Along El Salvador’s western coast lies a 10,000-hectare (25,000-acre) emerald oasis, in stark contrast to the rest of the country’s largely deforested landscape. This lush forest, just a few miles from the Guatemalan border, teems with diverse wildlife – from crocodiles and crabs to fish darting through seemingly endless mangroves.
More than a biodiversity haven, Barra de Santiago serves as a crucial carbon sink in a region battling deforestation, and a natural shield for a country exposed to climate crisis-induced tropical storms and escalating sea levels. It is also home to thousands of people, whose lives are intricately tied to the resources provided by land and sea.
However, this critical natural asset in Central America is in danger due to the effects of the climate crisis, rapid urbanisation, cattle grazing, extensive deforestation from the sugarcane industry, and increasing demand for timber in the country.
Since 1950, El Salvador has lost more than 60% of its mangrove forest. In 1982, an earthquake and tropical storm that hit the coastal region partially destroyed the Barra de Santiago mangrove, accelerating the environmental devastation.
The climate crisis remains a threat to the mangrove forest, as stronger storms are causing trees to fall, and the increase in temperatures is putting this marine life sanctuary at risk.
Since 2022, mangrove areas in El Salvador have been part of a Unesco-led restoration project, which will invest until 2025 in actions to restore and conserve mangroves in Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Peru.
The project aims to empower local communities and young people through training and education, raising awareness about the environmental importance of mangroves. It includes the development of educational toolkits and support for the OceanTeacher Global Academy, an internet-based training platform.
Local people, however, hold out little hope of recovering degraded mangrove forests in El Salvador. “The new real estate developments, the use of pesticides and especially the sugarcane industry makes it hard to think that we could return to a healthy forest,” says Díaz. “All of our efforts will probably only slow down the destruction.”