Newsletter #1	26 April 2004
	With this newsletter we would like to give a bi-anual report on the actual conservation development in the cloud forest reserve Chelemhá. Chelemhá is an important cloud forest in the Yalijux mountain range, department Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. The cloud forest is home to the Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), the national bird of Guatemala. Chelemhá was officially designated a protected area in 2003. Conservation activities are coordinated by the local NGO UPROBON.
	Chelemhá online For everybody who wants to be informed more regularly, the Chelemhá web site maintained by UPROBON is always accessible at: http://www.chelemha.org/ Do not miss the new photographs from March 2004! http://www.chelemha.org/fotos.htm
	Land purchase In order to guarantee a lasting connection between two protected areas (see graphic), a land purchase was contractually arranged in 2003. UPROBON needs urgent support in order to cancel US$30.000 for the land purchase. Please help! With a donation you can support the conservation of this valuable reserve. With only US$50 you support the purchase of 2,800 sq metres of cloud forest. http://www.chelemha.org/area.htm
	Sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism can be a tool to protect the primary forest from destruction due to slash-and-burn agriculture. The protection of the forest means protection of the stock, which garantees a long-term income. In 2003 UPROBON began to develop a local tourism program in Chelemhá with the following features (infrastructure, training of local tourist guides) http://www.chelemha.org/tourismus.htm Please help! We need to raise US$ 5.000 in order to finish the construction of the Maya Cloud Forest Lodge. With your donation you support the development of a sustainable conservation work in Chelemhá. http://www.chelemha.org/spenden.htm
	We are seeking volunteers (cabinet-makers) for the construction of the Maya Cloud Forest Lodge. Some photos of the actual state of the lodge: http://www.chelemha.org/holzfachleute.htm For more information please write to: uprobon@chelemha.org There is no electricity nor telephone available in Chelemhá. We can only answer our correspondence from our office in the town of Cobán. In case you do not receive an immediate answer, we are in Chelemhá, and we ask you for a little patience.
Published by: UPROBON Colonia El Maestro - Lote 17 A Zona 12, Cobán, Alta Verapaz Guatemala Text and Design: Knut Eisermann and Markus Reinhard uprobon@chelemha.org If you do not want to receive the following issues of the Chelemhá Newsletter, please send an email to: unsubscribe@chelemha.org