Gaia Program
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Conservation Science in Practice-NicaraguaLaguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve Management PlanBe an Eco-Warrior conservation volunteer with GAIA at Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve in Nicaragua. Special discounts for volunteering in 2017. Saving the forest, one tree at a timeSupport us in the rights of wild animals. FUNDECI participates in the struggle for environmental justice at Big Cola. The Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve was created as an official protected area in 1991. However, until 2010, the reserve never enjoyed the full benefits of protection that would be afforded this designation. GAIA provided logistic and technical assistence to the first management plan developed for this reserve. The process was coordinated by GAIA director Jeffrey McCrary and administered by the NGO CLUSA. GAIA also assumed the responsibility of making revisions to the management plan proposal to include results of the consensus process among civil and governmental institutions. This management plan was developed with the intention to maximize the participation of members of all interest groups, with priority given to members of the local communities in the vicinity of the protected area. Fourteen community meetings were executed in which numerous issues were presented by community members and incorporated in the proposal for the management plan. The biggest single issue confronted was boycotts and intentions to disrupt the process on the part of foreigners with intentions to clear and urbanize the forests of the crater interior. Given its proximity to important urban areas in Nicaragua, its scenic beauty and warm clear waters, Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve has been under constant threat by developers who intend to destroy the forests to build homes for wealthy foreigners in environmentally irresponsible profit-making schemes. The development of this first management plan for the Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve represented a potential defeat to many "investors" who opposed the process. GAIA accompanied the Police and Ministry of the Environment in stopping several projects and in one case, levying a fine against a developer. Land investment by foreigners is serious business, and investors do not accept defeat easily; attacks have included violent invasions of GAIA property in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve and a series of legal battles which have resulted in the firing of four judges from charges of corruption, and both criminal and civil judgments favoring GAIA subsequent to the cleaning of the legal system. Although Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve is located between two of the most populous cities in Nicaragua (Masaya and Granada), the reserve continues to contain substantial quantities of natural forest and a huge lake in very good condition. The list of flora and fauna generated by GAIA staff (see below) demonstrates that this site is among the most important sites for biodiversity in Nicaragua. Over 200 bird species are found in the reserve, more than 350 plant species, over 110 butterfly species, and at least six species of fishes in Lake Apoyo are endemic to the lake. One of those species, the arrow cichlid Amphilophus zaliosus, has been listed officially as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List for Endangered Species. The management plan development was solicited and approved by the Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (MARENA), and financed and sponsored by Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales (OAPN) in Spain (US$14,500) and GAIA (US$4,000), and administered by CLUSA. The process took a total of five years to complete, from 2005 to 2010. The finalized management plan received the formal backing of over 250 members of the civil society, the city councils of six municipalities (Masaya, Granada, Catarina, San Juan de Oriente, Diriá, Diriomo), and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources. Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve Management Plan OfficialFlora and Fauna in Laguna de Apoyo Nature ReserveLaguna de ApoyoYou can help us keep nature wild in Nicaragua, by volunteering your time with us or making a small donation to support our projects in wild nature conservation. Please consider helping GAIA make a difference in Nicaragua. FUNDECI homepageEnvironmental Program In Defense of NatureApoyo Spanish SchoolVolunteerBirdwatchingThe Mountain SchoolDive Laguna de ApoyoProyecto EcológicoHostelLaguna de Apoyo, NicaraguaAnimals of Laguna de ApoyoSpanish Studies and Volunteering in Laguna de ApoyoArts and Culture in NicaraguaFollow us on Facebooknonprofit status of FUNDECIGoogle PlusFollow us on Twittercontact us  Page Comparison Tool 
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