAS DE DIVULGACIÓN CIENTÍFICA Revisadas por pares The Central American Dry Corridor: a consensus statement and its background Yosef Gotlieb,Paula M. Pérez-Briceño, Hugo Hidalgo y Eric Alfaro

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NOTAS DE DIVULGACIÓN CIENTÍFICA Revisadas por pares The Central American Dry Corridor: a consensus statement and its background Yosef Gotlieb,Paula M. Pérez-Briceño, Hugo Hidalgo y Eric Alfaro

Ápendice 1

Universidad de Costa Rica Vicerrectoría de Investigación Centro de Investigaciones Geofísica Taller UCREA - PICSC

Declaración de participantes del Taller UCREA-PICSC

25-29 sept, 2017

En el marco del Taller UCREA, como parte del Programa Integral del Corredor Seco Centroamericano (PICSC) celebrado en las provincias San José y Guanacaste en Costa Rica del 25 al 29 de septiembre de 2017, representantes de Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica e Israel, conscientes de la necesidad, responsabilidad y urgencia de tomar acciones ante los efectos adversos del cambio climático en la región del Corredor Seco Centroamericano, expresamos que:

Se tienen varios análisis y estudios científicos que indican que el Corredor Seco Centroamericano es una de las áreas más vulnerables al cambio climático debido a su contexto socio-económico y biofísico. Los efectos de eventos extremos como sequías e inundaciones afectan especialmente a las poblaciones con altos niveles de pobreza, ocasionando pérdidas en las actividades productivas (agricultura, ganadería y pesca) y medios de vida, generando desarrollo desigual en los distintos niveles territoriales.

A pesar de que ya existen distintas acciones y proyectos en las áreas del Corredor Seco de cada uno de los países de la región, creemos que es necesario unir esfuerzos a nivel regional tomando en cuenta las similitudes y continuidades de nuestros territorios. Visualizamos el área como una unidad de trabajo, considerado como un solo territorio percibido desde las distintas dimensiones del desarrollo: económico, ambiental, social, político-institucional, cultural.

En ese sentido, definimos y coincidimos en que el objetivo principal del Proyecto es establecer los recursos esenciales para mejorar la calidad de vida de las comunidades en la región. Nuestra investigación será multidisciplinaria, incluyendo a científicos naturales y sociales porque no es posible separar los temas para lograr un desarrollo integral.

Consientes que no es posible abarcar todo el territorio, se identificarán espacios representativos relativamente homogéneos, pero diferentes en relación a su problemática de desarrollo dentro del CSC.

Centro de Investigaciones Geofísicas Tel.: +506 2511-5096 Universidad de Costa Rica Fax: +506 2234-2703 Campus Universitario Ciudad de la Investigación E-mail: [email protected] San Pedro de Montes De Oca

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NOTAS DE DIVULGACIÓN CIENTÍFICA Revisadas por pares