August - September 2002

New & Notable on www.eco-index.org: Environmental Interpretation in Cerro San Marcos

Project Name: Environmental Interpretation in Cerro San Marcos

Managing organization, country: Asociación Ecológica Eterna Primavera and Asociación Vivamos Mejor, Guatemala

Project director: Estuardo René Girón Solórzano

Synopsis: The Cerro San Marcos environmental interpretation study began as a thesis proposal for the School of Biology at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala. It is currently part of the Parks in Peril initiative of The Nature Conservancy. The project tries to promote conservation of the ecological and cultural characteristics of Cerro San Marcos, which is located in San Marcos La Laguna, Sololá within the Lake Atitlan Watershed Multiple Use Reserve. One goal is to have a map of sites in the municipality of San Marcos La Laguna that have high interest for tourists, and among the final products is a description of the nature routes and an accompanying guide.

Annual budget & donors: $2,500.00 (20,000.00 Quetzales) from the Eternaml Spring Association, the Conservation Trust of Guatemala, Let's Live Better Association, and the Natonal Counsel of Protecte Areas of Guatemala.

Lessons learned: "Beneficiaries must realize from the beginning that they are directly responsible for the completion of the project conditions, and that they will be the ones affected if these conditions are not met. The support provided by the project is precisely that -- support. No progress will be made if the beneficiaries themselves do not move the project forward."

Contact:

Asociación Ecológica Eterna Primavera
5ª Calle
22-73 zona 1
Colonia Villas de Miraflores
Cuidad de Guatemala
Guatemala
tel: 502/474-2979
fax: 502/474-0312
eterna_primavera@hotmail.com

Read more about this project in the Eco-Index:
www.eco-index.org/search/results.cfm?ProjectID=347.