Chapter 2: State and Trends
Cloud forests transformation can promote shortages in water provision. In some cases, water shortages can affect large urban agglomerations which depend on this ecosystem service. The cloud forests in La Tigra National Park in Honduras sustain a constant water flow throughout the year to 850 000 people in Tegucigalpa (it is, 40 per cent of the water supply in 2000; IUCN and WWF, 2000).
Forests are the safest and cheapest option for minimizing the hazards of landslides and floods, which can be catastrophic given the strength of climatic events in the region. In some circumstances, cleared lands are more susceptible to landslides, and this can result in significant losses and injuries to humans. In 2014, about 68000 people were displaced by massive floods in the Bolivian Amazon, as the result of heavy rainfalls and large-scale deforestation in the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes (Macedo and Costello 2015).
Besides the serious social impacts they generate in rural communities, degraded lands have had serious impacts on national economies. In Costa Rica, some estimates suggests costs ranging from about 5 to 13.3 per cent of annual value- added in agriculture; in Mexico, total cost for degraded land has been estimated about 5 to 6 per cent of NDP (Berry et al. 2003).
Water pollution, in combination with other factors, can reduce water availability. On Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, recent seasonal blooms of blue green algae (Cyanobacteria) covered up to 4 500 hectares of the surface, as result of excessive phosphorus runoff from crop fields in the basin and the detergent used to wash clothes on the shoreline. As a result, provision of freshwater and other ecosystems services was interrupted (UNEP 2010b). These and other factors have very negative impacts on wetlands, which are a very important ecosystem across the region (More…31).
Pollution due to mining also has health consequences for people. In Suriname, several marine and inland fisheries showed mercury contamination resulting from small-scale gold extraction (Mol et al. 2001). Similar findings exist for the Amazon basin (Beltran-Pedreiros et al. 2011). In French
Guiana, 79 per cent of children living along the Marowijne River have abnormally high hair mercury levels caused by consumption of contaminated freshwater fish (Cordier et al. 1998).
The destruction of mangroves in LAC has negative consequences for small fishermen and local communities (Van Lavieren et al. 2012). In some countries, the loss of mangroves has decreased the availability of shrimp larvae, which is vital to the LAC´s shrimp aquaculture industry (Tobey et al. 1998). When shrimp production decreases the gains of local people and small industries can be seriously affected.
Overfishing can have negative social and economic effects. The decline of fish stocks represents the loss of goods and employment for many coastal communities. One important fishery in the region, the Argentinean hake (Merluccius hubbsi) is at very high risk. In the past 20 years the biomass of this species fell by 70 per cent. The Hake fishery generates 60 per cent of employment in the fishing sector (FVSA 2008), therefore the potential collapse of this resource can have wide-ranging impacts.
Marine pollution is a significant issue in the Caribbean region, damaging valuable natural resources and affecting the quality of life of local people and visitors, impacting national economies and jeopardizing the sustainability of the entire region (UNEP 2009). The loss of biodiversity reduces the aesthetic value of marine environments, specifically coral reefs, which usually causes declines in the demand for tourism-related services.
The case of the lionfish in the Caribbean is a good example of potential impacts of invasive species. This species has contributed to the decline of commercially important species of fish, including some species relevant to local consumption (Gómez Lozano et al. 2015). Introduction of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in some freshwater bodies in Nicaragua has caused a 50 per cent decline in total biomass catch (Wise et al. 2007).
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