Centro Salvadoreņo de Tecnologia Apropiada (CESTA) is the most influential environmental institution in El Salvador. Founded in 1980, it has a staff of 60 and a membership of 3,000. It has an environmental page in a national newspaper and a quarterly journal. CESTA has stopped the destruction of the El Espino Forest which would have affected water availability to the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Capital, and saved the El Pescadito de Oro waterspring from being exploited by Government and industry. It has stopped 3 million tons of ash and 400 tons of used tires from being brought into the country. CESTA has a school which develops technologies to improve sanitation, reduce energy consumption, improve nutrition and make transportation environmentally-friendly. Thousands of bicycles, pedal-powered garbage collectors, water pumps, solar cookers and dryers, water filters and environmentally-friendly roof tiles have been produced. CESTA has Eco Centres in 21 communities involved in garbage recycling, reforestation, water cleaning, reduction of soil erosion, harvesting and processing of medicinal plants, production of biodegradable pesticides and firewood-saving stoves and turtle harvesting. CESTA has created a forest in the name of the 75,000 people who died during the war. Thanks to CESTA, there is now a legislative department, an ombudsman, an attorney and a police force dealing with the environment, and laws on agro-chemicals, industrial effluents, wildlife protection and the use of unleaded gasoline.
Updated By:
Last Updated: |
