Overlooking Managua, Nicaragua is a vast, scenic lake known as Lake Managua. It looks like it would be a perfect holiday playground for swimming, sailing, water skiing and other recreational pursuits.

But the lake is largely devoid of people.
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Despite its apparent beauty, Lake Managua is grossly polluted with human sewage, mercury, arsenic, lead and a variety of industrial wastes.
What could be a prime tourist attraction is instead a symbol of severe pollution in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

I visited Nicaragua in August as part of a mission trip with the Edgewood United Church in East Lansing, Mich. Our goal was to repaint and repair a school in Leon, Nicaragua’s second largest city. Our group of 20 also sought to learn more about this Central American nation and to develop friendships with its citizens.

As a professor of environmental journalism, I also wanted to learn more about this country’s natural resources and its environment. The 10-day trip reinforced my belief that you cannot report and write about a country’s environmental issues without a deep understanding of its history, politics, economics and culture.

Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the world. With an annual per capita income of $3,100 per year, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Only Haiti is poorer. By contrast, the per capita income in the United States is $43,500 a year—14 times greater than Nicaragua.

But these statistics only tell part of the story. Nicaragua’s distribution of income is among the most unequal in the world. Almost three-quarters of its people live in poverty and 30 percent of its children under five are malnourished.

During the past 150 years, Nicaragua has suffered from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, revolutions, invasions, corruption and many other calamities. But it was largely during the presidency of Anastasio Somoza Garcia from 1936 to 1979 when Lake Managua became grossly polluted with mercury and industrial wastes as a result of misguided economic policies by the dictator. (Mercury, a potent neurotoxin, is particularly dangerous in aquatic ecosystems because it accumulates in fish, which are then eaten by people.)

A variety of books, such as Clive Ponting’s, A Green History of the World, and Jared Diamond’s Collapse show the important role that environmental and natural resource issues have played in human history.

Diamond shows how poor leadership and poor decision making can have a devastating impact on a country’s natural resources. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are prime examples. Both countries are located on the large Caribbean Island of Hispaniola, 600 miles southeast of Florida. Flying above the island, the border between the two nations looks like the island was cut with a knife. The landscape looks greener and lusher on the eastern side (Dominican Republic) while the western side (Haiti) looks pale and browner.

Once this island was lush and heavily forested. Today, 28 percent of the Dominican Republic is forested. By contrast, only one percent of Haiti is. This loss of forests has contributed to many other environmental problems, including soil erosion and loss of wildlife.

Both nations are poor countries that have endured dictators and political instability. But in recent years, leaders of the Dominican Republic have followed more enlightened environmental policies by expanding the national park system, reducing air pollution and developing hydroelectric power. By contrast, Haiti’s leaders have followed policies that have caused economic stagnation, deforestation and environmental degradation.

In my environmental journalism classes at Michigan State University I discuss how history, culture and politics have shaped environmental conditions. It’s important to teach about environmental science and environmental journalism techniques. But it’s also important to tell readers, viewers and listeners about the historical and cultural conditions that have shaped environmental conditions around the world.