EU PROJECT - PROMABOS

SUPPORT FOR REFORESTATION AND FOREST MANAGEMENT BY THE TRADITIONAL KEEPING OF NON-STINGING BEES IN NW EL SALVADOR, CENTRAL AMERICA (Projecto de Manejo de Abejas y del Bosque, PROMABOS) 
This project on native bees and trees in El Salvador is executed by the Faculty of Biology, Utrecht University, for the European Commission, Brussels, under the daily supervision of the Bee Research Department.

Dr. Harriet de Jong, International Director
Lic. Mauricio Paniagua, Local Director
Drs. Martin Smeets, specialist Tropical Ecology
Dr. Marinus J. Sommeijer, Senior Advisor
Email: M.J.Sommeijer@bio.uu.nl

VACANCY AT THE PROMABOS PROJECT OF UTRECHT UNIVERSITY
IN EL SALVADOR

PROJECT LOCATION:
El Salvador, Montecristo area and Chalatenango province, the north western border zone with Guatemala and Honduras

PROJECT ORGANISATION:
The project is executed for the EC by the Faculty of Biology, Utrecht University (Dr. Marinus J. Sommeijer, Dr. Harriet de Jong, Drs. Martin Smeets) in cooperation with the University of El Salvador (Lic. Carlos Ruano), Ministry of Agriculture (Lic. Mauricio Paniagua) and the Ministry of Environment.

DURATION OF THE PROJECT
48 months, start: 1 August 2000

SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT
Stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponinae) are indigenous to the Neo-Tropical World and play a crucial role in the pollination of the endemic vegetation in the region. There are numerous meliponine species in Central America; for instance in Costa Rica 60 species have been reported. Because of their social (colony-living) behaviour and the occurrence of many sympatric species, stingless bees are the most abundant bees in Neo-tropical ecosystems.

After the discovery of the new world, the European honeybees, Apis mellifera, were introduced in the Americas. This was the start of the development of the apiculture with A. mellifera in many American countries. In contrast to the development of this type of beekeeping ("apiculture") to a commercial scale, which was possible because of technology and biological know-how exclusively related to the European honeybee, the traditional beekeeping with the indigenous stingless bees ("meloponiculture") did not surpass the status of a primitive enterprise, altough its importance as a source of income for rural households has long been known. 



Stingless bee hives (Melipona beecheii) in trunks hanging from roof of hut in El Salvador, C.A.


After the introduction in 1957 of an aggressive African race of the honeybee (A. mellifera) and the subsequent uncontrolled hybridization and take over of domesticated colonies of honeybees in large parts of Latin America, beekeeping has become difficult in these areas, because of the aggressiveness of the"Africanizadas" or "killer bees". After their crossing of the Panam  canal in 1982, these bees have gradually invaded Central America with dramatic results in this region. At present "killer bees" are spread all over Central America and Mexico and to some of the Southern states of the USA.

The project, "PROMABOS", aims at the development of stingless beekeeping in the Montecristo forest area of El Salvador and in the Chalatenango department of El Salvador, where deforestation is important because of population pressure. The project will strive to highlight the importance of the regional forest as an essential resource for indigenous beekeeping. With this knowledge it is expected to motivate the local population to conserve the forest within a program for the development of meliponiculture. To establish information concerning the importance of local bees as essential components of the forest ecosystem (as pollinators) in this region, the project will carry out studies concerning plant-bee relations that will find direct application in the PROMABOS project and within reforestation programs .

The project will facilitate interactive participation of the local population by developing the exploitation of the indigenous forest through the harvest of non-timber forest products (honey, wax and pollen). 

Major project activities are:

• development of sustainable beekeeping practices with the local people, based on local forest conditions
• applied ecological research on the plant-bee relations
• supply of information on the value of indigenous trees and shrubs for reforestation and forest management
• ecologically founded community development

Plant-bee interaction, in particular in the case of native bees, is basic for the preservation of the ecological equilibrium and the biological diversity of flora and fauna in the tropics, particularly in Tropical America, where the genus Apis originally did not occur. Some species of these bees have been bred by the indigenous people of Central America and Mexico. Since pre-Spanish times, before the European honeybees (Apis mellifera) had been introduced by European settlers, stingless bees have been used for the production of honey and wax. They were economically very important and they still play an important role in indigenous cultures and religions. Meliponine bees help to conserve the biodiversity in the Montecristo natural park. In El Salvador, the local people make use of 19 different stingless bee species of which Melipona beecheii is of particular importance in local beekeeping practices. This is also the case in neighbouring Guatemala and Honduras. There is evidence that the introduced stinging honeybees cannot substitute the meliponine species in pollination terms.

By promoting and developing indigenous beekeeping practices, the project will motivate the local people to participate in the conservation of the forest and in reforestation programmes that can be adapted on the basis of results of the project. The project target groups are the local subsistence farmers and the proposed working programme is particularly suitable to include participation of rural women and children.