New Law on Environmental Conservation in Nicaragua

Rodrigo Ibarra, Partner, and Kevin Humberto Castro, Associate at ARIAS Nicaragua and experts in Environmental Law and ESG, present this article on the Law of Environmental Conservation Areas and Sustainable Development.

On May 6, 2025, Law No. 1248, Law of Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development Areas (hereinafter "Law No. 1248”), was published in The Official Gazette, creating a new regulatory framework for the management of protected areas in Nicaragua, aimed at the rational use of natural resources and the preservation of biodiversity. The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) will be the enforcement authority, with powers to coordinate with regional and municipal governments.

It is important to mention that Law No. 1248 defines Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development Areas as those whose purpose is the conservation, management and rational use of its natural resources, the restoration of flora, wildlife and other forms of life, as well as biodiversity and the biosphere, these areas are integrated by Environmental Conservation Zone (defined, in turn, as a natural or cultural space that is safeguarded to maintain its balance and preserve its biodiversity), which is surrounded by a Sustainable Development Zone (defined as the area surrounding the conservation zone, where sustainable productive models are implemented), which is not part of the Environmental Conservation Zone, and also includes those areas of the national territory that, by conserving them, are intended to restore areas of high biological value, sites of historical, archeological, cultural, environmental, scenic or recreational importance.

Law No. 1248 establishes an innovative legal framework by allowing the development of sustainable projects within the framework of the National System of Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development Areas (SINACADS), subject to strict compliance with specific conditions, and in this regard, the key considerations that project developers should consider are the following:

1. Permitted activities: The rational use of geothermal, geological, mineral, and hydrocarbon resources, among others, is permitted, which may be used in a sustainable manner through the application of clean technologies, good environmental practices that ensure the mitigation of possible environmental impacts, and the restoration and conservation of natural areas in the intervention sites. It also includes subsistence hunting and fishing activities; installation of infrastructure to store hydrocarbons or hydraulic infrastructure; aquaculture; and scientific research.
2. Environmental permits in Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development Areas: All activities require prior authorization from MARENA, pursuant to Executive Decree 20-2017 "Environmental Evaluation System for Permits and Authorizations for the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources”, as amended from time to time, which shall include an environmental management proposal and comply with technical conditions defined by the authority, as well as the conditions and modal charges included in such permits. Please note that by general application, such a permit must be subsequently certified by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) pursuant to Law No. 1192 "Law for the Certification of Environmental Permits and Authorizations”.
3. Tourism activities: Tourism activities within SINACADS must comply with the technical norms and requirements established by MARENA.
4. Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development Areas of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and the Bocay, Coco, Indio and Maíz Rivers: It is important to mention that all lands in Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development Areas cannot be titled in favor of individuals; and in the case of lands located in the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and of the Bocay, Coco, Indio and Maíz Rivers, which belong collectively to the indigenous or ethnic communities, and the members of the communities or set of communities have the right of occupation and usufruct according to the traditional forms of property tenure, all in accordance with Law No. 445 "Law of Communal Property Regime of the Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Communities of the Autonomous Regions of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua and of the Bocay, Coco, Indio and Maíz Rivers”, published in The Official Gazette No. 16, of January 23, 2003.