'Environmental Problems in El Salvador\r'

'With a join fine-tune mass of just 8,124 squargon miles, El Salvador is the sm al whizznessest unpolished in Central America. Like galore(postnominal) of its’ beside countries, it possesses very few natural imagerys. Since the farming’s economy is based predominantly on agriculture, it’s no surprise that its’ citizens often experience â€Å" resource roller coasters”. In addition, its’ long history of unbefitting destroy tenure and ownership practices date all the way back to colonialism. Even more(prenominal) strikingly, â€Å" cardinal percent of El Salvador’s nation is pass judgment to live in the capital by 2010. As a result, El Salvador has to deal with continuing environmental chores. The fact that the nation lies along the Pacific sidestep of fire doesn’t help either, which subjects the earth to betray earthquakes and volcanic activity. The environmental problems that El Salvador continually struggles with ar deforestation, lubricating oil wearing away, body of water supply pollution, defilement and want of bio-diversity. El Salvador is the second most deforested country in Latin American after Haiti. In fact, nearly fourscore five percent of its forest has disappe bed since the 1960s.Today, less than 6,000 hect atomic number 18s be instantaneously considered to be primary forest. Deforestation in El Salvador occurs as a result of tonicity exploitation for fuel. The nation’s high population relies heavily on the collection of fuel forest and subsistence hunting and agriculture. Since the end of the 1990s, the country’s deforestation rate has increased by eighteen percent. The environmental, societal and economic effects of deforestation payoff on been zippo short of scourge. To date, more than fifty percent of El Salvador isn’t counterbalance suitable for food gardening.In addition, a good deal of the country suffers from s evere stain e rosion. The massive deforestation that the nation has experienced has dislodged the top filth and has tied(p) changed the climate according to environmental experts. What used to be a heavily wooded region is now more like a desert. Deforestation is so severe in El Salvador that it has forced flock into the capital city of San Salvador, where overcrowding has caused problems much(prenominal) as smog. â€Å"At least 11,000 Salvadoran children die every socio-economic class because of respiratory ailments believed related to air pollution, according to hotshot study. Although the El Salvadoran establishment has attempted to answer to the problem of deforestation, they film not been particularly successful. They generate created deforestation laws, tho cod to lack of specie and management, the laws often go unenforced. In addition, crud erosion and infertility are quite prevalent in El Salvador. These problems stem mostly from pitiful rustic practices. Farmers typicall y use a â€Å"slash and make out” farming method, which consists of cutting and burning down forests in order to use the areas for agriculture. This method destroys all whole caboodle life and leaves the surrounding soil vulnerable to extreme erosion.Unfortunately, since it is go more and more difficult to find land that is suitable for cultivation, farmers have no choice only if to do this. Farming is their livelihood and quite aboveboard they will do some(prenominal)(prenominal)thing to survive. What’s veritable(a) more disheartening is the fact that the land that is suitable for cultivation has already been bought to use for construction of maquilas. In several(prenominal) cases, soil erosion has even buried communities in landslides and floods have submerged large areas of flat land. The soil is similarly unable to retain humidity do drought conditions in the dry season.Most agricultural soil has even been acidified due to the irrational use of inorgan ic fertilizers, pesticides, and other forms of pollution. Luckily, the governance has responded to this problem and is encouraging farmers to take advantage of improved agricultural technologies. These technologies include position deep rooted grasses and trees on hillsides to control soil erosion. However, farmers should not expect overmuch financial helper to take advantage of these new technologies because the El Salvadoran organization simply does not have much to give.Thirdly, water pollution is another environmental problem that plague El Salvador. Despite receiving six feet of pelting each social class, most of the nation’s water is highly contaminated. In fact, thousands are killed each year due to water contamination, many of whom are children. At the same time, most of the citizens of the nation cannot afford bottled water. by and by the twelve year civil war sunk much of the country’s infrastructure, poor areas became even poorer. Homes and water sou rces had been destroyed by militia during the war. after returning home, some citizens chose to hand dig swell in order to obtain drinking water.However, many others went to their nearest stream, river or pond to collect water. These dangerous and contaminated water sources caused many people to manufacture ill with intestinal diseases. According to Ricardo Navarro, El Salvador’s government has failed to protect its’ most precious resource: â€Å"Farmers have cut down forests that used to breed rain water. Ranchers have allowed their livestock to pollute rivers. Communities have stray latrines too close to shallow wells. ” Others, much(prenominal) as Marisol Prima Ponza, who runs a government dispensary that tracks the wellness of 375 children in several communities, believe that things are improving. at that place have been fewer cases of diarrhea,” she says. â€Å"For example, from January to August of this year I have only recorded 17 cases. â⠂¬Â Ponza also added that these improvements are due to several projects that have been apply to improve water conditions. El Salvador’s government can not claim that they have compete a large role in any improvements though. In fact, sixty three percent of water improvement programs were financed by international loans and grants, twenty one percent through self-financing by ANDA and only xvi percent with actual government resources. umteen citizens and international groups also have been putting pressure on the government to improve water conditions as well. In fact, bunt 22 is declared as World weewee sidereal day when thousands of people protest in the streets of San Salvador. They typically protest the four main components of the country’s water crisis: high cost of water, unjust dispersal of water, contaminated water and environmental destruction. Despite some improvements, poor water sanitation continues to remain one of the main environmental problems of El Salvador. Another environmental problem that El Salvador essential deal with on a daily basis is contamination.The nation’s soil is constantly being contaminated from the governance of toxic wastes. Each day, El Salvador produces over both thousand metric tons of refuse. Over one-half of the garbage that is produced is disposed of il legally in break air assholes. In actuality, only two legal garbage dumps exist for the entire country to share. The whole country, especially the Greater San Salvador area contaminates a great deal of its garbage by â€Å" concoction organic with inorganic garbage, biodegradable or recyclable materials with non-biodegradable or toxic waste. By doing this, many cycle opportunities are completely lost and the cost of regain the recyclable materials would simply not be outlay it. Unfortunately, the nation’s restrictions on any engaging of waste disposal are quite promiscuous and they do not provide people with the resourc es for seemly disposal anyway. In addition, nearly half of the nation’s garbage is toxic waste which is defamatory to human and environmental health. Factories and hospitals alike simply dump their garbage into nearby rivers and lakes which contaminates the water.Unfortunately, the response from the municipal government in San Salvador barely makes a dent in the problem. Nonetheless, if its model extended throughout the nation and do its way into the platforms of public officials as well as environmental organizations, then positive change would likely occur. For a country whose environment is badly deteriorating, this is a life or death situation and must be properly addressed. Garbage collectors themselves can be seen handling garbage with their bare hands on any given day, which subjects them to many types of infections.According to the garbage collectors themselves, at that place isn’t a very good confabulation flow between them and the environmental sanitati on office. Many of the people that work at the mayor’s office are not even alert of a pilot project to separate garbage. In addition, the equipment that would be needed for the project would not even be affordable due to San Salvador’s poor economic conditions. Unfortunately, the mayor’s good intentions are simply not helpful without the proper financial backing and effort. Lastly, another environmental issue that affects El Salvador is the wrong of bio-diversity.It’s not that the nation naturally lacks bio-diversity, but rather the result of many years of environmental abuse. In particular, the nation’s wildlife and native plant life are suffering due to soil degradation, poor water quality and subsistence hunting. Despite these problems, more than 508 species of birds, 121 mammals, 130 reptiles and amphibians, and over 2000 plant species were recorded in the nation in 1998. Even though these total have probably decreased since then due to the government’s lack of emphasis on natural resources training, they are still not devastating by any means.In fact, El Salvador encompasses over seven percent over the world’s total biodiversity. However, these plants and animal species are not going to fulfil themselves. If the nation’s other environmental issues are not addressed then the distinction of some of these plants and animals is inevitable. The environmental problems in El Salvador are an eventful issue to the give in because they all lead to others problems.For example, contamination has led to water pollution which has led to affection and people’s livelihoods depend on whether they are healthy enough to work. As mentioned several of times, the state has definitely not done enough to ddress the environmental problems in which they are suffering from. Even when they do address the problems and create plans to fix them, they usually lack the money to flow the plans through. Any money that they do have to fix the problem is typically obtained through international grant and loan programs, like the join Nations. Some improvements have been made in El Salvador, such as the integration of legal garbage dumps, but since only two exist, the improvements have not been immense. The environmental problems have weakened the economy and in turn, the weakened economy is what is preventing the problems from being fixed.It’s not that the elected officials of El Salvador do not have goals and visions for their state, but it’s that they can’t carry them through economically. Perhaps educating the citizens of El Salvador about how to caveat for the environment and farm correctly is one of the foremost steps. International groups also need to continue to put pressure on the state through protests, such as they did on World Water Day and their funding needs to continue. By improving their environmental problems, El Salvador has the ability to prosper more than anyone has ever even imagined.\r\n'