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Last Updated:11/12/04

Environmental Issues & Trends

 

Honduras is one of the most biologically diverse countries in Central America, second only to Costa Rica, boasting a diverse abundance of flora and fauna, including 700 bird species, 200 mammal species, 200 reptile species, and over 5,000 different plant species, (324 of which have economic, medicinal, and/or industrial importance). (18) (19)

  • Natural Resources - timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower (1)
  • Total Forest Area - 50.5% of land surface, representing about 25% of total forest area in Central America. (16)
  • Forest Trade - Forestry makes up 2.64% of the Honduran GDP, exports mainly going to the Dominican Republic, US, El Salvador, Mexico, and Guatemala (2000). (15)
    • 96% of all commercial wood production in the country comes from pine forests. (18)
  • Protected Areas - 107, approx. 23% of the Honduran territory. (19)
    • Honduras houses the Río Plátano biosphere reserve, as well as 26 wildlife refuges, 18 national parks, 10 marine reserves, and 31 biological reserves. Honduras also has a number of protected forest areas and anthropological reserves. (20)

 

Most Pressing Environmental Issues

  • Deforestation
    • Honduras lost 1.4 million hectares of its overall forest cover (20.1%), 1.2 million hectares of its broadleaf forest cover (30.1%), and 246,000 hectares of its mangrove forest between 1962 and 1990. (16)
    • It is estimated that illegal logging costs Honduras approximately US$11-18 million annually. (17)
    • Causes of deforestion in Honduras include: infrastructure development, cattle development credit policies, agrarian reforms, the cutting down of trees for fuel, forest fires, pests and diseases, subutilization of raw materials and illegal logging. (15) (18)
    • Deterioration of forest quality due to the extraction of selective species. (18)

        •  

  • Land tenure
    • The insecurity of land tenure is perhaps the most critical constraint to increased foreign investment, a source of social instability, and detriment to sustaintable land use. (28)
    • Due to weak land administration policies, problems such as overlapping titles, violent disputes among parties, and illegal occupation of areas occur. (28)
    • Only 30% of the 2.6 million land parcels in the country are properly registered, the total value of which is approximately US$12 billion. (28)

     

  • Water
    • Contamination of water sources results from pesticide runoff, heavy metal runoff from mining activities, the fishing industry, and bacteriological pollution. (19)
    • Erosion of sedimentation of dams/waterways/channels is caused by traditional forms of forest exploitation. (18)
    • The construction of hydroelectric plants on major water sources also remains a key issue in Honduras.

     

  • Illegal wildlife traffic
    • Even though Honduras is a signatory of the CITES convention, the illegal trafficking of a variety of species still occurs. In 1998 the United States Government's "Operation Jungle Trade" cited Honduras as a member of a international smuggling ring which trafficked birds across the U.S.-Mexico border. (29)

     

  • Mining
    • Mining has caused high levels of pollution to local ecosystems and watersheds, in particular to the Lago de Yojoa, Honduras' largest source of fresh water. (1)

    •  

  • Air pollution
    • Caused by forest fires and agricultural burning. (18)

     

  • Soil contamination
    • Results from the use of pesticides and fertilizers, mining, oil residues, industrial contaminants, rural and urban contaminants. (18)

 

Conventions/agreements - Party to Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), Kyoto Protocol, Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), Ramsar Convention, World Heritage Convention (12)

  • Although Honduras is a signatory to the above environmental conventions, the majority of them lack real implementation. Like many other developing nations, Honduras simply lacks the resources and infrastructure to effectively enforce the regulations stipulated by each treaty.

Citations:

1 US Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook: Honduras. 2004. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ho.htm

3 Earth Trends. Biodiversity and Protected Areas: Honduras. Earth Trends Country Profiles. 2003. http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/Bio_cou_340.pdf

4 Earth Trends. Forests, Grasslands, and Drylands: Honduras. Earth Trends Country Profiles. 2003. http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/For_cou_340.pdf

5 Freedom House Inc. Freedom in the World 2004: Country and Related Territory Reports, Honduras. 2004. http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2004/countryratings/honduras.htm

6 Transparency International. Corruption Perceptions Index 2004: Table 1. 2004. http://www.transparency.org/cpi/2004/cpi2004.en.html#cpi2004

7 US Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Honduras, 2003. February 25, 2004. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27903.htm

8 The World Bank Group. Honduras at a Glance. September 15, 2004. http://www.worldbank.org/cgi-bin/sendoff.cgi?page=%2Fdata%2Fcountrydata%2Faag%2Fhnd_aag.pdf

9 The United Nations. Human Development Indicators 2003: Honduras. 2003. http://www.undp.org/hdr2003/indicator/cty_f_HND.html

10 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Recipient Aid Chart: Honduras. January 16, 2004. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/62/27/1877785.gif

11 World Health Organization Statistical Information System. Core Health Indicators: Honduras. http://www3.who.int/whosis/country/indicators.cfm?country=hnd

12 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. State of the Worlds Forests: 2003, Annex 2, Data Tables. 2003. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/005/y7581e/y7581e11.pdf

13 Universal Currency Converter http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

14 Ediciones Ramsés, Honduras y el Mundo:Atlas Geográfico Actualizado, 2003 Edition. Colombia: D'Vinni Ltda, 2003.

15 Martha Evelyn González, et.al. Report: Extractive Forestry Activities in Mesoamerica. Oxfam America. March 2003.

16 William D. Sunderlin and Juan A. Rodríguez. Cattle, Broadleaf Forests and the Agricultural Modernization Law of Honduras: The Case of Olancho. Center for International Forestry Research. March 1996.

17 Michael Richards. Filippo Del Gatto and Gilberto Alcócer López. El Costo de la Tala Ilegal en Centroamérica. ¿Cuánto Están Perdiendo los Gobiernos de Honduras y Nicaragua?.

18 Perfil Ambiental de Honduras. Environmental Profile of Honduras. SECPLAN, DESFIL, and USAID. 1989.

19 INTERAIS. Directorio de Estudios Ambientales en América Central. CAITE and UICN. Turrialba, Costa Rica. 1997.

20 Patricia Madrigal Cordero and Vivienne Solís Rivera, eds. Un Encuentro Necesario: El Manejo de la Vida Silvestre y sus Regulaciones Juridicas, Análisis Centroamericano. ORCA-UICN: San José, Costa Rica. 1994.

21 World Bank Institute. Governance and Anti-Corruption in Honduras: An Input for Action Planning. World Bank Institute. January 9, 2002.

22 Douglas Payne. Perspective Series, Honduras: Update on Human Rights Conditions. INS Resource Information Center. Washington, D.C. September 2000.

23 J.F. Hornbeck. The U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA):Challenges for Sub-Regional Integration. Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress. June 1, 2004. http://usembassy.or.cr/Cafta/crstlc.pdf

24 International Women's Rights Watch. Country Reports: Honduras. July 23, 1998. http://iwraw.igc.org/publications/countries/cescrhonduras.htm

25 Reporters without Borders. Third Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index, Americas Index. October 26, 2004. http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Am_index_Eng_2004.pdf

26 Karin Deutsch Karlekar, ed. Freedom of the Press 2003: A Global Survey of Media Independence. Freedom House, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2003. http://www.freedomhouse.org/pfs2003/pfs2003.pdf

27 US Department of State. Background Note: Honduras. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. September, 2004. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1922.htm

28 The World Bank Group. Project Appraisal Document on a Proposed Credit to the Republic of Honduras for a Land Administration Project. January 22, 2004.http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2004/02/09/000012009_20040209132639/Rendered/PDF/276020HN.pdf

29 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "FEDERAL AGENTS TARGET ILLEGAL BIRD TRADE." May 29, 1998. http://www.r6.fws.gov/pressrel/98-20.htm

 

 

 
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