ECO-EXCHANGE -- Two years after Hurricane Mitch pummeled Central America, leaving more than 9,000 dead and tens of thousands more homeless, the region is still struggling to recuperate.  Nearly a billion dollars of international aid has helped repair destroyed infrastructure and bolster teetering economies.  Meanwhile, work continues in the hardest-hit communities, often led by conservation groups whose pre-hurricane role was focused on biodiversity protection, not on hammers, nails, and cement.

Hurricane Mitch hit Central America in late October 1998 and for four days, unleashed relentless torrents of rain that washed away roads, homes, livestock, crops and people.  The eye of the storm was above the Caribbean coast of Honduras.  Rafael Sambula, director of the Foundation for the Protection of Lancetilla, Punta Sal, and Texiguat (PROLANSATE), remembers that before the storm, residents were beginning to benefit from increased tourism to the area.  All that ended with Mitch.

In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, PROLANSATE, which is dedicated to the conservation and management of several protected areas along the coast, helped with rescue work and provided basic needs such as food, potable water, clothes and medicine.  "The next stage," explains Sambula, "was to provide residents with seeds to replace washed away crops and to help repair homes."  The third stage of emergency response has been to rebuild roads, schools, and homes.

Sambula is sure that deforestation worsened the impacts of the storm, so PROLANSATE has established tree nurseries and, with local residents, will reforest watersheds.  Trees hold soil in place and can deter mudslides and flooding.  The conservation group is also trying to raise funds to establish a small emergency fund so they are better prepared when the next hurricane hits.

The pattern of post-hurricane assistance was much the same in Guatemala's Punta Manabique, a narrow finger of wetlands and lagoons on the Caribbean.  One of the leading conservation groups in the area is the Mario Dary Foundation (FUNDARY).  The group's director, Yvonne Ramirez, says that when it was clear how dangerous the hurricane would be, the group rushed to evacuate as many people as possible to higher ground.  Many permanently abandoned their homes in Punta Manabique, but for those who returned, FUNDARY helped repair and rebuild houses and schools.

Ramirez worries that deforestation on Manabique, which is rich in mangroves, wetlands, and wildlife, threatens more than biodiversity.  During Mitch, the peninsula served as a natural barrier, protecting the economically important ports of Santo Tomas and Puerto Barrios.  "If Punta Manabique did not exist, if we were left with just an area of cattle pasture and no forests, I think the effects of the hurricane would have been far more drastic," she says.

The Foundation for Eco-Development and Conservation (FUNDAECO) is also active on Guatemala's Caribbean coast.  Since Mitch, the group has identified the most vulnerable watersheds and helped organize local emergency committees.  Now FUNDAECO is producing radio announcements to underscore the message that conserving forest is the best defense against impacts of future storms.  The radio spots will be in Spanish and the indigenous language of K'eqchi in order to reach as many residents as possible.

Both Sambula and Ramirez acknowledge that their conservation focus has become secondary to helping local communities recover from Mitch's impact.  "Perhaps it isn't our role to work in health and education," Ramirez notes, "but the conditions in the area are so critical, that morally, you can't separate yourself from that."

Sambula thinks that once PROLANSATE has helped meet the basic needs of housing, infrastructure, and food security, "we can return again to caring for the environment, with a little more force."  He adds that the group's continual presence and assistance after the hurricane, "has strengthened our ties with the communities, and logically will now make our job of managing the protected areas easier."