Knowledge saveguards water : Protecting mangrove forests and preserving livelihoods

Project background

The rural inhabitants of the protected area around the Estero Real river delta, which is part of the dry belt of Nicaragua, work on monoculture plantations and also cultivate small plots of land for their own needs. The owners of the monocultures overuse the natural resources of soil and water and damage the protected mangrove forests. The local population can only look on as their freshwater reserves are increasingly salinated by deforestation and consumed by banana, peanut and sugar cane monocultures. The municipality has neither the necessary knowledge nor the planning tools to counteract this development and to promote the conservation and reforestation of the protected area.