Quauhtlemallan

The sculpture ensemble presented in Guatemala City´s International Airport La Aurora is called Quauhtlemallan. Coming from a náhuatl vocabulary where it is believed the name Guatemala comes from and means “place of many trees”.

 The truth is that two thirds of our territory has forestry for conifer forests. In Canada, the largest pulpwood producer in the world, a tree of this kind is ready to be cut in fifteen years, while in Guatemala it only takes five.

On the other hand, 70% of energy consumption of stationary sources, from a ranch to an industry, comes from firewood consumption. Unfortunately, the majority of the trees are cut down.

If we put together potential and needs the result is a possibility to iniciate a true agricultural and energetic revolution based on sustainable forests. Firewood burning releases carbon dioxide that forests capture creating a virtuous circle. Usually the best solutions to our problems are so simple and close that we tend to oversee them.