Guatemala: trading the rainforest for oil?

E: The Environmental Magazine, Feb, 1994 by Robert Bryce

The tropical forests of Guatemala's largest and northernmost state, the Peten, cover nearly two million hectares (nearly 5 million acres). They contain numerous rare and endangered animal species, and more than 400 species of trees. But the Peten is also rich in oil. And like other Latin American rainforest countries, Guatemala needs oil.

The war-torn country - one of the poorest but fastest-growing in Latin America - currently produces only one-third of the 25,000 barrels of oil it consumes per day, and relies on imports for the rest. When oil prices jumped during the Persian Gulf War, Guatemala's oil import bill almost doubled. So Guatemala recently opened the Peten to large scale oil exploration.

But while oil development may help ameliorate some economic problems, it could also lead to the destruction of vast tracts of rainforest. "In the tropics, wherever here is a road, there is colonization. And wherever there is colonization, there is deforestation," says Jim Nations, vice president of Conservation International. National points to a World Bank study which shows that every kilometer of road built by the oil industry results in the loss of up to 2,400 hectares of rainforest.

Despite the potential environmental damage, in 1992 Guatemala's Ministry of Energy and Mines awarded huge concessions in the Peten to two companies: Basic Petroleum International, a French firm; and Pentagon Petroleum of baton Rouge, Louisiana. The concessions allow exploration throughout the Laguna del Tigre, the largest freshwater wetland in Central America and an important stopover for North American migratory birds. This area lies within the boundaries of the recently created 1.5 million hectare (3.7 million acre) Maya Biosphere Reserve which, according to Guatemalan law, is supposed to be off limits to logging and mining. But with an estimated 200 million barrels of oil waiting to be extracted, Guatemala has put economic development ahead of the environment.

So far, citizen opposition in Guatemala has been limited, due partly to the lack of public information. However, several politicians, including Carlos Aztuzias Paz, governor of the Peten, actively oppose oil development in northern Guatemala, believing it won't help the region with jobs or money. Says Azturias, "The oil business has created very few jobs in the Peten. The only thing we get from oil production," he says, noting that oil trucks continually spill oil onto roads and rivers, "is contamination." Contact: Conservation International, 1015 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036/(202)429-5660.