HONDURAS RESOURCE TENURE AND SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES ASSESSMENT TENURE AND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE (TGCC) MARCH 2015 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Tetra Tech. USAID Contract No: AID-OAA-TO-13-00016 Report Author: María Eugenia Recio. The author would like to thank Mario Vallejo Larios for his valuable comments on this work. Suggested Citation: Recio, M.E. (2015). Honduras Resource Tenure and Sustainable Landscapes Assessment. Washington, DC: USAID Tenure and Global Climate Change Program. Prepared by: Tetra Tech 159 Bank Street, Suite 300 Burlington, VT 05401 Principal Contacts: Matt Sommerville, Chief of Party [email protected] Cristina Alvarez, Project Manager [email protected] Megan Huth, Deputy Project Manager [email protected] HONDURAS RESOURCE TENURE AND SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES ASSESSMENT TENURE AND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE (TGCC) MARCH 2015 DISCLAIMER This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................ ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. iv 1.0 GENERAL REDD+ OVERVIEW AND STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS ................. 1 1.1 IMPLEMENTING REDD+ READINESS PROGRAMS IN HONDURAS ...................... 1 1.2 PILOT PROJECTS AND PRIORITY AREAS SPECIFIC TO REDD+ ............................. 4 1.3 RELEVANT POLICIES FOR REDD+ ..................................................................................... 7 2.0 STAKEHOLDERS, POSSIBLE IMPACTS AND BENEFITS of REDD+ ............ 13 2.1 KEY STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE REDD+ READINESS PROCESS ............................................................................................................ 13 2.2 PARTIES NOT IDENTIFIED IN REDD+ DOCUMENTS .............................................. 20 2.3 OPPORTUNITIES GENERATED BY REDD+ ................................................................... 21 2.4 STRUCTURES FOR INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS ..................................................... 22 2.5 RECOMMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................... 25 3.0 LAND AND FOREST USE POLICY, LAW AND REGULATION ................... 26 3.1 POLICIES, LAWS, AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING RESOURCE USE ............ 26 3.2 TENURE REGIMES ................................................................................................................... 34 3.3 LANDS: DOCUMENTATION AND CONFLICTS ........................................................ 48 3.4 RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 50 4.0 CARBON RIGHTS ................................................................................................ 52 4.1 RIGHTS RELATED TO OWNING OR TRADING CARBON.................................... 52 4.2 CARBON CREDITS AND EXPERIENCE WITH CONTRACTS ................................ 53 4.3 OWNERSHIP OF CARBON-RELATED RIGHTS ............................................................ 59 4.4 RIGHTS TO BENEFITS ........................................................................................................... 63 4.5 INSTITUTIONS FOR BENEFIT SHARING ........................................................................ 63 4.6 RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 64 5.0 FREE, PRIOR AND INFORMED CONSENT (OR CONSULATION RESULTING IN COMMUNITY SUPPORT) IN HONDURAS ......................... 65 5.1 GENERAL INFORMATION ON FPIC ............................................................................... 65 5.2 LEGAL BASIS FOR PARTICIPATION, CONSULTATION AND CONSENT ........ 66 5.3 CONFLICTS OVER THE AUTHORIZATION OF HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS AND MINING PROJECTS .................................................................................... 67 5.4 BIO-CULTURAL PROTOCOL OF THE MISKITO INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: THE RIGHT TO FREE, PRIOR AND INFORMED CONSENT IN OUR TERRITORY OF THE HONDURAN MOSQUITIA ........................................................................................ 67 5.5 FPIC AND THE NATIONAL REDD+ STRATEGY ......................................................... 68 5.6 KNOWLEDGE OF RIGHTS .................................................................................................. 70 5.7 RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 70 6.0 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................... 71 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 75 LAWS AND CASES ........................................................................................................ 78 HONDURAS RESOURCE TENURE AND SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES ASSESSMENT i ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AFH Honduran Forest Agenda AMUPROLAGO Association of Municipalities for the Protection of Lake Yojoa BMZ German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development CATIE Tropical Agronomic Center for Research and Teaching CCAD Central American Commission on Environment and Development CDM Clean Development Mechanism CICC Inter-institutional Committee on Climate Change COHEP Honduran Council of Private Enterprise CONPAH Indigenous Peoples Confederation of Honduras COPINH Popular Indigenous Council of Honduras CPPFI Catalogue of Inalienable Public Forest Heritage CTICC Inter-institutional Technical Committee on Climate Change ESNACIFOR National School of Forestry Sciences EU European Union FCPF Forest Carbon Partnership Facility FEHCAFOR Honduran Federation of Agroforestry Cooperatives FEPROAH Federation of Agroforestry Producers of Honduras FLEGT Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Program FPIC Free, Prior, and Informed Consent GDP Gross Domestic Product GIZ German Agency for Technical Cooperation National Institute of Conservation and Forestry Development, Protected ICF Areas and Wildlife ILO International Labor Organization INA National Agrarian Institute IP Property Institute IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature MAP-SP Sico Paulaya Roundtable for Environment and Production MASTA Moskitia Asla Takanka MESAFH Honduras Socio-Environmental Mechanism for Forest Management MNIACC Indigenous and Afro-Honduran Roundtable on Climate Change MOCAPH Board of Co-managing NGOs of Protected Areas of Honduras ii HONDURAS RESOURCE TENURE AND SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES ASSESSMENT MTPA Montecristo Trinational Protected Area NGO Non-Governmental Organization OFRANEH Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras PATH Honduras Land Administration Program PES Payment for Environmental Services PRONAFOR National Forestry Program PRRG Property Rights and Resource Governance R-PIN Readiness Plan Idea Note R-PP Readiness Preparation Proposal REDD+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation RCCP Regional Climate Change Program Secretariat for the Development of Indigenous Peoples and Afro- SEDINAFROH Hondurans SEFIN Secretariat of Finance SEPLAN Technical Secretariat for Planning and External Cooperation SERNA Secretariat of Natural Resources and Environment SSF Social Forestry System TGCC Tenure and Global Climate Change UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNDRIP United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change USAID U.S. Agency for International Development VPA Voluntary Partnership Agreement ZEDE Zone for Employment and Economic Development HONDURAS RESOURCE TENURE AND SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES ASSESSMENT iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With a significant portion of its territory covered by forests, Honduras can benefit from implementing a policy to reduce emissions from deforestration and forest degradation (REDD+), both to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its consequences. Adaptation is, without a doubt, a priority in Honduras, which has faced severe climatic events, including hurricanes and floods. Currently, a myriad of initiatives are implementing REDD+ activities in the country, and a readiness preparation process is taking place, financed by international programs. Regardless of which areas are chosen for REDD+ implementation, a review of national policies and experiences suggests that the success of Honduras’s approach to REDD+ implementation will be closely linked to finding appropriate solutions to problems associated with land and resource tenure. Particularly, it seems that ownership, possession, and occupation of land and forests could impact which stakeholders can participate in REDD+. This resource tenure and sustainable landscapes assessment conducted for the U.S. Agency for International Development Tenure and Global Climate Change program examines the current obstacles and opportunities for REDD+ implementation in Honduras through: • a tenure-based stakeholder analysis; • an assessment of tenure under Honduras’s present policies;