Nicaragua
Nicaragua is strategically located in the heart of the Americas. It is located at the center of the Central American isthmus that forms a land bridge between North and South America. It is bordered on its eastern and western shores by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, respectively; to the north lies Honduras, and to the south Costa Rica. It is the largest country in Central America with a territory of approximately 130,600 square kilometers.
This privileged location, only two hours and thirty minutes by air and three days by sea from the United States, facilitates access to the world’s largest market. Its location and cost structure also positions Nicaragua as an ideal export platform for the important markets of Mexico, Central and South America.
Nicaragua is a country of beautiful natural landscapes. It offers virgin beaches on the Pacific Ocean and along the Caribbean coast, an amazing volcanic chain, the largest lake in Central America, cloud forests in its northern region and magical colonial towns in the Pacific region of western Nicaragua. Granada, the oldest city on the American continent, is an eclectic mix of old and new. The combination of a natural beauty and intriguing history make Nicaragua a unique destination in the Americas.
Nicaragua also offers abundant natural resources, a competitive and productive labor force, and generous investment incentive laws. Nicaragua is a very safe country: it boasts the lowest crime rate in Central America and among the lowest in the Western Hemisphere.
Nicaraguan Forest History
In 1950 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) produced the first serious report on Nicaragua's forestry resources. The FAO reported that Nicaragua had 6.5 million hectares of forest cover, which represented 47% of the national territory. FAO also reported that cultivated surface in Nicaragua amounted to only 958,000 hectares, or 7% of the national territory.
Fifty years later in 2000 a study commissioned by the Nicaraguan government estimated that the forested area had shrunk to 3.2 million hectares. During the same period agricultural surface had increased from 7% to over 36% of the national territory. In 50 years Nicaragua had lost over 47% of its forests. Two primary forces caused this drastic change in the Nicaraguan forest, agrarian reform land policy and an unregulated timber industry.
Agrarian land reform practices redistributed land to soldiers and peasants who often cleared the land for rice, beans, and cattle. Unfortunately much of this land was unsuitable for agriculture. The policy did little to alleviate poverty, but became a major factor in an environmental disaster that involved wholesale deforestation. Perhaps the major factor was an unregulated forestry industry that essentially operated without government controls or ecological responsibility. Nicaragua presented the largest tropical forest north of the Amazon that was rich with Atlantic mahogany, Spanish cedar, and other precious woods. Thousands of acres were clear-cut annually and the wood sent off shore to satisfy a worldwide demand for these special woods. Little of the profit or other economic benefit remained in Nicaragua.
Things began to change in the late 1990s. Nicaragua enacted its first forestry moratorium in 1997 and established a forestry regulatory agency (INAFOR) IN 1998. For years the regulatory effort was essentially unfunded and ineffective. Forest exploitation continued. In 2003 INAFOR was restructured and received some additional funding. Finally on May 3, 2006 the President of Nicaragua declared a state of economic emergency, instituted a new moratorium in four regions, and employed the Nicaraguan army and national police to enforce the forestry laws. Sixteen months later Hurricane Felix blew into the RAAN and put one million acres of forest on the ground.
The situation today in Nicaragua is very different from the years of forestry exploitation. The government is actively enforcing the forestry laws and still imposing a moratorium in parts of the country. Reforestation plans are being required in all forestry practices. Government checkpoints stop all trucks and inspect for illegal lumber. Forestry products are not moved without permissions granted by INAFOR. Illegal companies have closed and left. Regulations prevent the export of wood that has not been processed in Nicaragua. This business climate favors companies with sustainable practices and good government relationships.
The chance happening of Felix, at a time when the exploitive practices have been confronted, has produced a rare opportunity that will last for about 4-6 years. The wood on the ground must be harvested or it will be lost. The Nicaraguan government will only allow harvest permissions to companies who reforest and comply with the new forestry regulations. Maderas Sostenibles is committed to reforestation of the hurricane zone and has established the necessary relationships to harvest the hurricane wood over the next 4-6 years.