Participants included public officials, natural resource managers and representatives of civil organizations, businesspeople, cooperation agencies, universities, Central American environmental ministries, the Central American Parliament, and others, who examined such critical issues as:

• The situation of water resources on the isthmus;
• Obstacles to integrated water resources management
• Strategies and principles for implementation of the Regional Action Plan; and
• Mechanisms for implementing the plan.

Important sessions took place for debate on the following themes:

• Regional institutionality
• Transboundary river basins
• Low political priority
• Public awareness
• A system of information with regional importance
• Analysis of the most common problems and proposals for solving them

The main proposals discussed were to:

• Define and establish a Central American branch of the Global Water Partnership (GWP);
• Form a working group (Fundación Ambio, Fundación Natura, Fundación Vida, Asociación para la Cuenca del Río Tempisque and IUCN-Mesoamerica) to include water as an environmental component in the final document;
• Request the Central American Integration System (Sistema de Integración Centroamericana - SICA) to facilitate forums of discussion among coordinating groups and regional Governments concerning the theme of water resources in Central America;
• Establish suitable mechanisms of participation for civil society in the region through organizations uniting its different sectors; and
• Form a "Transitional Working Group," consisting of the national consultants for the Action Plan for the Central American Isthmus.

CCAD is awaiting the preparation of a final version of the document based on comments and discussion during the regional conference

For more information contact Manuel Basterrechea, Coordinator of the Action Plan for Water Resources in Central America:
E-mail: [email protected]
Avenida Reforma 1-50 Zona 9 Ofic. 603 Ciudad de Guatemala,
Guatemala.
Tel: (502) 332-9767, Fax: (502) 334-5403