Corporacion Multi Inversiones issued the following announcement on Nov. 5.
Near the Cahabón River, in San Pedro Carchá, Alta Verapaz, is the 46-hectare Nature Reserve of the Renace Hydroelectric Complex, which has been protecting the Quetzal habitat since 2015.
On December 15, four years have elapsed since the beginning of the “La Conservación del Quetzal” program, an initiative that has allowed the protection of the habitat of the National Bird of Guatemala.
The Renace Private Nature Reserve seeks to create the minimum and necessary conditions for the Pharomachrus mocinno - scientific name of the Quetzal - to subsist in the cloud forests of Alta Verapaz, its natural environment.
The Renace Private Nature Reserve represents one of the last wooded remnants in the region and currently more than 300 species of birds, mammals, vascular plants and billfishes are known.
It was created to protect the biodiversity it possesses, articulate conservation efforts that are carried out within the region, especially in the Cahabón River, promote ecotourism activities and strengthen the local economy.
Strategy
The National Quetzal Conservation Strategy was created in 2015. It was an alliance between Renace, the National Council of Protected Areas (Conap) and the Scientific Association for the Conservation of Nature.
The objective of the public-private strategy is that for five years, at the national level, the quetzal populations will be conserved, through the investigation of the species, protection and restoration of their habitat.
The National Quetzal Conservation Strategy has been implemented in recent years in three phases:
First phase: Acoustic methods
A baseline of the Quetzal populations was developed, through an investigation of acoustic methods. With the method the bird symbol was studied and with the help of devices they were recorded, without scaring them.
Second phase: Quetzal conservation program
The program for the “Conservation of Quetzal” was implemented at different scales: The restoration of the habitat, a risk analysis, the reproduction instead of the quetzals and a genetic analysis.
The program was the first in Guatemala to attempt the reproduction of Quetzal in captivity or through incubation.
Third phase: Environmental education
The initiative included a part of awareness and care of the Quetzal. Renace protects the flora and fauna, applying environmental education principles.
Environmental management
Renace has a pyramid strategy for environmental management, designed for the protection, conservation and recovery of the biodiversity of ecosystems and natural resources in the Cahabón River sub-basin.
The environmental strategy is based on three pillars:
Legal compliance
Implementation of best practices
Environmental significance
In the third pillar an additional step was taken with the "Conservation of Quetzal" program, declared National Bird of Guatemala in 1871. This is the first initiative in Guatemala for the conservation of Quetzal.
Although the main attraction of the Reserve is the Quetzal, there are other representative species, such as the Tigrillo ( Leopardus wiedii ), Puma ( Jaguarundi ), Car de monte ( Pecari tajacul ) and the Micoleón ( Potos flavus ).
Original source: https://www.cmi.co/es/item/544-la-reserva-natural-que-protege-el-habitat-del-quetzal
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