| Honduras | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Latin America | |||||||||||||||
| National websites | http://www.sdnhon.org.hn/ | |||||||||||||||
| Embassy / Chancery in U.S. | Diplomatic
representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Edgardo DUMAS Rodriguez chancery: 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-7702, 2604, 5008, 4596 FAX: [1] (202) 966-9751 |
|||||||||||||||
| Agencies responsible for biological inventory and conservation | Secretario de estado en los despachos de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente Apartado Postal 1389, Tegucigalpa, Honduras Secretaría
de Estado en el Despacho del Ambiente (SEDA) |
|||||||||||||||
| Non-governmental organizations concerned with conservation | Honduras This Week Special Edition:
The Environment
has lots of articles on the environment of Honduras. RDS Honduras list of NGOs Centro Internacional de Información Sobre Cultivos de Cobertura CIDICCO - use of "green" fertilizers and natural shade coverings |
|||||||||||||||
| Major Natural Resources | The main natural resource that Honduras is exploiting right now is its timber. This affects biodiversity by destroying habitats, leading to the pollution of rivers with sediment, and contributes to the loss of top soil. Mining of gold and silver, is a valuable commodity. The country is rich in other metals as well: copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, and coal. | |||||||||||||||
| Major Environmental and Conservation Issues | Honduras
has to deal with deforestation that is quickly destroying
its valuable rainforests. The agency resposible for this,
COHDEFOR, is in its infancy and has been struggling to
find leadership. In fact, the ex-manager of COHDEFOR,
Mario Luciano Coello, is in jail for abusing his
priviliges to issue project permits. (Corte Suprema confirma cuatro autos
de prisión a ex gerente de Cohdefor)The difficulty, beyond balancing
environmental concerns with those of its citizens, is
that Honduras has yet to recover from Hurricane Mitch.
Mitch was a disaster for the environment, but its effects
on the people of Honduras were even worse. As of 2
December, the number of confirmed deaths amounts to
5,642, with 8,050 persons still reported missing, 12,272
wounded, 1,482,659 affected and 1,199,000 displaced. A
total of 70,000 houses were destroyed in the formal
sector and 30,000 in the informal sector. Mitch Honduras: UN Hurricane Mitch
Information Center
Like many developing countries its growth has outpaced any effort to protect its environment. The economics of Honduras mean that environmental legislation and protection must first be directed towards protecting the people from the environment. Pollution caused by agricultural runoff and mining have endangered the countries fresh water. Soil erosion has made food production increasingly difficult, because farmers have been clearing agriculturally poor areas. On top of this Honduras is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and is dependent on the US for much of its financing. This means that what money is available must first be used to provide for basic human needs, especially in light of Hurrican Mitch, leaving NGOs responsible for most of the country's environmental protection. |
|||||||||||||||
| Statistics | Information Sources | |||||||||||||||
| Land area | 112 492 km² | |||||||||||||||
| Area of forest | 4,115,000 ha (36.8% of land) | FAO - Forestry - Profile - Honduras | ||||||||||||||
| Area of wetlands | 102,575 ha protected under Ramsar Convention for info on these 3 sites click link on the right | Honduras | ||||||||||||||
| Area of territorial waters | 200,900 sq. km | FAO Fisheries Department FISHERY COUNTRY PROFILE | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 5,463,000 | |||||||||||||||
| Population Density | 56 persons/Sq. km) | Honduras | ||||||||||||||
| Area protected (ha) (only areas >1000ha) at all IUCN levels | 55,044 km2 | Central American Tables | ||||||||||||||
| Fraction of land area protected (%) | 10,630 km2 (19%) | Central American Tables | ||||||||||||||
| Major Protected Areas | List from Information Center for the Environment | |||||||||||||||
| Endemic Species |
|
|||||||||||||||
| Endangered, Threatened and Vulnerable Species |
|
World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | ||||||||||||||
| Extinct Species |
|
World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | ||||||||||||||
| Species listed on CITES Appendix I | CITES-listed Species Database | |||||||||||||||
| Species listed on CITES Appendix II | CITES-listed Species Database | |||||||||||||||
| Legislation | ||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered or threatened species | Honduras has little financial capability to enforce the environmental protection laws and conventions that it has enacted. What enforcement is done is undertaken by NGOs who are even poorer funded and lighter staffed than the Honduran government. Article #1: Honduras This Week Special Edition: The Environment Article #2: The Environment | |||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered ecosystems | Honduras has established nature preserves, but leaves them to NGOs to manage. These NGOs cannot regulate people from settling in the preserves or hunting inside of them. | |||||||||||||||
| Signatory to CITES | 3/15/1985 | |||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention | 10/23/1993 | |||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Convention on Biological Diversity | 6/13/1992 | |||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty | not a party to | |||||||||||||||
| Member of International Whaling Commission | not a party to | |||||||||||||||
| Signatory to other international treaties designed to protect or manage biological resources | Acuerdos de la SERNA - list of treaties Honduras is a party to | |||||||||||||||
| Natural Resource Use | Information Sources | |||||||||||||||
| Fisheries | 244,000 tons of fish every year, worth about $50 million. For complete information on fishing industry see link on the right. | FAO Fisheries Department FISHERY COUNTRY PROFILE | ||||||||||||||
| Forestry / deforestation | Lumberjacks down mahogany timber
despite moratorium Honduras loses about 2.3% of its forest each year, but with development and lack of enforcement for current protected areas that percentage could quickly increase. The export of forest products is worth about $23 million (231 million board feet), and as modern harvesting technology infiltrates Honduras this amount seems certain to increase. Colonization and environment: Land settlement projects in Central America: discusses and charts how population movement affects Honduran forests. HONDURAS- Honduras and Envir.: general discussion of the deforestation problem in Honduras. |
Trade of Forest Products - Honduras | ||||||||||||||
| Ecotourism | Ecotourism is a major developing market for the Honduran economy. Eco Travels in Honduras has links to ecotourism sites and Honduras' Parks/Protected Areas and Tourism a list of activities available in the nature reserves. Indigenous-based and Commercial Ecotourism In La Mosquitia, Honduras details of indegenous people run ecotourism in Honduras. Great links to bird watching adventures Where do you want to go birding in Honduras today? | |||||||||||||||
| Trade in wildlife products | Tropical birds (parrots and parakeetts especially) sold mainly to the US for pets are a big problem. So too are iguanas, lizards, and boa constrictors. Demand for mahonghany abroad has also contributed to loss of forest area in Hoduras. | Tallest peak struggled to become park, yet still losing trees | ||||||||||||||
| Hunting | Not a major environmental factor when compared to other problems facing Honduran wildlife. | |||||||||||||||
| Other uses of natural resources | US$843 million in 1992. Exports: bananas, coffee, shrimp and lobster, sugar, minerals, wood products, and refrigerated beef. Agriculture, fishing, and forestry provide the bulk of the economy for Honduras, which is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. | Ask Jeeves Answer: Library of Congress Country Studies | ||||||||||||||
| Human Impacts on Natural Resources | Information Sources | |||||||||||||||
| Air pollution | ||||||||||||||||
| Water pollution | Honduras has to deal with two main water pollutions problems: clean drinking water and coastal pollution that is damaging coral reefs. Honduras signs reef protection treaty with regional neighbors | |||||||||||||||
| Development activities | Rio Patuca
dam project could bring electricty to undeveloped regions
of Honduras, but is hastily planned and could wreak havoc
on the free flowing river. Laws that kept the pace of land development at a slow pace have been repealed by laws like the Agricultural Modernization Law, passed in 1992, which encourages small farmers to sell to big companies. |
Patuca River Campaign | ||||||||||||||
| Introduced species | Database on Introductions of Aquatic Species - Results Form | |||||||||||||||
| Legislation addressing these issues | ||||||||||||||||
| Restoration and Reintroduction | Information Sources | |||||||||||||||
| Programs for restoration of damaged habitat | Program for conservation and restoration of the coral reefs in the Bay Islands: Environmental impact Program for replanting forests on Guanaja island with Caribbean pines: Honduras begins Replanting Forest on Hurricane Destroyed Island | |||||||||||||||
| Programs for ex situ conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species | The iguanas of Honduras have been hunted to near extinction because of their epicureal value. Poor Hondurans have supplemented their income by selling these creatures to satisfy the tastes of more well to do citizens. | Honduras This Week Environment: Iguana Farm | ||||||||||||||
Return to Endangered Species Protection around the World
Page compiled by Paul Williamson as part of a class project in h90 "The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation" (Peter J. Bryant, Instructor), University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA