Date Last Revised: Robert E. Ford, April 10, 2007

This module is part of an interdisciplinary capstone (ESSC 575) field-oriented course within the ESS (Earth System Science) core curriculum at LLU-SST. The primary learning goal is to provide students the opportunity to work jointly with faculty on integrative real world policy and basic science issues that are place-based and, that approach research questions from a sustainability science and social policy perspective. It teaches students how to use analytical tools such as GPS, ArcPAD (mobile GIS) and other human-ecological monitoring and assessment tools for doing sustainability analysis.

We currently are working with several field partners in Honduras and Belize--local, regional, and global NGOs, government, and university entities--to do field-level analysis and mitigation of hazards, biodiversity, and other "sustainability" and "Earth Systems Science" (ESS) problems that affect the coastal and insular zone of Northern Mesoamerica, particularly on the North Coast of Honduras, i.e. Bay Islands, Mosquitia/Eastern Honduras, La Ceiba/North Coast region, as well as the Pacific Coast of Honduras (Golfo de Fonseca/Southern Honduras).

Our current research problem themes emphasize basic science and policy issues related to human impacts on natural systems such as reefs, estuaries, deltas, savannas, mangrove swamps, rivers, beaches, forests in protected areas such managed by the AFE-COHDEFOR (Forestry agency of Honduras). To read more see Rationalization of the Protected Areas System of Honduras: Vol. 1 Main Study (PDF). Financed by PROBAP/World Bank/UNDP/GEF Prepared by WICE. September 2002. The protected areas we are targeting in this module are specifically:

• Cuero y Salado wildlife refuge (C&SR satellite image) on the North Coast near La Ceiba.
• Pico Bonito national park (PBNP) also near La Ceiba - Topo #2 (see also Honduras.com site for PBNP)
• Isla del Tigre (maps and image) and the historic Port of Amapala on a volcanic island in the Gulf of Fonseca/Choluteca region.

Under another effort, in cooperation with the USAID/MIRA Project in Honduras we are also conducting biodiversity surveys and doing habitat characterization in two newer protected areas on the Pacific Coast--Cerro Guanacaure and La Botija. Both of these protected areas are important remnants of endangered Neotropical dry tropical forest (see Readings--Ariel Lugo, Tropical Dry Forests and Ecosystems (.doc). Another goal is help learners understand the distribution and characteristics of traditional biophysical ecosystem patterns in Honduras. See Biodiversity of Honduras and Ecosystems--(doc) (see also Annex to Ecosystems Map).

In addition, we want to highlight issues surrounding the human dimensions of global change (HDGC) related to factors of settlement structure, livelihood patterns, agro-ecosystems, and human footprint issues such as urban sprawl, transportation, industrial agriculture, mining, river basin management, environmental degradation, population-environment interactions, and changes in "common property" or other governance regimes. See for instance:

• The Illegal Logging Crisis in Honduras (PDF) - A report by the Environmental Investigation Agency
  produced with the support of the Center for International Policy.

• Learn moreabout HDGC from the VGD Module: Human Driving Forces and their Impacts on Land Use/Land Cover. It would be wise to study this resource before doing the lab activities in this module.

The module will focus initially on two coastal zone regions for case study analysis; later we will add other cases. Click on each case below to get an introduction to that region's problems and issues:

CASE NO 1: Atlantic Coast of Honduras

CASE NO 2: Pacific Coast of Honduras

 

Direct Links to the Virtual Tours Case No 1 - INTRODUCTION: Virtual Tour -Image 1: Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge Virtual Tour - Image 2: Pico Bonito National Park and La Ceiba Case No 2 - INTRODUCTION: Virtual Tour - Image 1: Isla del Tigre

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Geographical Relationships

The selected maps and images below show the population density and some other regional and local geographical relationships around the key protected areas that are our focus on the Atlantic as well as the Pacific Coast of Honduras--much more will come in the specific virtual tours of each case study.

Regional Setting of the Case Studies

Click on each image to see a larger version

NOTE: You can get many more maps on the region at the NASA/SIAM-SERVIR portal, at the CCAD (Central American Commission of Environment and Development) portal or at the SERNA-SINIA Mapoteca portal.

The Atlantic (North) Coast of Honduras from Space

Landsat Image March 2003 - Click to download large JPG file (5.87 MB) - La Ceiba - Topo #2

 

Population Density and Protected Areas
on the Atlantic Coast of Honduras

Click for larger image

 

ISLA DEL TIGRE, GULF OF FONSECA
PACIFIC COAST, HONDURAS

Landsat Image February 1990 - Golfo of Fonseca - Click to download (9 MB file)
Where three countries meet: Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador
Map - Isla el Tigre and the Historic Port of Amapala
Source: UNOPS/UNDP: Unidad de Desarollo Turistico Municipal

Bob Ford Home	Earth System Science Core Courses - LLU-SST - EBS
	SPOL 665 Info-Tech.	BIOL 549 Biodiv. & Conser.	SPOL 624 Nature-Soc. Thought	SPOL 554 Env. Eq. Eco. Dev. Policy	ESSC 401-2 ES-Sci.	ESSC 541-2 Remote Sensing	ESSC 575  Field Practicum

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