Hello, this is Donilson Geovany Herrera Vielman, I am 18 years old and I am a student of third basic year at Centro Educativo Nufed Nº 427 in the village of Las Pozas Sayaxché Petén.

I want to talk to you about deforestation in our country, this is a topic of great importance.

First, it is necessary to know that our Guatemala has been from the time of our ancestors a very rich country regarding flora and fauna, but unfortunately, this is running out day after day. The culprits are us, mankind, who have gotten as far as cutting down trees, destroying the big mountain ranges and forests.

However, we get benefits from it, for example, when we get wood for fires, harvest the land, create pastures so we can work with livestock. Sometimes, though, we don’t settle with just cutting trees, so we end up setting them on fire, with this we contribute to the desertification of the soil.

That is the reason why animals have started to disappear, and some others are endangered, or some have taken shelter in untouched places that mankind has not yet stepped on.

Currently we can no longer see the flight of a macaw, or the walk of a deer, something our ancestors were able to do. Maybe we won’t be able to reinstate all this richness of flora and fauna, but we can still avoid deforestation. By being conscious in what we do, also taking care of the mountains and forests that we have left.

Every time we cut down one tree, we must plant ten, so one day our children will be able to enjoy of a better, fresher and more natural environment.

"This translation has been done thanks to Daniel Gil, a translation intern from VUB university"