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Nicaragua's Caribbean Coast

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NSF Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems Program

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The Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua

The fabled Caribbean "Mosquito" Coast of Nicaragua represents one of the last roadless and isolated areas of Central America, a condition that has contributed to its wildness and has hampered its economic development. The isolation of the Caribbean Coast is diminishing as two new highways that connect the coast to the national highway system and to global markets are completed. The first road, from El Rama to Pearl Lagoon (Figure 1), was completed in the summer of 2007. The second highway is planned to connect Nueva Guinea (inland) to Monkey Point (coastal) and serve as a “dry canal.”

To some extent the Mosquito Coast has benefited from isolation. Isolation spared the communities from many of the economic disasters experienced by the rest of the country. The region has avoided the widespread trends of agricultural failure, resource exhaustion, and urban migration observed in many communities that depend on agriculture and natural resources for their livelihoods. Because of its isolation, it has not been affected by an influx of competing imported goods (agricultural or otherwise) and has maintained its agrarian/fisheries economy. Local knowledge has allowed farmers to cultivate single pieces of land for generations, reducing the strain of shifting agriculture on local natural resources (Christie et al. 2000). Communal management of farmlands, pine savannas, marine resources and lowland rainforests may have allowed these villages to reduce their impact (Hale et al. 1998, Christie 1999).

Our study focuses on several villages on Nicaragua ’s Caribbean Coast. While each community differs in its degree of connectedness to global networks, many share similarities in ethnicity, ecological characteristics, resource dependence, and land tenure regimes (Table 1).

Ethnic Diversity

Known as the land of six faces, Nicaragua ’s Caribbean Coast is a melting pot of different ethnicities. The six major ethnicities are Afro-Caribbean (Creole), Mestizo (Spanish-Indigenous), Garifuna, Miskito, Rama, and Sumo, the last three being indigenous groups. The diversity has made the area an anthropological hotbed, with the majority of research historically on the coast focusing on indigenous cultures and relationships between cultures (Hale et al. 1998). The villages in our study represent a wide mix of these ethnicities (Table 1).

Natural Resources: Marine

The Mosquito Coast region is one of Central America’s richest in terms of natural resources. The very productive estuary of Pearl Lagoon is over 52,000 ha in surface area (Christie et al. 2000). Its fluctuating salinity makes it seasonally home to great numbers of fish and shrimp, with the species abundance varying with salinity. Fishing for “gillfish” was historically done with castnet and trotline, but since the mid 1980s there has been a great increase in gillnetting. Shrimp fishing in the lagoon is done with castnet and small trawlers (max depth ~5m). From anecdotal evidence, both gillfish and shrimp populations are thought to be decreasing.

The second major marine ecosystem in the region is the coral reef and turtlegrass flats located outside of the estuary (Figure 1). The reefs have historically been home to spiny lobster which was harvested for its high commercial value. The stocks of lobsters around the Pearl Keys have greatly diminished, causing fishermen to travel to deeper water reefs in search of the lobsters. Lobster fishing is done both by diving and with traps.

Natural Resources: Terrestrial

At the meeting of sea and land exists vast areas of mangrove forest. On the shores of the Caribbean and the Pearl Lagoon Estuary and riparian areas extending far up into the rivers, forests are dominated by Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) and White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa). The mangroves are important for timber resources and as nurseries for the fish and shrimp populations. Mangrove destruction is of great concern globally, and this perimeter ecosystem could be greatly affected by changes in the region.

Where sandy soils exist inland, the Caribbean pine, (Pinus caribea) mixes with palmettos (Sabal spp. and Acoelorraphe wrightii), cashew trees (Anacardium occidentale) and grasses on pine savannahs. The pine savannahs have been exploited for timber at greater than sustainable rates. Pine trees are still present and extensive clearcutting has been avoided, but larger trees are scarce. The savannahs are restricted to areas north of Pearl Lagoon.

The predominant clay soils of the region are home to tropical lowland rainforest. The hyper-diverse rainforest is home to hundreds of tree species and associated rich biodiversity (Vandermeer et al. 2004, Christie 1999, Urquhart 1997, 2004). The rainforests have been utilized for hardwood timber, hunting grounds, and some harvesting.

Agriculture in the region is located on both clay soils and in clay-sand mixes where pine would naturally transition to hardwood rainforest. Clay soils are of poor quality for agriculture and are quickly exhausted, contributing to the highly mobile nature of peasant farmers along the agricultural frontier. Around the Pearl Lagoon basin, farming is mostly done on transitional clay-sand soils that have good drainage characteristics and adequate nutrient supply. Agriculture in the Rocky Point area, just SW of Pearl Lagoon town, and around Kakabila, Brown Bank, and Orinoco has existed for decades in relatively stable parcels. Most parcels have a mixture of annual and perennial crops, with cassava, beans, corn, pineapple, and plantain being the major crops.

Pre-Connection Economics

As an example, the economy of one of our study communities, Pearl Lagoon, has historically been based on fisheries and agricultural products. The main fisheries products (i.e. lobster, shrimp, and gillfish) differ in the markets to which they are delivered. Lobster is sold at a distant buying and processing station on Corn Island, shrimp is sold to a processor near Bluefields or sold for local consumption, and the majority of gillfish is consumed locally. Most agricultural products (i.e. cassava, corn, beans, and Aroid root vegetables) are sold locally, with few products even reaching the markets of Bluefields, only 30km to the south.

Like in many poor communities, family remittances from relatives working in the United States or on cruise ships contribute significantly to the local economy. The other major contribution to the economy is tourism, which is limited by the need to travel to Bluefields (also not reachable by road) first and then through informally organized boat transit to Pearl Lagoon. The economy has suffered due to isolation. Gasoline prices are 15-25% higher than in nearby Bluefields and supply is intermittent, sometimes crippling the fishing industry (and leaving researchers in the dark!).

Land Tenure

Land tenure regimes are highly variable along the Mosquito Coast. Many communities have communal land tenure with roots in the indigenous Miskito/Sumo culture. Although individuals do not have formal title over land, particular parcels have stayed under the control of families for generations, leading to a recent effort to demarcate and formalize individual land tenure for fear of increasing outsider encroachment (Gordon et al. 2003).

The threat of outsiders usurping communal lands is not an imagined one; in 1999 a US entrepreneur obtained titles to the Pearl Keys, a series of communally owned, palm covered islands just outside the Pearl Lagoon estuary. Many of the Pearl Keys were sold to outside American, Greek, and Australian investors, and their privatization had a significant impact. The Pearl Keys were communal bases for lobster fishermen who could camp on any island during the lobster season. Privatization meant exclusion, and the fishermen found themselves no longer able to use the islands their families had used for generations. Several acts of defiance (e.g. arson and property destruction) have occurred since the sales of these islands. The legitimacy of the entrepreneur’s ownership and sales of titles has been challenged in Nicaraguan courts, and it appears that the communal ownership will triumph. This very complicated case illustrates the impact that a breach in isolation can have for an isolated community and serves as a caveat for moving forward in connecting to outside economies.

Isolation and the New Roads

Based on our initial observations and data gathering, coastal inhabitants lament the impacts of isolation—lack of markets for their products, intermittent and costly fuel supply, slow development and poor functioning of infrastructure (i.e. electric, water), and lack of formal employment opportunities. Under requests from the Pearl Lagoon town residents and the nearby town of Kukra Hill, the national government developed a plan to build a road connecting these communities to the national highway system at El Rama.

The Institute for Rural Development (IDR) conceived the roadbuilding project in 2005. With funding from Japan ’s KR2 aid foundation, IDR engineers began construction of the segment from El Rama, the end of paved highways, to Kukra Hill in early 2006. Although the road was still incomplete, automobile and truck transit to Pearl Lagoon began in January 2007. In less than 18 months total, the 70 km road reached Pearl Lagoon in mid 2007. The unpaved, gravel-surfaced road is highly subject to weathering and erosion, and Hurricane Felix damaged large sections of the road in September 2007.

Figure 1. Caribbean “Mosquito” Coast (shaded area) of Nicaragua showing key communities. Inset map is a composite showing terrestrial land classification based on Landsat image Path 015 Row 05. Note extensive forest and savannah around Pearl Lagoon Basin. Image processed using ERDAS Imagine and ground-truthed in southern Pearl Lagoon basin. Key to inset map: A – Pearl Lagoon Town, B – Kukra Hill, C – Kakabila, D – Brown Bank, E – La Fe, F – Orinoco, G – Marshall Point, H – Wawachang, I – Karawala. Other abbreviations: RAAN – Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region, RAAS – Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region, RSJ – Rio San Juan province.

Table 1.  Characteristics of communities to be studied. Italicized per capita incomes based on regional averages.  Keys for ecosystems: Terrestrial: R-Rainforest, M-Mangrove, P-Pine, W-Swamp/Wetland; Marine/Aquatic: E-Estuary, C-Coral Reefs, I-Inshore, F-Freshwater Rivers.

Sources: ^a Institute for Natural Resources, Environment, and Sustainable Development, URACCAN, Bluefields, Nicaragua .
^b United Nations Development Program, Managua, Nicaragua .
^c Nicaraguan Institute of the Terrestrial Studies, Managua, Nicaragua .
^d Remote sensing data.

This project is supported by the NSF Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Program.