I.

SUMMARY OF THE FOREST LAW DECREE NUMBER 101-96:

Natural resources are the fundamental basis for the economic and social development of
all Guatemalans, through sustainable management of them we can improve the quality of
life, education, economy and also a balanced environment for future generations, this is
how In this document, a summary of the Forest Law is made, so that in this way we can
know it in depth, for the benefit of the student.

The forestry law will help us to ensure that, through the valuation and care of forest
resources, there are new opportunities for productivity and development, and so that we
value the importance of natural resources, this law is created.

II. PURPOSE OF THE LAW:

It is of national interest, the conservation and reforestation of forests, through a sustainable

management process.

III. OBJECTIVES OF THE FOREST LAW: our forest legislation seeks in each of its objectives,
which are presented literally to make clear its primary purpose, emphasizing that the participation
of public and private institutions must be taken into account with a constant citizen participation.
Here the objectives of the law are presented, being the following:

a) Reduce the deforestation of forestry lands and the advance of the agricultural frontier,
through increasing the use of land in accordance with its vocation and without omitting
the characteristics of the soil, topography and climate;

b) Promote the reforestation of forest areas currently without forest, to provide the country
with the forest products it requires;

c) Increase the productivity of existing forests, subjecting them to rational and sustained
management according to their biological and economic potential, promoting the use of
industrial systems and equipment that achieve the greatest added value to forest
products;

d) Support, promote and incentivize public and private investment in forestry activities to
increase the production, marketing, diversification, industrialization and conservation of
forest resources;

e) Conserve the country's forest ecosystems, through the development of programs and
strategies that promote compliance with the respective legislation; and

f) Promote the improvement of the standard of living of communities by increasing the

provision of goods and services from the forest to satisfy the needs of firewood, housing,
rural infrastructure and food.

IV. APPLICATION OF THE FOREST LAW AND ITS OBSERVANCE: the application of this law is
throughout the national territory, on lands with forest areas and those with forestry vocation.
 V. SUSTAINABLE USE . The sustainable use of forest resources, including wood, seeds,
resins, gums and other non-timber products, will be granted by concession if they are
forests on national, municipal, communal or autonomous or decentralized entity lands; or
by licenses, if it is privately owned land, covered with forests.

The concessions and licenses for the use of forest resources, within the protected areas, will
be granted exclusively by the National Council of Protected Areas through the corresponding
contracts in accordance with the Protected Areas Law and other applicable regulations.

VI. TERMINOLOGY OF THE FOREST LAW For a better understanding, thirty-two terms are
presented that will help to understand each of the factors involved in its application and
validation.

1) TREE: Woody plant with a defined stem and crown.

2) PROTECTED AREA: Protected areas are those whose objective is the conservation,
rational management and restoration of wild flora and fauna, related resources and their
natural and cultural interactions, which have high significance for their function or their
genetic and historical values. , scenic, recreational, archaeological and protective, in such a
way as to preserve the natural state of biotic communities, unique geomorphological
phenomena, water sources and supplies, critical river basins, protective zones of
agricultural lands, in order to maintain sustainable development options.
3) FOREST USE: It is the benefit obtained from the use of the products or by-products of the
forest, in an orderly manner, according to a technically prepared management plan, which
therefore allows the use of forest assets for commercial purposes and not commercial,
under strict forestry plans that guarantee their sustainability.

Classification of forestry exploitation:

1. Commercial: Those carried out with the purpose of obtaining lucrative benefits derived
from the sale or use of forest products.
2. Non-Commercial: Those that provide non-profit benefits, according to their purposes, are
classified as:

a) Scientific: Those carried out for the purposes of scientific research and technological
development.
b) For family consumption: Those carried out for non-profit purposes to satisfy domestic
needs, such as: fuel, fence posts and buildings in which the extractor uses them
exclusively for his own consumption and that of his family. The regulations will determine
the maximum allowable volumes.

4) FOREST: It is the ecosystem where trees are the dominant and permanent plant species,
they are classified as:

Unmanaged natural forests: These are those caused by natural regeneration without human
influence.
Natural forests under management: These are those originated by natural regeneration and
that are subject to the application of silvicultural techniques.
Natural forests under agroforestry management : These are forests in which forest
management and agriculture are practiced together.
5) FOREST CONCESSION: It is the power that the State grants to Guatemalan persons,
individuals or legal entities, so that at their own expense and risk they carry out forestry
exploitation in state-owned forests, with the rights and obligations agreed upon in its
granting, in accordance with the law.
6) CONSERVATION: It is the management of plant and animal communities or organisms of
an ecosystem, carried out by man, with the aim of achieving their productivity and
development and even increasing it to optimal permissible levels, according to their capacity
and the technology of the moment, with an indefinite duration in time.
7) ECOSYSTEM: It is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microorganism communities
that interact with each other and with the non-living components of their environment as a
functional unit in a given area.
8) SPECIES: It is a group of individuals with similar characteristics that are identified with a
common scientific name.
9) FOREST FIRE: A fire that is out of man's control in a
forest.
10)FOREST INCENTIVES: These are all those incentives granted by the State to promote
reforestation and the creation of forests and/or the sustainable management of natural
forests.
11)LICENSE: It is the power that the State grants to individuals or legal entities, so that at their
own risk and expense they can make sustainable use of forest resources, including wood,
seeds, resins, gums and other non-timber products, on privately owned land. , covered with
forests.
12)PEST: Population of non-microscopic plants or animals that, due to their abundance and
relationship, cause economic and biological damage to the forest.
13)MANAGEMENT PLAN: It is a program of technically developed actions that lead to the
silvicultural management of a forest, with market value or not, ensuring the conservation,
improvement and increase of forest resources.
14)PLANTATION: It is a tree mass; They are forests established by direct or indirect sowing of
forest species. These can be voluntary or mandatory.
a) Voluntary: These are those established without prior commitment to the forestry
authority.
competent for exploitation or forest incentives for reforestation.
b) Mandatory: They are those established by commitments acquired before the forestry
authority. Permanent agricultural plantations of tree species are excepted of any type.
15)FOREST PRODUCTS: These are direct goods: round or tilled logs; material for pulp,
sleepers without any treatment, chips for agglomerates, firewood, charcoal, seeds, gums,
resins and bark. The regulation may specify other forest products to be included in the
corresponding lists.
16)FOREST PROTECTION: Set of measures that sustainable the forest.
17) REFORESTATION OR FOREST REPLOCATION: It is the set of reforestation actions in
a place where there is no forestation.
18)ESTABLISHED REFORESTATION: That reforestation takes place in the field and can
continue to grow, only with protective care.
19) ARTIFICIAL REGENERATION: It is the reproduction of seed collection until the
establishment of plants in the field.
 20)NATURAL REGENERATION: It is the reproduction of the b that can be favored by
silvicultural techniques
21)REHABILITATION: It is the process of returning a population or ecosystem to a
non-"degraded" condition that may be different from its natural condition.
22)FOREST REPRODUCTION: It is the regeneration of the forest either by reforestation or
by natural regeneration.
23) RESTORATION: It is the process of returning a degraded population or ecosystem to a
condition similar to the original.
24)DIRECT SOWING: It is the reproduction of afforestation through the collaboration of the
seed directly in the final field.
25)INDIRECT SOWING OR PLANTING: Establishment of a forest using plants that have
previously been cared for in a nursery.
26)FOREST FORESTER: Person who is dedicated to the cultivation and care of natural and
artificial forests.
27) AGROFOREST SYSTEMS: Agroforestry systems in forms of use of natural resource
management in which woody species (trees or shrubs) are used in deliberate association
with agricultural crops or in livestock farms with animals, on the same land,
simultaneously or in temporal sequence.
28)FELLING: Cutting a tree from its base.
29)CLEAR-FALLING: The silvicultural method of completely clearing down the forest cover
of an area.
30)FORESTRY VOCATION LAND: Areas or regions that, due to their geomorphological
and climatic characteristics, can have sustainable use in the forestry field.
31)SUSTAINABLE USE: It is the use of species, ecosystems, or other natural resources, at
a rate where it is maintained on the territorial surface that protects its proper functioning.
32)WATER RECHARGE ZONE: These are surface areas, associated with a specific basin,
that collect and allow water infiltration into groundwater levels and/or aquifers. The
strategic value of these is due to the saturation water that is eventually extracted by man
for his different productive activities.

VII. HOW THE INAB WAS CREATED. The National Forest Institute is created, which
may be abbreviated INAB and interchangeably as the Institute, for designations in this
law as a state, autonomous, decentralized entity, with legal personality, its own assets
and administrative independence; It is the management body and competent
authority of the Public Agricultural sector, in forestry matters.

VIII. THE INAB HAS THE FOLLOWING POWERS FOR ITS OPERATION

a) Execute forestry policies that meet the objectives of this law;

b) Promote and encourage the country's forestry development through sustainable forest
management, reforestation, forest industry and crafts, based on forest resources and the
protection and development of watersheds;
c) Promote research to solve forest development problems
through programs executed by universities and other research entities;
d) Coordinate the execution of forestry development programs at the national level;
e) Grant, deny, supervise, extend and cancel the use of forest concessions, licenses for the use
of forest products, outside protected areas;
f) Develop programs and projects for the conservation of forests and collaborate with entities
that require it;
g) Encourage and strengthen technical and professional careers in forestry;
h) Prepare the specific regulations of the institution and the matters of its competence; and,
i) The other powers that correspond to it, in accordance with this law and other provisions that
are applicable.

IX. WHEN REFERRING TO THE CONCESSIONS, according to the study of the law, we
could mention them as: FOREST CONCESSIONS and these in turn through the
following categories:
Category of concessions. The INAB may grant concessions on State lands and for this
purpose two categories are established:
1. Areas with forest.
2. Areas devoid of forest.
Concessions in forested areas. The INAB may grant forest areas in concession to
Guatemalan persons, individuals or legal entities, with the aim of achieving sustainable
management of the forest. To do this, the Management Plan for the corresponding area must
be available.
Concessions in areas devoid of forest. The INAB may grant forestry lands, but devoid of
forest, in concession to individual or legal Guatemalan persons, with the aim of said areas being
reforested through artificial or natural regeneration. Every State entity, whatever its nature, is
obliged to inform the INAB about areas subject to its jurisdiction, and once its forestry vocation
is established but devoid of forest, the INAB may grant concessionaires to reforest them and
make them a sustainable use. provided that the form of ownership makes this procedure
possible.
Awarding of concessions. Concessions on State lands, covered or devoid of forest, will be
awarded through public bidding in accordance with the State Procurement Law and the
prohibitions expressed in article 31 of this law.
Article 30: Conditions and characteristics of the concessions. The
Concessions will be given under the following conditions and characteristics:
AREA: The area must have an extension that allows for sustainable and productive
management.

Mariano Gálvez University of Guatemala

Environmental law

Graduate Xiomara Chacón

 SUMMARY OF THE FOREST LAW

Macx Stuart Delgado Reyes.

Card 0504-01-06099

Seventh Semester Legal and Social Sciences A.

Cobán, AV April 29, 2011.

 INTRODUCTION

This document presents a summary of the Forest Law, which is extremely important for the control
of the sustainable use of natural resources, taking into account that from its conceptualization to the
reforestation plans, each of them must be taken into account. the details that represent the care of
flora and fauna, something that benefits the economic and social development of Guatemalan
citizens.
 AIM

That through reading the law, we know its form of application in terms of the care and rational
and sustainable use of natural resources.
 CONCLUSION

The Forestry Law leaves many gaps regarding the deliberate awarding of licenses, which gives all the
benefits to the concessionaires who in turn commit unpunished acts against the environment.