NICARAGUA

Nicaragua has extensive rainforests, covering over 15% of the land area. A further 27% is covered in other types of forest. However, the country has lost more than 20% of its forest cover since 1990, the result of clearing for agriculture and cattle grazing, forest fires and logging, both legal and illegal. Mining, particularly open-pit mining, is also a major concern for environmentalists.

The government granted a number of logging concessions in the mid- to late-1990s, which significantly increased forest degradation, and led to the president banning the logging of cedar, mahogany and bombox trees in 1998 for a 5-year period. Existing logging permits for these species were cancelled. However, illegal logging continued apace and it is estimated that about half of total timber production is illegal. Researchers believe that the ban may have actually exacerbated the illegal timber trade.

The government approved a new moratorium in 2006, which imposed a 10-year ban on new permits for logging mahogany, cedar, bombox and mangrove. The military are supposed to enforce the ban by patrolling Nicaragua's protected areas, and forests along the borders with Costa Rica and Honduras, common smuggling routes. However, researchers and timber companies again raised concerns about the effectiveness of such a ban, particularly as government approved logging has not been monitored and previous measures to combat the illegal trade have not been enforced. Corruption has prevented effective solutions to date and the trade has known links to criminal syndicates and gangs.

However, despite suffering from a lack of resources, the Nicaraguan Forest Authority (INAFOR) has recently made important efforts to improve transparency and reduce corruption, and signed a collaboration agreement with Global Witness in 2006 to begin independent forest monitoring. Illegal activities and the weaknesses in law enforcement capacity have been documented and INAFOR has committed to take action.

DOCUMENTS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
01/03/2007	IFM Pilot Project in Nicaragua: First summary report of activities August 2006 - March 2007 This report presents the results of the IFM Pilot Project carried out in Nicaragua between August 2006 ...
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01/03/2006	Justice in the Forest: Rural Livelihoods and Forest Law Enforcement This study was born out of a concern that a narrow focus on law enforcement could unintentionally harm ...	CIFOR (Marcus Colchester)
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01/12/2005	Best Practices for Improving Law Compliance in the Forestry Sector: FAO Forestry Paper 145 This report looks at some of the innovative approaches being used by governments to combat illegal logging. ...	FAO
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01/01/2002	Barriers to Legality in the Forest Sectors of Honduras and Nicaragua Examines the features of the socio-economic, political and institutional environment that work against ...	La Tala Ilegal en Centro America (Arnoldo Contreras-Hermosilla)
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01/01/2002	Impacts of illegality and barriers to legality: a diagnostic analysis of illegal logging in Honduras and Nicaragua This paper summarises a diagnostic analysis of the illegal timber trade in Nicaragua and Honduras conducted ...	Richards, M, A Wells, F del Gatto, A Contreras-Hermosilla and D Pommier
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NEWS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
19/06/2013	Timber markets challenge Latin American forest communities For indigenous communities and other forest dwellers in Latin America, reaping the benefits of timber ...	Thomson Reuters Foundation
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15/05/2013	In Latin America’s Second Largest Rainforest, an Indigenous Tribe Fights for Its Land Deep inside the verdant expanse of Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve—the western ...	TIME
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07/05/2013	Nicaragua cloud forest 'under siege' by illegal loggers ...	BBC
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19/09/2012	LAC Forestry and Environmental Communicators Network formed A workshop of Latin American journalists and other communicators organized by the UN Food and Agriculture ...	IISD Biodiversity Policy & Practice
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07/09/2012	Environmentalists and indigenous people against carbon offset trading Central American environmentalists and indigenous people are intensifying efforts to prevent governments ...	Eurasia Review
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03/03/2012	Nicaragua bids to stem deforestation with eco-soldiers Deep inside the verdant and sweltering vegetation of Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast, a specially trained ...	BBC News
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15/02/2011	Central America has highest rate of forest loss in region Guatemala City - Central America has suffered the highest rate of forest loss in Latin America over the ...	IPS News
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01/02/2010	Nicaragua: Can army protect plundered forest reserves? Managua - The Nicaraguan state has embarked on an iron-fisted policy, including the use of military force, ...	IPS News
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24/09/2009	A goal for Copenhagen: keep the focus on enforcement Few seem willing to address the issue openly, but one of the toughest issues to address when delegates ...	GreenandSave.com
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10/01/2008	Monitoring the forest sector in Nicaragua: plenty of evidence, more actions needed A report published this week by Global Witness, the Independent Forest Monitor in Nicaragua, documents ...	Global Witness (UK)
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30/03/2007	Eight months of Independent Forest Monitoring in Nicaragua (Press Release) Global Witness today publishes the First Summary Report of the Independent Forest Monitoring ...	Global Witness (UK)
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27/10/2006	Rainforest Alliance Builds on Decade of Development Work in Nicaragua with New $3.6M Grant from USAID (Press Release) New York, USA - The Rainforest Alliance has received a $3.6 million grant from the U.S. ...	E-wire (USA)
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23/10/2006	World Bank advises better forest governance Washngton D.C., USA - Preserving the world's rapidly shrinking tropical forests and improving the ...	World Bank (USA)
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31/07/2006	Nicaragua places moratorium on mahogany Nicaragua has approved a Logging Moratorium Law which imposes a 10-year ban on new permits for logging ...	ITTO Tropical Timber Market Report
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01/12/2005	Two new environmental laws in Nicaragua The Nicaraguan National Assembly's recent approval of separate bills to protect forests and punish ...	Amazonia.org (Brazil)
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30/05/2005	Nicaraguan legislators accused of illegal logging A prosecutor in Nicaragua has declared war against illegal logging, and he says some of the primary offenders ...	Miami Herald (USA)
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PRESENTATIONS

DATE	TITLE	AUTHOR
21/07/2006	VERIFOR Update: Phase One Review and VERIFOR in Latin America	ODI (David Brown and Hans Thiel)
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LINKS

TITLE	DESCRIPTION	REPORT
La Tala Ilegal en Centro America	Concentrating on Honduras and Nicaragua, this website communicates the findings of the first study to attempt to systematically analyse the dynamics of illegal logging, including legal failings, the institutions and policies behind it, as well as the impact on society, the economy and governance.	Broken link
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