Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Communities Promote Eco-Tourism Project

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

Tegucigalpa, Mar 2 2009 (IPS) - Three municipalities in Honduras’ central Comayagua valley are building their first eco-tourism center, with the aim of generating income for the region and developing conservation and management programs for the wildlife reservation of the PANACOMA national park. With financing from Canada, the communities of Esquías, San Jerónimo and Comayagua will build ecological cabins, train their population to work as tourist guides and devise protection plans for the park’s 30,000 plus hectares.

At least 64 communities of the three municipalities stand to benefit from the more than 300,000-dollar project, which will be ready by the end of the year, Juan Carlos Miranda, mayor of Comayagua, told Tierramérica.

The park is home to endangered birds and species, such as the white tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), the tigrillo or little spotted cat (Leopardus tigrinus), the armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), the toucan (Ramphastidae family) and the quetzal (Trogonidae).