A Holistic Land Acquisition for the Expansion of El Yunque National Forest
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Urbanization induced expansion is increasing globally, presenting significant threats for ecologically protected areas. In Puerto Rico, the expansion’s effects are particularly concerning, especially for El Yunque National Forest, a one-hundred seventeen square kilometer protected area on the island’s northeast corner. The U.S. Forest Service, El Yunque’s official caretaker, creates initiatives to mitigate the damages associated with nearby urbanization and urban land cover. Over the past century, their biggest initiatives have been to acquire and manage additional lands in order to protect them from development that might harm the local ecosystem. Historically, this conservation approach sometimes created friction with locals, failing to recognize sociocultural and socioeconomic connections to El Yunque. At the end of the twentieth century, the U.S. Forest Service recognized the need to improve community relations and conservation outcomes, re-evaluating their conservation management strategies. Currently, they are seeking ways to develop a more inclusive land acquisition process that involves local input. Thus, we developed a holistic land acquisition process for the expansion of El Yunque that meaningfully integrates the U.S. Forest Service’s conservation agenda with local land use preferences. We evaluated our process in Luquillo and Naguabo, two municipalities on the respective northeastern and southern borders of the forest. We found land areas in Luquillo that could be used for a regional hiking trail and ecological corridor to a coastal protected area while stimulating the community’s economic development. In Naguabo, we found land areas that could increase landslide clean-up and watershed conservation efforts while boosting local ecotourism and agritourism. Our process and findings show how contextualizing technical data with a community perspective can preserve El Yunque’s ecosystem for posterity.
- This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.
- Creator
- Subject
- Publisher
- Identifier
- 24126
- E-project-051221-162754
- Keyword
- Advisor
- Year
- 2021
- Center
- Sponsor
- UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Date created
- 2021-05-12
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- Last modified
- 2021-08-29
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