| El Salvador | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | middle America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and Honduras | ||||||||||||||||||
| National websites | http://www.casapres.gob.sv/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Embassy / Chancery in U.S. | (include address) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Agencies responsible for biological inventory and conservation | Urbanizacion
Buznos Aires
Pasase Mar Del Plata San Salvador, El Salvador Centro America Ministerio
De Medio Ambiente Y Recursos Naturales
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| Non-governmental organizations concerned with conservation | Asociacion Ambientalista
ASACMA - Aspcoación Salvadoreña De Conservacioñ
Del Medio Ambiente
Salvanatura
complete list @ http://www.greenbuilder.com/mader/ecotravel/center/salvador/salvador.html |
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| Major Natural Resources | El Salvador, although a very small country, has a few natural resources due to its location in tropical Central America. There are petroleum deposits, and fertile farmland. Much of the countries economy is based around agriculture. The products El Salvador exports include coffee, sugarcane, corn, rice, beans,oil seed, cotton, and sorghum. The tropical environment accounts for the ability to produce these crops. Other resources include coastal fishing areas on the Pacific Ocean, and some very limited mining areas. Source: http://www.marn.gob.sv/desafio/htm | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major Environmental and Conservation Issues | There has been widespread devastation of the environment in El Salvador due to the recent civil war, which lasted throughout parts of the 70's and 80's. Only 2% of El Salvador's land is natural forests, which is insufficient to support a succesful forestal ecosystem. The high predominance of farmland has resulted in a very high level of soil erosion, which is detrimental to the area. Although the country has a relatively high rainfall level, water is scarce for a number of reasons. Much of the water is contaminated in local streams due to the pollution and poor sanitation controls in rural areas, and administration of water resources is very poorly managed. The result is an excess amount of water-wasting. Also, industrial companies do essentially nothing to control their water waste and pollution, and contaminate the water supply indiscriminately. Lastly, the urban city areas are plagued with air pollution due to the increased numberof people and smog. Approximately 50% of the population is under 20 years of age, which demonstrates the recent growth. The diesel fuel that is used is very poorly refined. On a positive note, they no longer use leaded fuel. Source: http://www.marn.gob.sv/desafio/htm | ||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Land area | 21,040 Sq. km | http://www.odci.gov/cia/publication/factbook/ec.html | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of forest | 127 ha | http://www.odci.gov/cia/publication/factbook/ec.html | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of wetlands | (Sq. km) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Area of territorial waters | 320 Sq. km | http://www.odci.gov/cia/publication/factbook/ec.html | |||||||||||||||||
| Population: 5,897,000 | Density: | 280.28 Sq. km | |||||||||||||||||
| Area protected (ha) (only areas >1000ha) at all IUCN levels: | Fraction of land area protected (%): | 0.9% | |||||||||||||||||
| Major Protected Areas | List of Major Protected Areas | Information Center for the Environment | |||||||||||||||||
| Endemic Species |
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http://data.wri.org:/1996/ | |||||||||||||||||
| Endangered, Threatened and Vulnerable Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Extinct Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Species listed on CITES Appendices | CITES-listed Species Database | ||||||||||||||||||
| Legislation | |||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered or threatened species | for a comprehensive list go to: http://sedac.ciesin.org/pidb/pidb-home.html#bqs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered ecosystems | |||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to CITES | yes 29, July 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention | no | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Convention on Biological Diversity | yes 07, December 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty | no | ||||||||||||||||||
| Member of International Whaling Commission | no | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to other international treaties designed to protect or manage biological resources | Climate Change, Desertification,Endagered Species, Haxardous Wates, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection | ||||||||||||||||||
| Natural Resource Use | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fisheries | 4,577 metric tons of freshwater fish produced, many which are from aquaculture | ||||||||||||||||||
| Forestry / deforestation | 3 ha | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ecotourism | |||||||||||||||||||
| Trade in wildlife products | |||||||||||||||||||
| Hunting | fishing | http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ | |||||||||||||||||
| Other uses of natural resources | petroleum products | http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ | |||||||||||||||||
| Human Impacts on Natural Resources | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Air pollution | |||||||||||||||||||
| Water pollution | due to antiquated farming techniques, pesticides pollute the water | ||||||||||||||||||
| Development activities | |||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced species | |||||||||||||||||||
| Legislation addressing these issues | |||||||||||||||||||
| Restoration and Reintroduction | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for restoration of damaged habitat | |||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for ex situ conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species | |||||||||||||||||||
Return to Endangered Species Protection around the World
Page compiled by Daniel Michael Evans as part of a class project in h90 "The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation" (Peter J. Bryant, Instructor), University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA