2005 PROARCA/APM, Regional Environmental Program for Central America / Protected Areas and Environmental Marketing Components, a USAID- CCAD project, The Nature Conservancy (TNC). 12 Avenida 14-41, Zona 10 Colonia Oakland Guatemala 01010, Guatemala Regional Environmental Program for Central America / Protected Areas and Environmental Marketing Components Fundación Mario Dary. Site Conservation Planning Gulf of Honduras: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras /PROARCA/APM, Guatemala, Guatemala, 2005. 60 p. ; 8,5 X 11 c.m. Designations used in this publication, and the manner in which this publication presents its data, do not imply any judgment by the members of the PROARCA/APM consortium, USAID, nor CCAD on the legal status of countries, territories, cities, or zones, nor of their authorities, nor the disposition of their borders. This publication was made possible through support provided by the Office of Regional Sustainable Development, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, United States Agency for International Development and The Nature Conservancy, under the terms of Award No. 596-A-00-01-00116-00. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Agency for International Development. Editors: Jean-Luc Betoulle and Astrid Alvarado (FUNDARY) Collaborators and Reviewers: Juan Carlos Villagrán Lenín Corrales Ingrid Arias (TRIGOH) Graphic Design: María del Rosario Calderón Photography: Fundary Site Conservation Planning Gulf of Honduras: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras Site Conservation Planning Gulf of Honduras 4 Site Conservation Planning Gulf of Honduras TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS.............................................................................................................................................. 6 PRESENTATION .................................................................................................................................................... 10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................ 11 I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 12 1.1 Background and Plan Objectives .............................................................................................12 1.2 Site Description .............................................................................................................................. 13 II. ELEMENTS OF CONSERVATION AND THREATS ................................................................... 16 2.1 Coral Reefs ..................................................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Mangrove Forests .......................................................................................................................... 19 2.3 Marine grasslands .......................................................................................................................... 22 2.4 Beach Systems ................................................................................................................................ 25 2.5 Estuaries and Coastal Lagoons ................................................................................................... 28 2.6 Herbaceous Wetlands, Flood forests, and their supporting Aquatic Systems ................... 31 III. CONSERVATION STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS .................................................................... 33 Strategy # 1: Complete the protected areas system, and improve protected area man- agement and protection ................................................................................................................... 34 Strategy # 2: Create mechanisms for the financial sustainability of protected area man- agement ................................................................................................................................................ 35 Strategy # 3: Develop and implement Land Use Regulation Plans and Sector Plans ........... 36 Strategy # 4: Make and execute protection plans for endangered, and economically important species ................................................................................................................................ 37 Strategy # 5: Support the regulation of fisheries and sustainable fishing ................................. 38 Strategy # 6: Revise, develop, and enforce, in a participative manner, norms and mecha- nisms to regulate the sustainable use of natural resources ......................................................... 39 Strategy # 7: Promote alternate economic activities in the local communities .................... 40 Strategy # 8: Implement education, sensitizing, awareness-raising, and divulgation pro- grams about the environmental problems and their solutions with inhabitants, resource users, and governments ...................................................................................................................... 41 Strategy # 9: Implement institutional strengthening programs, and coordination and citizen participation mechanisms, for the protection of natural systems .............................................. 42 IV. MEASURES OF SUCCESS .................................................................................................... 43 V. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 46 VI. ANEXES .............................................................................................................................. 49 The Site Conservation Planning method ......................................................................................... 50 Map 1. Base map of the Gulf of Honduras .................................................................................... 55 Map 2. Ecoregions .............................................................................................................................. 56 Map 3. Life Zones, according to Holdridge.................................................................................... 57 Map 4. Conservation Elements ......................................................................................................... 58 Map 5. Stresses ..................................................................................................................................... 59 Map 6. Sources of stress ..................................................................................................................... 60 5 Site Conservation Planning Gulf of Honduras LIST OF ACRONYMS APE Área de Protección EspecialSpecial Protection Area BTB Belize Tourism Board CCAD Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (Central American Commission on the Environment and Development) CCO Cuerpo de Conservación Omoa Baracoa (Omoa Baracoa Conservation Corps, Honduras) CEMA Centro de Estudios del Mar y Acuicultura, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala(Center for Sea and Aquaculture Studies of the Guatemalan state university) CISP Comitato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo dei Popoli (International Committee for the Development of Peoples, based in Italy) CITES Convention on the Illegal Trade of Endangered Species COCODES Comité Comunitario de Desarrollo(Community Development Committee, Guatemala) COHDEFOR Corporación Hondureña de Desarrollo Forestal (Honduran Forestry Development Corporation, = Honduran forest service) CONAMA Comisión Nacional del Medio Ambiente (National Commission on the Environment, forerunner of MARN, Guatemala) CONAP Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (National Protected Areas Council, Guatemala) CZMA/I Coastal Zone Management Authority / Institute (Belize) DIGEPESCA Dirección General de Pesca y Acuicultura (General Directorate of Fishing and Aquaculture, Honduras) EMPORNAC Empresa Portuaria Nacional de Santo Tomás de Castilla (Santo Tomás de Castilla National Port Company, Guatemala) ENP Empresa Nacional Porturaria (National Port Company, Honduras) FOPECO Foro Permanente de Ecoturismo y Conservación de Guatemala (Guatemala Permanent Ecotourism and Conservation Forum) FUNDAECO Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación (Foundation for Eco-Development and Conservation, Guatemala) FUNDARY Fundación para la Conservación del Medio Ambiente y de los Recursos Naturales “Mario Dary Rivera (“Mario Dary Rivera” Foundation for Conservation of the Environment and Natural Resources, Guatemala) GIS Geographic Information System GO Government Organization GOH Gulf of Honduras ICSED Inter-American Center for Sustainable Ecosystems Development (Chile) IDEADS Instituto de Derecho Ambiental y Desarrollo Sustentable (Environmental Law and Sustainable Development Institute, Guatemala) IHT Instituto Hondureño de Turismo(Honduran Tourism Institute) INAB Instituto Nacional de Bosques (National Forest Institute, Guatemala) INGUAT Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo(Guatemalan Tourism Institute) 6 Site Conservation Planning Gulf of Honduras INTECAP Instituto Técnico de Capacitación (Capacity-Building Technical Institute, Guatemala) MARN Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Guatemala) MARPOL International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships MBC Mesoamerican Biological Corridor MBRS Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System MINUGUA Misión de Verificación de las Naciones Unidas