Environmental & Socio-Culutral

Recent News

On November 5, 2015, the Nicaraguan Grand Canal Commission, led by Executive Director Paul Oquist, finally approved the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), which was sponsored by HKND. In 2014, Nicaraguan legislation had required the completion of an ESIA before HKND could begin any major infrastructure projects in the country. Now, the assessment has been sanctioned, permitting canal construction to begin (HKND-Group).

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Environmental and Social Impact Assessment

HKND hired a global sustainability consulting firm based in the United Kingdom, Environmental Resources Management (ERM), to carry out the ESIA. The main purpose of the ESIA was to understand and assess the potential environmental, social, economic, and community health impacts that would result from the Nicaragua Canal Project. The ESIA was a broad study implemented within three regions of Nicaragua: Rivas, Rio San Juan, and Région Autonómica del Atlántico Sur (RAAS). HKND ensured it would take into account the results of the ESIA, and make major efforts to curtail the negative impacts of building the canal, particularly by redesigning and adjusting the planning and management decisions (HKND-Group).

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The methodology of the ESIA consisted of baseline studies to understand the current social, environmental, and health conditions of villages and towns within the three regions. Social and environmental specialists conducted months of field research to not only predict potential impacts of the Project, but also aid in developing relief measures to remedy any significant changes for the local residents (HKND-Group).

Another aspect of the ESIA was to guarantee public engagement during research analysis and the formulation of alternative options for the proposed canal design. The ESIA incorporated town hall meetings, focus group meetings with women, farmers and fishermen, and also scoping meetings to both objectively and subjectively discuss the concerns and fate of the indigenous (HKND-Groups).

The ESIA indicated that all HKND decisions in construction, operations, and design would be readily discussed with the public, and particularly the indigenous populations whose communities could potentially be affected by the construction; however, this was not the case. Many local residents complained that researchers had never discussed the Project or provided a comprehensive report of the ESIA, thus far. More critics of the ESIA believed that the process was rushed, as the researchers collected and analyzed data in less than a year and a half. The public and other government officials were also very skeptical of the results because the researchers refused to release the report for independent review as a means to validate the data collection measures, the quantitative analyses and projections of outcomes. Others believed that the ESIA was simply a ploy to appease the Nicaraguan government and other financial stakeholders and investors. Rumors spread claiming that various sub-projects related to the Project had already begun before the ESIA was released, angering the uninformed members who began to question various components of the study’s results (TicoTimes).

Environmental Concerns

A substantial fear of the Project is its potential effects on Lake Nicaragua, commonly known as Lake Colcibolca. Lake Nicaragua is a primary fresh-water reservoir and also the largest source of drinking water for the Nicaraguan people. Water quality is a crucial concern of the Nicaraguans, who are currently suffering a period of drought – any harm to the lake would be devastating to the dependent populations. Since the proposed canal route will bisect over 65 miles of the lake, opponents are predominantly worried that the lake and its surrounding (closed) ecosystem will be destroyed. Engineers and environmental activists fear that the Project could facilitate an oil spill that would be disastrous to the lake, and that shipping traffic across the lake will result in air and water pollution that will be detrimental to the animal species in their natural habitats (TicoTimes). For example, Jaguars are an endangered species in Nicaragua, and the construction of the canal could disrupt gene flow across the northern and southern territories, causing the isolated jaguar populations to face the threat of extinction earlier (Smithsonian Magazine).

Another major concern regarding the future of the lake is the amount of dredging that is required to complete the canal construction. The lake at its shallowest points is only 9 meters deep, and in order for the large ships to pass, the lake must be at least 29 meters deep. The consequence of such intense dredging is the introduction of many invasive plant and animal species into the lake that could kill off other animal species. The dredging will also dump millions of tons of sludge into the lake, which will damage the sedimentation (TicoTimes). Industrial chemicals such as mercury and pesticides could then contaminate the sediments, leading to more health dangers for people living nearby (International Policy Digest).

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The Project contains several sub-projects, all of which require roads, pipelines, and power plants to be built to support the canal. These infrastructure projects will also result in either the alteration or destruction of nearly 1 million acres of the Caribbean wetlands and rainforests. This will severely sabotage the rich biodiversity present in Nicaragua (International Business Times).

What the Professionals Are Saying

“People have considered that this will be the major source of water for the whole of Central America in a number of years, especially because of climate change…If we’re going to divert our source of water to satisfy the demands of a canal, you can imagine all the problems that we will have, including social unrest.” – Jorge Huete-Pérez

Jorge Huete-Pérez is an environmental scientist who has published his findings in Nature News

“My main worry is that they start something that they’re not going to finish. If [HKND] begins something that’s not going be completed, they’re going to waste resources, displace people, raise false hopes, and along the way cause some irreparable damage, and we’re left in a situation where we ended up worse than we’ve begun.” – Pedro Alvarez

Pedro Alvarez is a professor of engineering at Rice University in Houston, and is also a founding member of Nicaragua’s Academy of Sciences (IB Times)

“The demand to ship things from Asia to the East Coast of the U.S. through the Panama Canal is there, and it’s a big demand, but it’s not vast. We don’t have hundreds of ships queuing up waiting to go through the Panama Canal.” – David Taylor

David Taylor is a civil engineer based in Panama and Central America, and is also a representative for the UK-based, Institution of Civil Engineers (IB Times)

Socio-Cultural Impacts

As mentioned in the “Geopolitical” section, there have been various groups of dissenters who have led protests to challenge the government and international corporations that are invading their communities.

Primary opponents have been small-scale farmers and the indigenous populations who will inevitably be displaced due to the construction of the canal (Smithsonian Magazine). One of the more aggressive indigenous groups who are opposing the Project is the Rama community. Over 2,000 Rama people live on an island off of the Caribbean coast, and rely on fishing as their main source of income – the canal would obstruct their fishing patterns, and it would also make travel in their wooden canoes impossible (Indian Country Today Media Network). The Project may also wipe-out one entire Rama village, displacing an entire population with minimal compensation and at the expense of their culture and heritage (TicoTimes). The Project will ultimately displace over 30,000 indigenous people; these people neither believe that they will be able to resume a similar lifestyle, nor think that they will be offered the jobs they have been promised (Hakai Magazine).

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Voices to Be Heard…

The video below is a short documentary, titled Bangkukuk Taik – Punta de Aguila (Eagle’s Point), released in March 2015. The language in the film is Rama and Creole and includes Spanish subtitles. The people interviewed for this documentary are Rama community members of the village of Bangkukuk Taik, who share their concerns of how the Project will affect their lives beyond just disrupting their jobs or destroying their homes.

A Division in Opinions

While there are various populations who strongly oppose the Nicaragua Grand Canal Project, not all Nicaraguan citizens are against this project. Some citizens believe that the canal will boost the economy and provide more jobs, ultimately bringing the lower socio-economic classes out of poverty. These supporters are envious of the affluence that the Panama Canal brought to the country of Panama since its completion in the year 1914. Panama used to be a poorer nation than Nicaragua, but since the construction of the Panama Canal, its GDP has grown to be four times greater than Nicaragua’s GDP; therefore, supporters believe that the Grand Canal will bring the same economic leverage in their nation (The Week). Supporters also believe that the canal will bring forth economic success, which in turn will lead to political stability as more of the Nicaraguan population can benefit from being involved in the international market (HKND-Group).

The opponents who are strongly against the construction of the canal are hoping to save their communities, their environment, their livelihoods, their heritage, and their histories. They do not want external economic powers taking control of their land, and they continue to fight against the construction of the canal.

As of now, the canal project is set to finish by December of 2019. We will have wait to witness what lies ahead for this project and the impact it will have on the country of Nicaragua.