SDG 13: Climate Action
In Guatemala’s San Marcos department, 52-year-old Miriam Pérez is the lead beekeeper in a CARE initiative that directly links environmental conservation with income-generating activities for Indigenous and marginalized communities. In Pérez’s village of La Fe, 10 agrarian families share duties of maintaining hives, extracting and bottling honey, and marketing their products.
Every week, Pérez walks or hires a tuk-tuk to check on the hives about 3 kilometers away. “I go out there by myself and talk to the bees,” she says. “I say, ‘Hello, my lovelies. I’m here now.’ I never imagined I would be doing this. We’re very poor, and this really helps all the families here.”
“This project is about building capacities and strengthening resilience of this group of women,” says Deyvid Velásquez, climate change specialist for CARE Guatemala. “They have a very high-quality product, which will be sold in other areas of the country – and if possible – exported.”
People in La Fe may not use the term “climate change,” but they see it every day. Years ago, it rained more. Or it rained in May; now they have to wait until June or July. They see all the changes, Velásquez says. And they see the benefits of climate adaptation as well.
“We’re helping conserve native ecosystems while producing an economic resource,” Velásquez says. “It’s important to understand the relationship between the bees, the ecosystems, and the people… If we can all live together and take care of one another, this can be sustainable for a long time.”