AUTHOR=Vammen Katherine , Peña Elizabet TITLE=Water and climate: Global environmental sustainability and the current state in a developing country, Nicaragua JOURNAL=Frontiers in Water VOLUME=Volume 4 - 2022 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/water/articles/10.3389/frwa.2022.975102 DOI=10.3389/frwa.2022.975102 ISSN=2624-9375 ABSTRACT=

Environmental sustainability means taking steps to secure adequate management of natural resources in all human productive and livelihood activities. These steps involve a strategy of rational sustainable exploitation and the introduction of effective conservation measures which means integral management on all levels, national, regional and global. The specific situation of Nicaragua, as a prime example of a country in development with a vast richness in natural resources is analyzed. To name a few, in total renewable water resources the country has the 14th highest total yearly internal renewable water resources per capita (24,161/capita/year) in the Americas and as a tropical country has a large variety of biodiversity and ecosystems such as tropical dry and humid forests and 910 km of coastal area in the Caribbean and Pacific coast. These natural resources and more could bring potential to promote its own development. In spite of this, the country is on an unsustainable path as many parts of the world but with even greater challenges due to limited economic sustainability, high vulnerability to climate change and the lack of institutional capacity to establish better management. Unsustainable practices ranging from over-exploitation of resources to drastic land use changes have created environmental problems which consequently affect human wellbeing and health. Additionally, ecosystems and the quality of resources are under pressure which lead to a reduction in quality of water, forests and biodiversity. For example, the dry tropical forests have been reduced in 90% from 2000 to 2011 in the Pacific and Central areas and humid tropical forests are constantly being invaded and converted to agricultural and pasture lands. Water quality has been affected from contamination from agriculture, industries and the natural volcanic geology (arsenic) in groundwater as well as eutrophication and increased sedimentation from the watersheds of both lakes and rivers. Climate change is exacerbating these problems and causing new ones. After illustrating the present state of resources in Nicaragua, strategic suggestions of needed components to introduce an integral and improved management of the water resources have been laid out as a proposal for the future that include improvement in institutional capacity and governance to promote better management.