US To Forgive Guatemala Debt, Preserve Nature

The US and Guatemala have signed a deal that will forgive $24 million in debt to the US in exchange to the protection of nature in that country. It is the largest such deal ever made.

Under the initiative, carried out with the help of two environmental groups, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International Foundation, Guatemala will invest the 24 million dollars over the next 15 years to conserve key ecosystems, officials said.

"The signature of this agreement marks an historic step in the conservation of tropical forests in Guatemala, one of the most biologically diverse countries on Earth," said US Ambassador James Derham during a ceremony here.

"The funds will help conserve Guatemala's high altitude cloud forests, rain forests, and coastal mangrove swamps," he said.

Derham said the forests were home to hundreds of species of songbirds and waterfowl that migrate between the United States and Guatemala, as well as many rare and endangered species, including the quetzal bird, jaguars and margays.

The agreement was the biggest ever reached under the US Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998, which has seen similar debt-for-nature swaps with Bangladesh, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Paraguay, Peru, The Philippines and Panama, Derham said.

I don't expect we'll hear any praise for the deal from administration opponents. Much better than just forgiving the debt. This way the money goes to something useful for the entire planet.