In Honduras, Communities Race to Establish Reserve as La Mosquitia Forest Disappears

[Judi Lynn]

Several Indigenous communities in Honduras are trying to set up the Warunta Indigenous Anthropological Reserve, which will allow them to continue traditional hunting and fishing practices while co-managing the forest with the government.

February 15, 2025 by Mongabay



By Maxwell Radwin

Several Indigenous communities in Honduras are trying to set up the Warunta Indigenous Anthropological Reserve, which will allow them to continue traditional hunting and fishing practices while co-managing the forest with the government.

The reserve will cover 65,369 hectares (161,530 acres) in the department of Gracias a Dios, near the border with Nicaragua.

Global Forest Watch data show that around 13% of the area’s forest was cleared between 2002 and 2023.

The reserve has already gone through the consultation process with residents, but needs to complete technical studies by the government, which could take the rest of the year.

Over the last several decades, La Mosquitia has become one of the most dangerous regions of Honduras. Drug trafficking, cattle ranching and illegal logging have pushed into the isolated forests and mountains that stretch along the southern border, becoming part of an everyday struggle for many Indigenous communities.

Protected areas in La Mosquitia, like the Río Plátano and Tawahka Asangni biosphere reserves, receive some resources from the government to combat the problem, but satellite data show deforestation increasing in even these places. As a result, some Indigenous communities are trying to set up a nearby protected area of their own, managed and controlled by residents.

“The same community elders who protected this area for many years are today hampered by outsiders who have illegally invaded the land,” Daniel Kiapa, a legal representative for several Indigenous communities in the area, told Mongabay. “We’re hoping to see peace in the next couple of years and hopefully that the forest will regenerate.”

The protected area they want to establish won’t be a traditional park or reserve, because those designations would create restrictions for Indigenous communities, who still rely on ancestral hunting, farming and gathering of plants for medicinal practices. Instead, it will be an Indigenous anthropological reserve, with a multiple-use zone where communities can use natural resources.

The proposed Warunta Indigenous Anthropological Reserve will cover 65,369 hectares (161,530 acres) in the department of Gracias a Dios, on territory governed by the Council of Elders of La Mosquitia (known as Bakinasta). Indigenous Miskito, Pech, Tawahka and Garífuna peoples are present in the area, totaling around 8,000 inhabitants in 15 communities.

More:
https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/in-honduras-communities-race-to-establish-reserve-as-la-mosquitia-forest-disappears/

[BSDemon]

1. The reasons why the forest is disappearing are difficult to get rid of

Indiscriminate deforestation, for profit and for narco airports are main causes, and unfortunately for them any government that comes, doesn't care about that area. They are forgotten by the rest of the country.