Building a Network for Guatemalan Replenishment Zones

In March 2013, the Leadership Learning Community was hired by the MAR Leadership Program (MAR-L) to evaluate their program. The evaluation team conducted site visits to spend time with fellows and the people who work with them daily to learn firsthand about the challenges, achievements and impact of their conservation projects.

Name of Fellows:

Ana Giro Petersen Blanca Rosa García Hernández

City, Country: Livingston,

MAR -L Cohort Year: 201 1

Project:

Declaration of the first three fully protected “no-take” zones or replenishment zones in: La Graciosa,

Punta Gruesa, and La Laguna Santa

Isabel, Guatemala.

Key wins:

In the declaration of the first three fully protected no-take zones or replenishment zones in: La Graciosa, Gruesa, and La Laguna Santa Isabel.

Reached an agreement around the boundaries and legal foundations of replenishment zones among key Guatemalan stakeholders, including Fishing Groups, the National Protected Areas Council (CONAP) Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) through the office of Regulations of Fisheries and Aquaculture (DIPESCA), and The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN).

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I. Chapter 1: The Story of Place

Only accessible by boat, travel to Livingston, Guatemala, is about 30 minutes from along the . The town sits at the mouth of the Rio at the Port of . The boundaries of Amatique Bay are mostly in Guatemala while the northeastern portion is shared with . The dark blue green water contrasts with the lush green landscape along the Caribbean Guatemalan coastline. The jungle vegetation covers the hillsides along the coast. Some parts of the coastline are also densely lined with mangrove trees while others are connected to a small sandy beach.

Livingston, once a major Caribbean seaport in its heyday, bustles with activity. Cars park on the docks as men and women load them full of fresh fruits brought in by boats. Fishing boats rock gently in the wind. Women in canoes who have been out on the water since early morning return with a few small fish in their boat. Livingston is a center of the culture in Guatemala and the MAR region. The Garifuna are descendants of shipwrecked boats traveling from Nigeria and have a distinct culture and language. African, Mayan and European influences contribute to the rich indigenous cultural and linguistic diversity of Guatemala.

II. Chapter 2: The Story of Ana and Blanca

MAR-L fellows Ana Giro Petersen, Blanca Rosa García Hernández and Pilar Velasquez first met at the airport in 2011. It did not take them long to discover that they were all on their way to the first workshop of the 2011 MAR-L fellows. While their backgrounds are quite different, the three women had great energy from the start—and the more they talked, the more they realized they also shared some important similarities. This is the story of how Ana, Blanca and Pilar came together through the MAR-L program and established the foundations of a network that continues to work towards MAR conservation efforts.

Ana is a professor of Oceanography and Coral Reef Ecology at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala, Blanca is a community development organizer, and Pilar was part of the National Protected Areas Council at the time of the fellowship. Ana, Blanca and Pilar realized that they were all focusing on Marine Protected Areas, so they immediately asked MAR program director, Maria Eugenia Arreola, if they could pool their energy and resources on a joint project. Maria Eugenia responded with enthusiasm, since this would be the first group project in MAR-L history. That is how Ana, Blanca and Pilar ended up embarking on a journey to tap into each other’s skills, networks and resources to collaborate around a larger goal: to promote replenishment zones throughout the

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Two years after this initial meeting, the MAR-L evaluation team had the opportunity to visit Guatemala to learn firsthand about the first MAR-L team project and the fruits of their team effort. However, Pilar the third member of the group is currently completing a Master’s degree in Germany and was not available for the site visit in March 2013.

III. Chapter 3: The Story of the Project

We arrived outside Ana’s house in Guatemala City. Ana, a poised, gentle mother and petite crossfit warrior, lovingly soothes her three-year-old daughter Nuria who cries as she watches us leave for the nine hour drive to Puerto Barrios. Ana tells us that her Nuria loves the ocean and that she is very proud of her mother because she “saves the little fish.”

In Puerto Barrios we climb aboard a small commuter boat packed with others making the trip to Livingston. We sail north on smooth early morning bay waters toward Livingston where we will meet with Blanca. As we make our way along the coast, we look back and see ships and small boats or lanchas in the distance headed towards Puerto Barrios, which has become a major regional shipping and receiving port. On the boat we are joined by a fisherman from La Laguna Santa Isabel and the President of the Network of Caribbean and fishermen1, both from the replenishment zone we are to learn about. Eustaquio Ochoa, or Don Taco as he is affectionately known, is a strong yet playful man, apparent from the mischief in his eyes. Before long we are an eager audience for his stories, on the edge of our seat one minute and laughing the next.

We meet up with Blanca in Livingston. Ana and Blanca are excited to see each other; their reunion is like watching close friends who pick up where they have left off. It is fun to watch them together. Ana’s quiet reserve is offset by Blanca’s gregarious nature. Blanca creates the social fabric for their work, weaving relationships with her warmth and openness. Ana with her practical and analytical background in academic research, training and ocean floor mapping is able to show fishers how the fish populations are changing. Their unique credentials have made them an unstoppable team.

Over a hearty bowl of tapado, a coconut based fish soup made with fish, crab, mollusks, conch, sea snails and shrimp, Blanca talks enthusiastically about her work with community fishers for over 11 years. Blanca is petite and ebullient as she speaks with her hands. She is very proud of her work in the community and with fishers. Her ease and friendship with Don Taco and others has been hard earned. She good naturedly explains, “If you were

1 Pescador de La Laguna Santa Isabel y Presidente de la RED de pescadores del Caribe y Lago de Izabal

Page | 3 to come here in 2001 the entire group of fishers wanted to kill me. They didn’t want me here. There has been a big change over the 11 years. We have created and shared space with our communities. I admire the fishers and I tell people that have just started, have patience. You won’t win the confidence of folks until the community sees you working, and that you don’t only know about books. The fishers have every right to think that way because the real learning is on the field.” Blanca is now lovingly referred to as Blanquis by fishers and has clearly won over Angélica Méndez, a fisherwomen, close friend and dedicated partner in the effort. She describes Blanca, “Blanca is a warrior, she is of my kind, we are stubborn and never give up, and she is a fighter.” Angelica is a stunning fisherwoman and community leader, who lights up the room with her smile. Her energy is contagious and she is quick to tell us that her daughters complain that they can’t even keep up with her. She is a natural organizer who is quick to win our hearts with her warmth. She is now working at the Municipal Office for Women, after receiving multiple nominations from many residents in Livingston.

IV. Chapter 4: The Story of MAR-L in Ana and Blanca’s Life

As part of the MAR-L program, fellows are required to work on a specific project that builds on the work of preserving the delicate MAR ecosystem. Ana, Blanca and Pilar focused on raising awareness and promoting replenishment zones. Their efforts were successful, not only because they were able to work together and tap into their collective wisdom, but also because they focused a great deal of energy on supporting a network of key community stakeholders, including fishing groups and the government, that can sustain the work now and in the future. Some of the most influential participants in the network were Don Taco, the humble and honest president of the fisher association, and Angélica, a fisherwoman and beloved community leader. They are both part of the Network of Caribbean and Lake Izabal fishermen, an association of over 2,000 fishers with 30% fisherwomen membership.

On July 10, 2012, La Graciosa, Punta Gruesa, and La Laguna Santa Isabel, three communities not far from Livingston along the Amatique Bay located within the Punta de Manabique Wildlife Refuge were declared as “No- take” zones, also known as ‘replenishment zones.’ The communities are made up of about 50 families that depend on the resources from the ocean ecosystem. Don Taco said, “From the moment that a child can put the bait on the hook, from the moment that he or she becomes a fisher and starts to fish, they collect valuable resources that are used by men, women and children in these communities.” Based on the official agreement, 345 hectares of this area were placed under protection.

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It was a challenge to convince the communities and fishermen who were at times threatened by the idea of a no-take zone in “[This was a] process of their primary areas of livelihood. Angélica reflects, “[This was a] convincing the people process of convincing the people of how to obtain a no-take zone and help them understand that we are not taking a space of how to obtain a no- to fish away from them, but to see it also a bank in the sea, and take zone and help that [it] is going to be for our children, our future generations.” them understand that She also says, “The declaration of the no-take areas was not a we are not taking a process of one year, more it was a process drawing on our dreams for more than five years.” It started in 2008, when a space to fish away from workshop was held in Livingston, where many organizations them, but to see it also came to speak about fishing refuges, as they were called in a bank in the sea, and those days. Here fishers learned about no-take zones in other that [it] is going to be communities and in other countries that had been implemented for our children, our and what the results were. future generations.” Ana and Blanca brought a great deal of value to this existing effort of declaring replenishment zones, and through the MAR-L project were able to make significant contributions. They both beam with pride when they talk about being part of the first-of-its-kind community and fishermen-driven effort to have a declared replenishment zone. As Blanca recalls, “This convention has left an important footprint in the . It has left something very important as we move on to the next things to come because Mexico, Belize or Honduras don’t have this, so for the first fishermen backed no-take zone to be in Guatemala, it’s just amazing. We did this together with the community and it’s very exciting.”

Ana and Blanca are the first to acknowledge that gathering the support of the community was what drove the replenishment zones forward. “Without the network of fishermen we wouldn’t have reached our goals,” reflects Blanca. In fact, the fishers from these communities were champions of the initiative because they understood that it was in their interest and the interest of their children’s livelihoods to protect their resources. Community engagement training is built into the structure of the MAR-Leadership program, and Ana and Blanca are a testament to its success. They have both fostered collaboration between community fishermen, biology experts, nonprofit organizations and communities for technical and legal advice.

Ana and Blanca both describe how working closely with the MAR-L experts provided them with legal and technical advice that was instrumental in their success. For example, Luis Bourillon, MAR-L fisheries expert, was able to troubleshoot and help move the no-take zones declaration forward by participating in the workshops with fishers to explain their importance.

Ana and Blanca talk eagerly about the difference that the MAR-L program has made in their lives. Their achievement is not only on a personal level but also a professional one. Blanca reflects, “We achieved our goal that we had always wanted to reach; it was teamwork with the fishermen. I realized that everything I have learned in the MAR-L program I applied… Now I am more secure in the work I do. The project and program complemented my work perfectly; it was the gasoline to advance and to reach my goals along with the fisher’s.”

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So what is next? Ana and Blanca are leaving a legacy behind for the MAR-Leadership program. Don Taco is encouraged by the early success of the no-take zones and is optimistic about the sustainability of this work. He says, “The areas are recovering because now we can go fish there; near the areas there are more fish, so this makes us very happy and encourages us to keep on working.” Ana will continue to bring her scientific skills to be able to track the progress of the replenishment zones. Blanca is hoping to move the no-take zones to the next level and organize fishing cooperatives in the areas of no-take zone management and “The areas are recovering enforcement. Their project promises to be sustained by the network because now we can go of fishermen and leaders from the communities that are passionate fish there; there are more about sustaining the Mesoamerican reef resources for future fish, so this makes us very generations. happy and encourages us to keep working.”

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