The Laguna Bacalar was designated Honduras´ fifth Ramsar site as a Wetland of International Importance



 

By MARIA FIALLOS

TEGUCIGALPA – In special ceremony held last month, Honduras announced the designation of its fifth Ramsar site, the Laguna de Bacalar, located on the Caribbean coast, in the Department of Gracias a Dios. The event was sponsored by the Bayan Association, the non-governmental organization (NGO) in charge of the lagoon’s management and the Fundacion Vida, a major contributor to the project. Attendants, amongst others, included Carlos Pineda, the Vice-Minister of Natural Resources and Environment; Oscar Lanza Rosales, President of Fundacion Vida; and Mayor Jose Antonio Villalta of the Juan Francisco Bulnes Municipality. During the event, Oscar Lanza Rosales presented Mayor Villalta with the Ramsar certification.

Oscar Lanza Rosales, President of Fundacion Vidca present Mayor Jose Antonio Villalta with Ramsar certification

The Laguna Bacalar, a marine-coastal wetland, is characterized by broad-leaf forest, swamps, and mangrove forest. Mangroves, namely by red mangrove, white mangrove, and buttonwood, also dominate the areas adjacent to the lagoons. The site’s rich fauna includes endangered species such as the Caribbean manatee, rare birds such as the jabirus, and fish characteristic to this type of ecosystem, including the schoolmaster snapper and the horse-eye jack. The site is invaluable in providing flood control, sedimentation capture, and stabilization of the reflux between the sea and the lagoon, which is fed by the Sico and Tinto rivers.

The Lagoon itself covers 31l hectares, but its area of influence has been estimated at approximately 5,300 hectares. Located on the limits of the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, the largest natural tract of forest remaining in the country and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the lagoon drains into the sea at Palacios Delta, making it a strategic access route to the Biosphere. Connected to the Ibans Lagoon through the Siblaba Channel that converges with the Tinto River from which the Criba River can be reached, this ecosystem is an important habitat for fresh water and marine species.

The area also forms part of the “Wetlands” Eco-region established by the World Wildlife Fund, which extends from the Perlas Lagoon in Nicaragua to the Cabo Camaron in Honduras.

The Laguna Bacalar project is managed by the Bayan Association (Asociacion de Desarrollo Socio-Economico Indigena). Bayan was established in 1985 with the objective of establishing scientific bases for the protection and sustainable management of the Bacalar Lagoon Area through community participation and local government involvement. http://www.bayan-hn.org/

*The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty, which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 136 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1288 wetland sites, totaling 108.9 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Honduras became a signatory of the Convention on 23 October 1993 and presently has five sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 179,680 hectares.

The Annotated Ramsar List reads:
Each Contracting Party shall designate suitable wetlands within its territory for inclusion in a List of Wetlands of International Importance, hereinafter referred to as “the List” which is maintained by the bureau [secretariat of the Convention] established under Article 8.

Wetlands included in the List acquire a new status at the national level and are recognized by the international community as being of significant value not only for the country, or the countries, in which they are located, but also for humanity as a whole.