GUATEMELA, AT THE FRONTLINES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Where we work
We’re located at the edge of the Maya Biosphere in Petén, Guatemala - the second largest tropical jungle of the Americas after the Amazon. We own and manage a modest 8 hectares near the village of Paxcaman, which is now one of the last protected forested lands of our area. Originally destined to become a landfill after being heavily deforested and grazed for cattle pasture by local farmers for a decade, we have been on a mission to transform our site into a demonstrative restoration and permaculture project which can provide for our local communities.
Our landscape has radically changed in the last 30 years, and its degradation is accelerating. This is because in the last two decades, climate change, illegal deforestation and industrialised agriculture has disproportionally impacted Petén, just like it has the Global South. Guatemala is situated in the middle of the Dry Corridor, a large region spanning across Central America where over 90% of the population is rural and agricultural - making them extremely vulnerable.
Increasingly extreme weather events, particularly hurricanes and droughts, have destroyed infrastructure and subsistence crops, exacerbated soil erosion, and caused desertification and landslides. Traditional knowledge of seasonal agricultural patterns is becoming irrelevant as climate unpredictability increases (the 2023 El Niño extended the dry season by six weeks in Petén). Land workers, particularly campesinos and indigenous Mayan families, are facing widespread resource scarcity, putting their livelihoods in danger and driving them into extreme poverty.
Unsustainable agricultural practices, such as slash and burn, monocultures, heavy agrochemical application, and deforestation for cattle ranching are increasingly common, driven by corporate campaigns and targeted government subsidies. Farmers are already suffering from the long term impacts, such as soil infertility and drought. Natural ecosystems are heavily impacted, with a net loss of wildlife, an increasing number of endangered species, and drastic loss of tropical rainforest coverage.
Our landscape has radically changed in the last 30 years, and its degradation is accelerating. This is because in the last two decades, climate change, illegal deforestation and industrialised agriculture has disproportionally impacted Petén, just like it has the Global South. Guatemala is situated in the middle of the Dry Corridor, a large region spanning across Central America where over 90% of the population is rural and agricultural - making them extremely vulnerable.
Increasingly extreme weather events, particularly hurricanes and droughts, have destroyed infrastructure and subsistence crops, exacerbated soil erosion, and caused desertification and landslides. Traditional knowledge of seasonal agricultural patterns is becoming irrelevant as climate unpredictability increases (the 2023 El Niño extended the dry season by six weeks in Petén). Land workers, particularly campesinos and indigenous Mayan families, are facing widespread resource scarcity, putting their livelihoods in danger and driving them into extreme poverty.
Unsustainable agricultural practices, such as slash and burn, monocultures, heavy agrochemical application, and deforestation for cattle ranching are increasingly common, driven by corporate campaigns and targeted government subsidies. Farmers are already suffering from the long term impacts, such as soil infertility and drought. Natural ecosystems are heavily impacted, with a net loss of wildlife, an increasing number of endangered species, and drastic loss of tropical rainforest coverage.
Many Guatemalan’s are being forced to migrate, first within the country (IDPs), then eventually through international boundaries in search for more sustainable incomes and fleeing unbearable
living conditions - free from erratic climates, the destruction of homes, the inability to sustain the cost of life and the pressured violence of local cartels.
Climate change’s impact creates a compound effect and often the final push forcing people to migrate. While they made up less than 0.5% of migrants attempting to cross the US-Mexico border 20 years ago, Guatemalans now make up to 20% of them. More often than not, men leave first, heading North, towards the US-Mexico border. This means that separated family members who remain in Guatemala’s rural lands are often vulnerable women and children.
Forced to sustain an income and take care of their family members, including elders, many are left with no other choice but to work multiple jobs, join factories, or work on larger, more industrial farms. They often are isolated and increasingly less connected to their cultural heritage and craftsmanship.