The town of El Castillo is a part of Indio Maiz Biological Reserve, in the southeast of Nicaragua. To more than 400 km in distance, in the North Caribbean Autonomous Region, in the town of Siuna there is the Bosawas Biosphere reserve.

Despite the distance between both areas, in the town of El Castillo there are reports of an increased number of people selling their properties to move to Siuna where the illegal land trade happens most often in indigenous territories.

The biggest motivation for those who decide to migrate are the low prices for land in Siuna. A family in the Bijagua community, or Nueva Libertad in El Castillo, has the possibility of selling their land for 20 to 24 thousand C$ per acre (approximately US $750 to US $880). With this money they can buy up to 8 acres in Siuna where the prices range between 3 and 7 thousand C$ (US$ 110 a US$ 300).

According to people from El Castillo “People that have left to that area come back, or call their family members and friends so they can join them.” And that is how the word gets spread.

It is important to mention that in Siuna, most of the land belongs to the indigenous communities and must be protected. According to the law 445, the law about the indigenous territories, the state of Nicaragua has the obligation to make sure that these territories are untouched, despite this both in the indigenous territory of Indio-Maíz and Bosawas, the invasion continues.