Guatemala: Celebrating Earth Day and Ways to Preserve · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Photo by Ivan Castro and used under a Creative Commons license.
The name of Guatemala derives from a Mayan word meaning “the land of trees”. Actions in the form of words is the way that I describe the spirit of bloggers telling the world what are they doing to protect and save the planet. From small local governments to desks of people in the city, many bloggers are conscious about the environment and they are telling the world some examples of what we can do, as Mr. Man says:
En Guatemala, Mexico, y varios países de Latinoamérica aun producen sus emisiones de co2, no toman en serio la Alerta, las personas son incapaces de tomar decisiones si el estado de los respectivos países no se preocupa, la crisis energetica es lo que es por el mal actuar, y si ahora no nos preocupamos por este cambio climático, se va avecinar una peor situacion, en la cual no hay vuelta atras. Este va ser el Mundo del mañana que van a vivir las futuras generaciones.
In Guatemala, Mexico and other countries in Latin America still produces CO2 emissions, and the countries do not take the alert seriously, people are even incapable of deciding to do something if the State of each country is not concerned. Energy crisis is what it is because of our bad behaviour, and now we are not concerned with global warming, and a worse situation is approaching, there is no turning back. This is the world of tomorrow, where future generations will live.
But there are also small actions by local governments that are taking place.  The blog a small local government in Quezaltepeque described their actions [es]:
Entre los distintos bosques podemos mencionar el bosque de Santa Teresa, bosque de Yocón y el bosque del caserío San Juan de la aldea Cubiletes, en los cuales se han realizado prácticas de reforestación y los cuidados necesarios para evitar que incendios forestales acaben con nuestra flora y fauna.
Among the different forests we have Santa Teresa, Yokón and the one near San Juan, in “Muffins” Village, where we have reforested and have taken all the necessary care to protect our flora and fauna from fires.
Among the different posts was the one by El Diario del Gallo,
Considero que el dia de la tierra se empezó a celebrar justamente en el primer minuto cuando una primera mujer o un primer hombre de lejana comunidad prehistorica se alegró de descubrir el agua para beber, el fuego para cocinar y abrigarse del frío, el suelo para cultivar, el aire que le tonificó cuando cansado salió a la orilla de su cueva en la parte más alta de su casa en la montaña y llenó sus lpulmones y se sintió como nuevo, y todo esto y más aún nos dá la tierra. El celebrar el Día de la Tierra forma parte de una estrategia de concienciacciòn y educación ambiental, pero es necesario que nosotros como ciudadanos del mundo de nuestro país Guatemala, el cambiar nuestra forma de vida y de consumo, de proteger nuestra riqueza natural y sobre todas las cosas el “agua”.
I think that the first celebration of earth day took place when the primitive man or woman from a prehistorical community was happy to first discover the water to drink, the fire to cook and warmth, the soil to grow crops, the air that purified him when he went out of from his cave at the top of the mountain and breathed and felt renewed. All of this and more is given by the Earth. To celebrate the Earth is part of a strategy of environmental  motivation and education, but it is necessary that we, as citizens of the world and our country, change the way we live and how we consume. It is necessary to protect our natural heritage and above all “the water”.
The first Blog in Peten, the largest area in Guatemala, El Blog de Rudel commented about a forgotten Natural Reserve, and he is concerned about it as is an important resource for the Planet:
El día de ayer tuve a bien sobrevolar la zona de Chiquibul, una reserva forestal que forma parte del sistema guatemalteco de áreas protegidas, y se ubica en la parte central del departamento adyacente a la linea imaginaria con Belice. Del lado Guatemalteco hay comunidades como Carrizal, El Limon, Los Olivos entre otros, y de nuestro lado esta mas dañado. Del lado de Belice, la Reserva de Chiquibul se constituye en la mayor reserva forestal de Belice y se encuentra en buenas condiciones. Sin embargo, de ambos lados, esta reserva puede ser explotado turisticamente, particularmente el turismo de aventura, ya que la zona es propicia para la espeleologia, el campamento, navegacion en rapidos, entre otros.Aqui se encuentra el sistema de cavernas de mayor extension de centroamerica. Del lago Guatemalteco, existe una gigantesca caverna en donde se introduce el Río Chiquibul, y aparece a unos 20 kilometros al norte. … Me preocupa que este ecosistema se pierda. Los medios solo hablan de la RBM, pero hemos olvidado la parte central saliente de Petén y este bello lugar.
Yesterday, I was flying above the area of Chiquibul, a forest reserve that is part of the Guatemalan System of Protected Areas, located in the center of Belize's frontier. On our side there are communities like Carrizal, El Limon, Los Olivos among others, and our side is the one showing more damage. For Belize, Chiquibul is their largest forest reserve and it is well preserved. But both sides can become tourism spots, mostly for adventure tourism, because the zone is great to explore caves, to camp, to practice rafting, among other attractions.  Here is the largest chain of caves in all of Central America. Of Guatemala Lake, there is an enormous cave where Chiquibul River passes and appears some 20 km to the north… I'm concerned  that we are losing the ecosystem. The media only talks about Maya Reserve Biosphere, but we have forgotten the center of Petén and the beautiful place that I described earlier.
Global or at least, local warming is also getting serious.  According to El Zacapaneco  Guatemalan weather was perfect the whole year, but now is hot, humid and getting worse. A man died because of the extremely hot weather.
The Planet is sending us clear signals and small actions can really make the difference. The added value of countries like Guatemala, meaning the land of trees, where people have to cut down beautiful rain forests because they do not have alternative means of living, is a loss for the citizens of the world. However, bloggers are suggesting small actions that can result in big changes.