The Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve is a protected area located in the Gracias a Dios department on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. It covers an area of 5,250 square kilometers (2,030 square miles) and is mostly found along the Río Plátano river. The reserve is home to many endangered species and contains some of the largest remaining tropical forests in Central America. It became a World Heritage Site and biosphere reserve in 1982. In 2011, UNESCO added the reserve to the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The reserve includes both mountainous and lowland tropical rainforests, which are rich in wildlife and plant life. It is home to more than 2,000 people. The reserve is part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, a network of protected areas that stretches from Mexico through Central America.
Although the reserve covers a large part of Honduras, not much is known about the variety of plants and animals living there. While past management plans have worked well, more research and planning are needed to protect the reserve in the future. Current threats to the reserve include illegal hunting, logging, and clearing land for cattle grazing. Recent rafting trips through the reserve’s three zones—cultural, buffer, and core—found cattle grazing in the core zone, commercial fishing and hunting camps along the river, and trees being cut down near Las Marias.
History
In 1960, the land was set aside as the "Ciudad Blanca Archaeological Reserve," named after the rumored ancient settlement known as la Ciudad Blanca. The reserve was renamed "Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve" in 1980 and added to the World Heritage list in 1982.
A management and development plan was designed in 1980 and implemented in 1987 by the Department of Natural Renewable Resources. In 1997, an additional 3,250 km was designated as a buffer zone for the reserve. In 1997, the German Development Bank began a plan to significantly expand the reserve to the Patuca River and the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua. Currently, the German plan has been delayed.
The reserve still has over 200 archaeological sites, including the spot where Christopher Columbus first arrived in mainland America. The reserve also contains ruined settlements, including stone from buildings and roads, rock carvings, and other remains.
Few of these sites are well-protected; many have been looted, and others are at risk from increased tourism. Although the archaeological value of the region initially played a large part in the formation of the reserve, the reserve currently focuses mostly on the protection of the forests.
According to tradition, the legendary settlement of La Ciudad Blanca is located in the region. Over the years, many professional and amateur archaeologists have claimed to find it, but none have produced credible evidence. Most professionals remain skeptical that it ever existed.
Local population
The reserve is home to more than 2,000 native people and an increasing number of people who moved there. The population includes four different cultural groups: Miskito, Pech, Garifunas, and ladino. The smaller groups—Pech, Garifunas, and Miskito—live mostly in the north, near the river. These people have different rights to the land and use it mainly for farming. The farming practices of the Pech can be kept going without harming the environment. Many members of the largest group, the ladino, came to the reserve from the south. Disputes about land rights are a major cause of conflict between groups. Today, conflicts involve people who are not from the area entering the reserve and threatening the land rights of native people, pushing them away from their traditional lands.
Conservation
In 1996, the reserve was given the World Heritage in Danger designation because of more logging and farming in the area. A management plan was created in 2000 to help protect the reserve. This plan included dividing the area into large zones, smaller zones, and specific plans to address conservation problems. The large zone plan created areas for protection, cultural activities, and a central area for conservation. By 2006, the main threats in the central area had decreased, showing better conservation efforts. Because of this, the World Heritage in Danger designation was removed in 2007. However, studies in 2010 and 2011 found that these improvements did not last. In 2011, UNESCO visited the Rio Plátano area and found illegal activities in the core zone, such as drug smuggling, clearing land for cattle, and illegal fishing and hunting along the river. Because of these issues, UNESCO added the reserve back to the World Heritage in Danger list in 2011.
The reserve is protected by policies from the Department of Protected Areas & Wildlife and the State Forestry Administration in Honduras. It also receives some money from the World Wildlife Fund and other private groups. Many government and non-government organizations have created and carried out conservation plans in the area. The main goal of the reserve is to stop deforestation and stop development in the area.
The reserve’s conservation plan aims to help local people live in harmony with their environment through farming methods that do not harm the land (see La Ruta Moskitia Ecotourism Alliance). Indigenous people are important to the success of the conservation plan, both inside and outside the reserve in the buffer zones. Giving official land titles and recognizing actual ownership rights was an important step in starting the conservation plan. However, the conservation plans must be updated to match changes in the region.
The conservation plan asks for continued work to clearly define land ownership in and around the reserve. More research is needed to understand the reserve’s value and the dangers it faces. Right now, there are no park guards or official groups that actively patrol or protect the reserve.
Climate
The area receives between 2,850 and 4,000 mm (112 and 157 in) of rain each year. People living there have observed that the dry seasons are becoming longer over time. The region’s climate is important for protecting the wet forests and supporting agriculture that indigenous communities rely on.
The reserve experiences an average of four major tropical storms every ten years. These storms affect the rest of the reserve through many waterways. Development plans and farming depend on the river’s natural levees to remove water from low areas. The effects of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 caused problems for the construction of the Patuca II hydroelectric project.
Geography
The land extends from the La Moskitia coast through lagoons and along the Río Plátano toward the mountains. The buffer zone also includes the Paulaya and Sico valley and will later reach the Patuca River. The reserve is mostly mountainous, featuring Pico Dama, a large granite structure, and Punta Piedra, the tallest peak at 1,326 m (4,350 ft).
The reserve covers nearly the entire watershed of the Río Plátano and many smaller waterways. Much of the area has mountainous terrain. Rivers flow through both the lower and mountainous regions. The river forms oxbows as it crosses the flat lowland area between the foothills and lagoons. These rivers have created oxbow lakes, marshes, and natural levees.
The region’s geography makes farming and protecting the environment difficult. Lowland areas are covered with water during winter, and rivers and their tributaries support many types of plant life. The northern coastal region is more widely studied, so other parts of the area require more detailed research.
Flora and fauna
The reserve includes part of the largest untouched tropical rainforest in Honduras and one of the few remaining in Central America. It is home to many endangered species. Even though more research is being done about the variety of life in the reserve, current plans focus on the need for more study of the plants and animals, especially near rivers.
Major ecosystems in the reserve include mangrove and freshwater swamps and marshes, sedge prairie, pine savanna, and gallery forest. The area has a wide variety of plants, with more than 2,000 species of vascular plants. However, little is known about them because many are newly discovered or not yet identified.
Two major mangrove ecosystems are found along the coast: Brus Lagoon and Iban Lagoon. The Brus Lagoon is 120 km long and has brackish water, while the Iban Lagoon is 63 km long and has freshwater. Mangroves are important and delicate, making them a key part of the reserve's value.
Further inland, the land changes to prairie and savanna with pine and palm trees, depending on water availability. Along river watersheds, the vegetation is dense, wet forest, which is not well studied.
The area has 39 species of mammals, 377 species of birds, and 126 species of reptiles and amphibians. The region has many bird species, including the king vulture, harpy eagle, great curassow, crested guan, scarlet macaw, green macaw, and military macaw.
Common mammal species in the reserve include the white-headed capuchin, mantled howler and spider monkeys, brown-throated sloth, paca, kinkajou, coatimundi, tayra, Central American otter, puma, collared peccary, white-lipped peccary, and red brocket deer.
Because the reserve is large and has mostly untouched forests, it supports large populations of several rare or endangered mammals, such as Baird's tapirs, giant anteaters, jaguars, ocelots, margays, and Caribbean West Indian manatees. The first jaguar filmed in Honduras was recorded in the reserve in 2007. Environmental education in Honduras is limited, making it hard to protect these species. Widespread poverty and a lack of accurate research on the ecosystems also make protection difficult. While conservation programs are achieving their goals, it is unclear if management plans are directly protecting these species. Protecting ecosystems like the rainforest, which endangered species rely on, provides an important indirect benefit.
Tourism
The large number of animals living along the coast of the Gracias a Dios department makes it a popular place for ecotourists. While private groups are starting ecotourism businesses in the area, the government does not have a complete plan to manage or use the benefits of ecotourism. Ecotourism can help people living in poverty, raise awareness about the importance of nature, and provide money to support projects that protect the reserve. Right now, guided rafting trips lasting 10 to 12 days are being offered along the full length of the Rio Plátano.
Although a well-managed tourism industry could help the reserve, the current lack of rules has caused too much traffic and damaged ancient sites. Tourism affects the entire reserve, but unprotected ancient sites are especially harmed. Without building proper infrastructure, it is hard to create a successful and lasting ecotourism industry, especially in an area with difficult conservation challenges.
Conservation issues
Since 2006, conservation efforts have improved, but the reserve still faces serious challenges. Logging and development remain major problems. The situation is made worse by more people moving into the reserve from poorer areas of Honduras or from Nicaragua.
The government in Honduras manages the logging industry through the Honduran Cooperation for Forestry Development. Although there are rules and a ban on logging inside the reserve, mahogany trees are still being cut down. The government has not created strong enough laws to stop deforestation. If uncontrolled logging continues, the entire reserve could be lost quickly.
People living near the reserve admit that much mahogany is being taken from the area. However, many poor communities see the high value of mahogany as a reason to destroy ecosystems that help protect water and soil. Most of the people cutting down trees remain unknown.
Development inside and around the reserve harms conservation plans. The Patuca II hydroelectric plant on the Patuca River shows how such projects affect the environment. These plants require roads and other infrastructure, which disrupts the land. Much of the reserve lacks roads and power, so building a hydroelectric plant would need new development across the area.
Agriculture is a direct threat to the reserve. As more people move into the reserve, farming increases. Many wetland areas are not good for farming and need special work to be useful. Unofficial land ownership has caused conflicts between groups over farming areas.
Poor farmers often use harmful methods, such as slash-and-burn, which damage grasslands. Although the current plan tries to teach farmers about these harmful practices, they continue. Future goals aim to help more farmers use better, sustainable methods.
Poverty in Honduras and Nicaragua, along with more hurricanes, has caused many people to flee into the reserve. This makes conservation harder. Refugees often enter through the southern part of the reserve, creating tension with indigenous groups. While traditional farming can harm the land, the pressure from growing populations causes even more damage.
The Honduran Corporation for Forestry Development, with help from the Honduran Public Safety Force, tries to stop people from entering the reserve illegally. Despite these efforts, refugees still come in. A plan to move refugees out of the reserve was proposed to reduce pressure on the area, but it faced political opposition.