Atlántida, Honduras

Background

Deforested Corridor, San Marcos HondurasPico Bonito National Park, in the Departments of Atlántida and Yoro in Northern Honduras, comprises 265,000 acres, including 19 major watersheds which supply drinking water to more than 500,000 people in surrounding communities and nearby cities. The diverse landscapes of the park and the buffer areas in its immediate vicinity include tropical broadleaf and pine forests teeming with wildlife.

The Texiguat Wildlife Refuge covers 25,000 acres in the Department of Atlántida and lies west of Pico Bonito National Park. Their buffer zones are contiguous for a short distance. Texiguat, too, has a great deal of wildlife and its watersheds are an important source of water for coastal communities located further north.

The project area lies mainly between these two protected areas, interconnecting them. The area consists of a patchwork of forests, pastures, and coffee, cacao, and fruit farms. There has been significant environmental degradation in the project area, due to unsustainable wood cutting and agricultural practices, leading to loss of forest cover, water sources, and connectivity between the two protected areas. There are some 15,400 residents living in 15 communities in the area. Poverty statistics are not available, but the literacy rate is estimated at 60%.

Understanding the connection between forest cover and water sources, the Alliance of Municipalities of Atlántida (MAMUCA) requested EcoLogic's assistance to develop an approach to sustainable natural resource use. MAMUCA has also sought out to learn from and incorporate the experiences of AJAASSPIB and its affiliated community water administrative boards, also supported by EcoLogic and located in the southern part of Pico Bonito National Park.

Project Description

The project includes four components:

  1. Reforestation and Watershed Management - construction of nurseries, production of seedlings, demarcation of micro-watersheds, and reforestation of watersheds that serve as potable water sources;
  2. Strengthening of Community Water Committees - organization and training of community-based groups, including local and municipal administrative water committees, to sensitize them on the importance of reforestation and protection of water sources;
  3. Establishment of Agroforestry Pilot Projects - planting of guama (Inga edulis) trees among conventional crops (corn and beans) to increase productivity, and reduce the area of forest currently used, and cleared in the future, for agricultural production; and
  4. Construction of Fuel-Efficient Wood-Burning Stoves - to reduce domestic firewood consumption, and therefore contribute to protect forest resources and use them sustainably.

Progress

Since 2007, EcoLogic has supported the following:

  • Identified and prioritized five areas for reforestation to protect water sources;
  • Produced 50,000 trees in five community nurseries, for reforestation activities in 2009;
  • Provided training to 5 municipal and 8 local water administrative boards;
  • Initiated four pilot agroforestry plots of 6 acres total; and
  • Carried out three learning exchanges with AJAASSPIB on water management.

Partners and Funders

MAMUCA (Mancomunidad de Municipios del Centro de Atlántida) is an alliance established in 2007 by the mayors of the municipalities in the area who shared a vision of promoting conservation and improving the conditions of poverty prevalent in their communities.

This project was made possible by the support of the US Fish and Wildlife Service Neotropical Migratory Birds Program.

 

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