Land Management Strategies and Fuelwood Collection in the Indigenous Ngäbe Village of Hato Horcón, La Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, Panamá By Casey L. Rosengarden submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN FORESTRY MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2007 The report: “Land Management Strategies and Fuelwood Collection in the Indigenous Ngäbe Village of Hato Horcón, La Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, Panamá” is hereby approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER of SCIENCE in FORESTRY School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences Signatures: Advisor:____________________________________ Dr. Blair Orr Dean:______________________________________ Dr. Margaret R Gale Date:_______________________________________ I TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................IV LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................... VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................................VII ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... VIII CHAPTER ONE – GENERAL INTRODUCTION........................................................... 1 SECTION ONE—GENERAL BACKGROUND........................................................... 4 CHAPTER TWO – BACKGROUND................................................................................ 5 Panama............................................................................................................................... 5 THE COMARCA NGÄBE-BUGLÉ.................................................................................. 8 Introduction and Geography............................................................................................... 8 Government....................................................................................................................... 10 Language........................................................................................................................... 11 Community........................................................................................................................ 12 THE VILLAGE OF HATO HORCON................................................... ......................... 14 Geography......................................................................................................................... 14 People................................................................................................................................ 14 Natural Resources............................................................................................................. 17 Agriculture........................................................................................................................ 18 The Future......................................................................................................................... 20 SECTION TWO-RESEARCH...................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER THREE—METHODS AND DATA.............................................................. 22 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 22 Experimental Design......................................................................................................... 26 Data................................................................................................................................... 33 Statistical Analysis............................................................................................................ 36 SECTION THREE-IMPLICATIONS OF STUDY..................................................... 37 CHAPTER FOUR – RESULTS AND DISCUSSION..................................................... 38 Labor Costs and Tree Size................................................................................................ 38 Population and Tenure...................................................................................................... 43 Other Literature................................................................................................................ 51 II CHAPTER FIVE – Conclusion and Recommendations................................................... 55 LITERATURE CITED..................................................................................................... 57 APPENDIX A................................................................................................................... 62 APPENDIX B................................................................................................................... 63 APPENDIX C................................................................................................................... 64 APPENDIX D................................................................................................................... 66 APPENDIX E.................................................................................................................... 68 III List of Figures Page Figure1. Map of Central America........................................................................................ 6 Figure 2. Provincial Map of Panamá................................................................................... 7 Figure 3. Family Compound within the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé...................................... 13 Figure 4. Adult Women of Hato Horcón in Different Designs of Traditional Naguas............................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 5. Small Child of Hato Horcón in a Traditional Nagua......................................... 16 Figure 6. Protected Area.................................................................................................... 18 Figure 7. Ngäbe People of the Community of Hato Horcón............................................. 23 Figure 8. Key Informant.................................................................................................... 23 Figure 9. Ngäbe Man Hauling Fuelwood........................................................................ 24 Figure 10. Farmers of the Agricultural Group of Hato Horcón......................................... 25 Figure 11. Land being “Slashed” in Preparation to Burn.................................................. 28 Figure 12. Land being Burned after Slashing in Slash and Burn Agriculture................... 28 Figure 13. Data Sheet Used in Fieldwork Data Collection............................................... 30 Figure 14. Farmland within the Village of Hato Horcón.................................................. 32 Figure 15. Farmland under Usufruct Land Tenure............................................................ 32 Figure 16. Tukey’s Studentized Range Test of Mean dbh with Farmer Ratings as Categories.......................................................................................................................... 39 Figure 17. Tukey’s Studentized Range Test of Maximum dbh with Farmer Ratings as Categories.......................................................................................................................... 39 IV Figure 18. Tukey’s Studentized Range Test of Basal Area with Ecotypes as Categories.......................................................................................................................... 41 Figure 19. River Basin and Stream Ecotype...................................................................... 42 Figure 20. Mango Tree, Identified as a Preferred Species, Planted Near a Residence as a Source of Food through the Fruit and a Source of Fuelwood through the Fallen Branches............................................................................................................................ 43 Figure 21. Participants of the Community of Hato Horcón at a Closing Ceremony of an Agroforestry Project with Peace Corps............................................................................. 45 Figure 22. Hillside Ecotype with Patches of Slash and Burned and Fallow Land................................................................................................................................... 46 Figure 23. An Agroforestry System in Hato Horcón where the Ground Layer is a Fish Pond, Second Layer is Leguminous Trees, followed by Fruit and Wood Species............................................................................................................................... 50 V List of Tables Page Table 1. Fuelwood Rating Description.............................................................................. 31 Table 2. Summary of Standard Forestry Variables .......................................................... 33 Table 3. Distribution of Dominant Vegetation.................................................................. 34 Table 4. Distribution of Ecotype....................................................................................... 34 Table 5. Plot Distribution by Rating.................................................................................. 35 Table 6. Distribution of Reasons....................................................................................... 35 Table 7. Preferred