Int'l recognition key to protecting Mosquitia

Press Conference:
Managing Natural Resources and Reducing Poverty

By LAURA GRIFFITHS

The Programa de Pequeñas Donaciones (Small Donations Program) of the Environmental Fund of the World is a project implemented by the environmental union and the United Nations which, places the financial support directly into the Local Communitarian Based Organizations it aims to help.

Many of these are located in the Biological Mesoamerican Corridor in the Honduran border. This area is well known for natural wealth and for being in the “Rio Platano” and “Tawaka Asangni” biospheres. In these communities projects such as authentic local development, country poverty reduction and natural resource conservation have been developed. In order to achieve this, the involvement of the media is vital to channel these issues to the public.

A press conference at the United Nations was held on Wednesday regarding the management of natural resources and reducing poverty. Local leaders from these rural areas came to discuss their efforts in battling against poverty.
They also expressed their hope for a better future in Honduras and the natural resources of the country.

The press conference gave the local communities representative the opportunity to illustrate the individual efforts their community was making. Many called upon the Government authorities and the International cooperation to unite as a whole for the country’s development. The conference concluded with a discussion whereby opinions from all the sectors could be voiced

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Protecting the Whale Sharks of Utila

The whale shark is considered to be Utila’s main vistor

Deep Blue in Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras runs a dive school in town and an exclusive all inclusive dive resort outside of town. The owners Steve Fox and Jasmine Dale moved there from England 3 years ago and fell in love with the Island of Utila and the diving. They are very keen to preserve the wildlife on the island and the coral reefs and marine life. Because of this, they decided to start the largest research project ever done on Whale Sharks in the Caribbean.

The project will start in March 2005 and run for 6 weeks with researchers from the USA. It is hoped that James Ketchum, who has been accepted from MX to U.C Davis, will participate in the project on a fellowship. Peter Klimley will be overseeing his program at university.
Peter Klimley is quite possibly the most well known shark expert in the world and has written many books on the subject.
The company that Deep Blue has teamed up with is called Shark Diver which has been doing research into Great Whites for the last few years Deep Blue will be using the same technology as Shark Diver, satellite tags, acoustic tags and taking DNA samples; hopefully giving us a completely new insight into the life of Whale Sharks.

At the moment Deep Blue is looking for help as the cost of the tags are $4,500.00 each and while the researchers are here they also wish to rent a plane to maximise their chances of spotting Whale Sharks.

Visitors to the resort at the time of the project will be involved with the research. They will be given briefings on what to look for when they see a Whale Shark and they talks on the subject. The findings and the ongoing program will be open to everyone on Utila and hopefully people will join in giving information and photos to help build the data base at Deep Blue.
The research project will also be useful for the coral reefs of Utila. The Whale Shark migration pattern seems to follow the snapper aggregations, which have been protected in Belize. The Whale Sharks consume huge amounts of snapper eggs; therefore, the protection of the seasonal eggs aggregation may be something that we have to look at in the future. If not, the Whale Sharks will change route and not visit Utila.
Also the aggregations are important to fish stocks that live on the reef.

We have already seen how human impact is affecting the reef in the Caribbean and now we have seen proof of how humans are impacting Whale Sharks …Look at attached photo…..this is a Whale Shark that has been hit badly by a propeller, as you can see the damage is extensive, this photo was taken by an instructor who works at Deep Blue.

If you need any further information please contact waves2222@aol.com or have a look at www.DeepBlueUtila.com