Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, or should we say it was once beautiful the most beautiful?
It has been many years since signs of contamination of Lake Atitlan have been visible for anyone who looked at the beaches, bays and the little ports of the villages surrounding the lake.
First only plastic bottles, other plastic materials and garbage in general where visible, then it was documented that many Hotels and chalets where draining sewage water directly into the lake. Who wanted to spend money on septic tanks, or even think about treatment plants? That was in the 80ties and 90ties.
After 2000 Guatemala started to have some environmental laws and regulations regarding sewage water, but most of the big Hotels refused to comply, until they where sued by environmentalists and the government. The tourists complained about the bad smell near the beaches where the hotels where located. INGUAT, the Institute of Tourism of Guatemala was also ineffective.
The owners of the numerous boat transport enterprises usually dumped the used oil of their engines directly into the lake. A film of oil could be seen at the beach of Santiago Atitlan and San Lucas Toliman for many years.
Agriculture also plays a mayor role in the contamination of the lake. The use of fertilizers and plague control chemicals, so heavily promoted in previous decades, is now showing their nasty effects: the alarming proliferation of cyanobacteria is now a big problem in Lake Atitlan.
The presence and dangers of the cyanobacteria (common name for it: blue green algae, eve if it is not an algae) had been reported to the authorities since 2008. No actions where taken.
The contamination and deterioration of Lake Atitlan is not a problem of today, it is a problem that appeared in the early 80ties when tourism grew and the population surrounding the lake had at least duplicated.
The once pristine lake with small villages of a few thousand people and little use of modern chemicals, fell victim to the absence of any urban planning, environmental protection and care, both by the local communities, foreign and local investors of the tourism industry and the Guatemalan and foreign chalet owners.
Everybody is equally to blame.
We have been visiting Lake Atitlan since 1974, we go there regularly and have watched with immense preoccupation the evolution of contamination, overpopulation, deforestation and neglect of the lake.
Our family has tried for over 35 years to educate and motivate local farmers and villagers to clean up the lake and to stop the contamination, unfortunately with very little success.
We couldn't stop people from contaminating the lake, but we could do something else.
We have in a very modest and private way started a reforestation project 4 years ago on our own land at the lake shore. We where watching the deforestation effects on the lake and all the way up to the tops of the volcanoes surrounding the lake, it is heartbreaking.
We decided to do something about it. At least we could plant trees. Now over 4 thousand new trees are at the lake shore, many of them already over 2.5 meters high, providing shade and an ecosystem for birds and small animals.
Our neighboring small local farmers and many people in Santiago Atitlan say that we are crazy, why plant trees instead of corn or tomatoes? We have tried to explain why. We are trying to demonstrate why it is necessary to do massive reforestation for all the lake's surroundings.
We hope we can plant many more trees, but we need your help. If you are interested in planting trees at Lake Atitlan and to address at least one of the problems the lake is suffering, contact us. We will be publishing pictures of the land and the trees to motivate you to help Lake Atitlan.
Write to us at:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Help save Lake Atitlan, it will provide employment, prevent climate change and make you feel good about yourself.
The government and the local people will try to do what they can, but much more is needed. Guatemala currently is suffering from a severe famine from a long drought (climate change), peoples priority is to eat, to feed their children and their families.
We need concerned citizens of the world to act and the now 4 thousand trees can grow to be 4,000,000 and then many more.
We have to start at some point, one tree at the time, and one concerned persona at the time.
We are counting on you.
"When is the best time to plant a tree"
NOW!"
Chinese proverb
Picture: Ignacio de Wit
Trackback(0)
TrackBack URI for this entryComments (0)
