Once favorite spots for twilight strolls and refreshing swims, the lagoons that encircle Nicaragua's capital city of Managua are in dismal condition. The Community of Young Environmentalists (JA!) wants to save the lagoons, but at least one may be beyond repair. Pedro Obregon, director of JA!, explains that Nejapa Lagoon "disappeared" when "sediments from deforestation blocked the underground waters that supplied it, so now it is completely dried up."
The government built a floating amphitheater in Tiscapa Lagoon and rows of seats on her banks. But the theater sunk, people stole the seats for scrap metal and stripped the banks of trees for firewood. Reforestation campaigns begun by JA! have failed, says Obregon, "because vagabonds start fires, and we lose the little trees." So the group solicited help from the Nicaraguan Army, which now guards Tiscapa.
JA! also convinced the mayor of Managua to build water treatment plants to replace storm drains that Obregon says emptied "sediments, rainwater, sewage, soapy water and the garbage of Managua into the lagoon." In an Earth Day effort to call attention to their campaign, JA! volunteers collected five cartloads of garbage from Tiscapa last April and lined them up in the middle of one of Managua's busiest intersections.
Another problem lagoon is Xiloa, whose sulfurous waters made it a popular bathing spot, with nearly a million visitors annually. Bars and restaurants line Xiloa's shores, but Obregon points out that there are not enough public facilities. JA! insists that the government build adequate sanitary services, provide trash cans and clean up the shoreline garbage.
Contact: Pedro Obregon, Jovenes Ambientalistas, Apdo. C-101, Managua, Nicaragua, 505-2/60-0136 (tel), 77-3525 (fax).