The Trifinio Plan Shared Management of Transnational Basins in Central America Haley Born February 2012

Location

Statistics 3 countries Area = 7,500 km 3 Population = 670,000 Population Density = 89 ppl/km 2 70% of population live in rural areas 53% of population live in extreme poverty 75% of land cover is mountainous

Motives Preservation of the Montecristo National Cloud Forest Protect endangered species Lay the groundwork for international cooperation and development

Treaties Delimitation of Boundaries 1938 Guatemala and El Salvador Water quantity and border issues Lempa and Paz Basins Esquipulas Peace Agreements 1987 Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador Settled military conflicts The Trifinio Plan 1998 Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador Joint management Lempa Basin

Management Primary o Trifinio National Commission Secondary o Environmental committees Supporting organizations o General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) o Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) o Inter-American Development Bank (IADB or BID)

Four Components of the Program Management of Natural Resources Economic Diversity Physical Works Risk and Vulnerability Management

Shortcomings Has no established its own coordinating inter- sectoral planning mechanism No focus on integrated management of water Lacked social management component o No community ownership o Not sustainable Lack of mandates for national representatives creates confusion and conflict Balance between national and tri-national representation is precarious and complex

Successes Approved and adopted financing plan Achieved reforestation of 4,500 hectares of land 10 infrastructure projects o Benefitting over 80,000 inhabitants o 9 municipalities o 3 countries Environmental committees created in each country New programs geared towards support

Lessons Learned “shows the limits to processes that are stimulated from above” Political will of participating countries is essential Local participation is lacking o No funding at local or national level o Lacks efficiency and sustainability Regional units should be created

Questions 1.How do you think the Trifinio National Commission can encourage participation of local environmental groups and municipalities? 2.What can be done to integrate water resource management into the existing agreement? 3.How can the balance of power between the countries be stabilized? Do you think this is the best way to minimize conflict in international negotiations? What else might be done?