Social disruption resulting from the civil war in the 1980s has advanced colonization along Nicaragua's agricultural frontier. Former combatants and mestizo families displaced by the war are migrating east to renew their former lives and engage in subsistence farming. Due to the poor quality of rainforest soil and increasing social unrest on the Pacific coast, more individuals move east each year and come into contact with indigenous communities. Much of central and eastern Nicaragua is protected rainforest, yet the government lacks the resources to halt the extensive environment destruction associated with the recent migrations. The advancing agricultural frontier is responsible for large amounts of deforestation and ecological devastation in the region.