The Mayangna peoples in north-Caribbean Nicaragua are suffering from famine and serious illnesses, and their land is threatened with rat infestations and possible forest fires, according to community members.

Econayo Taylor Francisco, president of the Association of Indigenous Communities Mayangna Sauni As, told journalists in Managua that these problems have worsened since the Sept. 4 Hurricane Felix.

Rats are eating away at just sprouting crops and spreading diseases among the natives.

“We're faced with serious problems,” said the representative of more than 800 families, or 6,783 inhabitants, spread out in 16 communities in the villages of Bonanza, Siuna and Waspam in an area called the Autonomous Region of the Northern Atlantic.

Forest fires could spark in the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve after Felix razed acres of its trees, the indigenous leader said. Environmental groups have criticized the Nicaraguan government for not taking swifter measures to reforest such areas as Bosawas, a 1.8 million acre tropical forest designated in 1997 as a UNESCO biosphere reserve.