Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Work of Local Water Boards to be Recognized at Rio+20

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Apr 23 2012 (IPS) - The Association of Water Administration Boards of the South Sector of Pico Bonito Park, in Honduras, will be recognized at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) for conserving water resources and the habitat of a species of hummingbird endemic to this Central American nation. This initiative, based in the El Merendón mountain range overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, was selected from among 800 projects around the world, Hugo Galeano of the UNDP Small Grants Program told Tierramérica. The program certified the work of the Association of Water Administration Boards prior to the competition.

The Association has been in operation for five years and has allowed for the preservation of 40,000 hectares of forest in areas inhabited by the Honduran Emerald (Amazilia luciae), a species of hummingbird found only in Honduras that is classified as critically endangered.

Pico Bonito Mountain is located in the northern Honduran departments of Atlántida and Yoro and forms part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.