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Goals 2005 – 2010. Asociación Vivamos Mejor, Guatemala. Lake Atitlán Project description and goals achievement The Atitlán Watershed Multiple Use Reserve is located in the Highlands of Western Guatemala, Central America. This protected area aims to conserve the forest ecosystems of the surrounding mountains and volcanoes, the hydrological functioning of the Lake Atitlán watershed, the tangible and non-tangible cultural heritage of the region, and its spectacular natural beauty. The endorheic watershed has its geological origin in a series of cataclysmic events that created a volcanic caldera, filled partially by Lake Atitlán. The southern part of the watershed is characterized by the presence of three recent volcanoes that rise up to 3,500 meters above sea level in the Atitlán volcano, all of them covered by cloud forests, home to the endemic Horned Guan, a rare cracid bird that exists only in Chiapas and Guatemala. The central portion of the watershed used to be covered by pine-oak forests, and that is the area where most of the towns, communities and agricultural fields are located. The protected area, enacted in 1955 as a national park, it was re-categorized as a Multiple Use Reserve in 1997, in recognition of the large human population and diverse agricultural use of the area. Vivamos Mejor started to support local conservation and sustainable development efforts along with governmental agencies such as CONAP, the National Council of Protected Areas, the government agency in charge of the official management of the reserve, INAB, the National Forest Institute, that provides forest protection financial incentives and AMSCLAE, the Authority for Sustainable Management of Lake Atitlan Watershed. Municipalities are also partners and beneficiaries of Vivamos Mejor conservation and management projects. Our projects with local and global partners since 2002 have supported main strategies in the surrounding Lake Atitlán Watershed: •Establishment of a Regional Municipal Park System with 6,000 Ha of municipal lands under protection in 7 municipalities of Sololá province Regional municipal park system •Establishment of 900 Ha of community-based reforestation projects, with more than 2,000 beneficiaries in 19 municipalities of Sololá province •Establishment of 2 ecotourism projects in municipal parks and support for a communitybased tourism network in Sololá Province •Support for the certification of 74 Ha of organic coffee for 8 small producers organizations, representing 350 families. •Establishment of Lake Atitlán as an associated member of Living Lakes Network •Support for Ecological Monitoring Plan in Terrestrial and Aquatic Conservation Targets Small coffee producers being certified. ASUVIM 2007 Ecotourism project in Santa Clara la Laguna, Solola Province. Estuardo Girón, 2007 Water sampling in Lake Atitlan Estuardo Girón, 2009 Community-based reforestation project in Nahualá. Francisco Sánchez, 2008 Conservation targets and protected area