Members of the Madre Vieja River Technical Board donate food for first responders
They donate more than 5 thousand food rations for the personnel fighting the forest fire. March 12, 2021. With the aim of supporting the conservation of the upper part of the Madre Vieja river basin, members of the Technical Board established in the lower part 5 years ago, made a donation of non-perishable food rations for the people who are working to combat the forest fire that affects the Atitlán volcano. The donation consists of more than 5,000 food rations (all three meals) for the 150 brigade members/first responders, for at least 11 days. Today the delivery was made to representatives of the National Council of Protected Areas -CONAP- and the Association of Private Reserves of Guatemala. This donation is an effort and contribution of the Ingenios Pantaleon, Magdalena, Madre Tierra, La Unión, the company Frutera del Pacífico, Grupo HAME, Palo Blanco, S.A, as well as the Private Institute for Research on Climate Change -ICC-, who are members of the Technical Board of the Madre Vieja River. The Atitlán volcano is a very important area for water recharge of the Madre Vieja river basin, the loss of forest cover that is causing the fire can cause reduced infiltration and loss of soil (erosion), in addition to loss of flora and fauna. fauna. The Madre Vieja River Technical Board is made up of local and regional authorities, as well as community members and producers of cane, palm, banana, fruit, livestock farmers, basic grains, among others. It is worth mentioning that it is a successful water management model that has been implemented since 2016 and that has made great progress in issues of riverside reforestation and in the sustainable and rational use of water, since the tributary has maintained its flow, the which has not been interrupted, even in the months of the dry season. However, the challenge of the Technical Roundtable is to incorporate actors from the middle and upper part of the basin to create a comprehensive basin management plan. Currently, actors from the department of Escuintla participate, authorities and users from Suchitepéquez and Sololá must be incorporated.
