El Bote Forest Reserve

Nicaragua
The El Bote Forest reserve, is located in the BOSAWAS, the largest intact rainforest in Central America. EnerGreen has recently committed funding to this project in the form of a purchase of 100 acres of primary rainforest.

Green Empowerment, our US sister Foundation, has worked with the community of El Bote to establish a Forest Reserve of 1362 acres of the El Bote watershed. Green Empowerment considers this project vital because it protects the watershed for the community's micro hydro system currently under construction as well as the community's source of potable water. It also preserves the threatened biodiversity in the region.

To date, a total of 1,340 acres of primary rainforest has been purchased for two permanent Forest Reserves and 200,000 trees were replanted. The Forest Reserve will be a buffer zone of the 8,000 kilometer BOSAWAS Biosphere, Central America's largest intact rainforest. The BOSAWAS Biosphere and the El Bote Forest Reserve will be included within the Biological Corridor of Central America. In the local economy deforested land is considered more valuable than rainforest. The BOSAWAS Reserve is an important center of biological diversity, which once lost will be gone forever.

This project is related to the types of projects EnerGreen has supported in the past and within the parameters of our funding criteria. We are currently negotiating with the project host for the allocation of 100% the green house gas emissions credits.