Help Save Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

            Lake Atitlan, located in the mountainous region of Guatemala, has been called one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Surrounded by large volcanoes and small fishing villages this lake is a spectacle for the senses.  The lake is losing its luster though according to the article “Help Save Lake Atitlan, Guatemala”, written by Barbara Schieber.  In the past few decades, tourism leading to the growth of towns and industry around the lake has ended up hurting the lake they depend on.  Before tourism began to boom, the residents around the lake lived in a more sustainable way, a way that did not pollute the lake.  But with the influx of tourists and the news ways in which the area had to accommodate them, pollution began to spread.  It began with debris such as plastic bottles and garbage.  Then it turned out the hotels and businesses around the lake that accommodated tourists were dumping sewage water and other toxins directly into the lake.  The Guatemalan government, not having the strong political structures to enforce environmental laws, has not gone through the right steps to halt this pollution of the lake.  Also, contamination has risen due to agricultural practices around the lake.  In this region farmers use an abundance of fertilizers and chemical protectants on their crops, little of which is regulated by the government.  These toxins reached the lake, and in 2008 cyanobacteria (a blue-green algae) was reported.

            This problem corresponds with our discussion of the Highly-Developed Nations compared to Less-Developed Nations.  Poverty in this country is tremendous, and businesses and individuals may not have the money to fund equipment and certain practices that prevent pollution.  Also, lesser developed countries tend to have an unstable political structure and Guatemala is no exception to this.  The amounts of consumption the region is not due to the native population.  Over-consumption came as a result of the influx of tourists from highly developed nations. 

            Having actually visited Lake Atitlan myself I know how special this place really is.  It is truly sad that a place so rich in native culture and natural beauty is facing the problems that it is.  The way I see it is that the tourists to the area did not mean to have such a drastic affect on the Lake.  It was the fact that the region was not capable of accommodating tourism in a environmentally safe way due to the reason states before.  But as I have seen, it is also the people who visit the lake and have fallen in love with it that are taking strides to protect it.  They know the native population does not have the means nor perhaps the right information to act sustainably.  So, many tourists have formed groups and raised money to do so.  The reason the lake became polluted to begin with may also be the reason it is protected in the future.

Source:  Schieber, Barbara. "Help Save Lake Atitlan, Guatemala." Guatemala News. 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. <http://www.guatemala-times.com/news/guatemala/1222-help-save-lake-atitlan-guatemala.html>.