The Cuero y Salado wildlife refuge (C&SR map) is located 33 km. (17 miles) west of the city of La Ceiba (map) on the Caribbean coast of northern Honduras (satellite image). It has an area of approximately 13,225 hectares. In July 2001Jerry Wylie of the USDA Forest Service carried out a consultancy and estimated 58% of the refuge was humid forests, 38% lagoons or estuaries, and the remaining 4% rivers and canals (Map1). The photo at left shows the new visitor center of C&SR in 2005.
Pico Bonito National Park (PBNP - see Map) is a stunningly beautiful mountain reserve upstream from Cuero y Salado and is one of the most signifcant rain and cloud forest reserves remaining in the region (see photo at left of the highest mountain peak in PBNP). Learn more about cloud forests in general HERE.
That both reserves are so close to growing urban areas such as La Ceiba--(see also HERE)--now the third largest city in Honduras--makes them both very attractive for tourism as well as potentially threatened by human-environmental degradation. Together, the two reserves present great cases for an analysis that exemplifies perfectly a concept that has become central to recent coastal zone management (CZM) practice in the Caribbean. This is often refered to as integrated river basin management or Ridge-to-Reef (see the Jamaica Ridge to Reef Watershed Project). See some of the World Bank documents which explain the methods and practice today. In simple terms, of course, it means holistic analysis and management from the highest ridge line downstream to the coastal plains, wetlands and lagoons, and on out to the off-shore reef zone.
Recently WRI (World Resources Institute) carried out a major study for the Mesoamerican Reef Alliance known as the ICRAN MAR partnership entitled: Watershed Analysis for the Mesoamerican Reef - see maps, charts and images HERE. It presents excellent research data and other documents and trends on this critical global coastal zone.
Endangered fauna in C&SR include crocodile, caiman and a small population of manatee. Some LLUs students and faculty: Stephen Dunbar, Daniel Gonzalez, and Marie-Lys Bacchus have been carrying studies of the Manatee in Honduras and Belize (see Home of the Manatee - Vancouver Aquarium AquaNews). The photo at the left shows Marie-Lys and Stephen Dunbar unearthing for curation and mounting in the new visitor center, the skeleton of an adult manatee buried for over five years at the Cuero y Salado preserve - March 2005.
Visit Daniel's webpage to learn more about the elusive manatee in Cuero y Salado and the current status of research on them by faculty and students at LLU. C&SR also has a great variety of migratory and residential birds, with some 196 species reported. Other fauna include Howler Monkeys, White Faced Monkeys, Jaguars, Ocelots, Anteaters, Iguanas, River and Sea Turtles, and a great diversity of fish. See the Photo Gallery from LLU Mesoamerican Project for more pictures of endangered species, surrounding landscapes and ongoing recent field research.
Early C&SR and PBNP History
The area comprised within today's C&SR and much of the surrounding region including PBNP, by 1899 was part of the Standard Fruit Company's concessionary land domain in Honduras--a true banana republic (see photo below). Note the high stand of coconut trees in the background--this was a primary product from this "company" tract of land until recent times after a Caribbean-wide infection killed most trees in the region. Those seen today are a new "resistant" variety but most have not yet achieved the stature or productivity of the past.
That the PBNP remains today largely "pristine" forest reserve is due primarily to the fact that the land was too steep for banana, coconut, or other industrial agriculture plantations, and it was early recognized as the prime "water source" for downstream irrigation needs as well as urban demands. In a sense, early land concessions by the Honduras government to Standard Fruit Company protected the core land areas that are now under protection within the parks and wildlife refuge, though the "political" issues of essentially giving extraterritorial sovereignty to a foreign corporation fed much of the 19-20th century "anti-Yankee" feelings that still exist in much of Central and South America. See for instance the history of the Panama Canal or attemtps to build one in Nicaragua which to this day raises heated political debate in the region.
Read more about the "company's" tumultous history in:
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Thomas L. Karnes. 1978. Tropical Enterprise: The Standard Fruit and Steamship Company in Latin America. Louisiana State University Press, and,
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Dario A. Euraque. 1996. Reinterpreting the Region and State in Banana Republic: Honduras, 1870-1972. The University of North Carolina Press.
Kymberley Snarr, a research scientist and Ph.D candidate from the University of Toronto who has been studying howler monkeys in CySR and helped locate early archival photos above that show early "tourists" visiting the area. Even today there are buildings remaining from the days the "company" had a guest house and private airstrip at Salado Barra (we will explore some of that later in the virtual tour). See also the Banana Republic's history--the United Fruit Company--from Wikipedia.
The 'Frisco' Vocational School
Outside of Cuero y Salado in the buffer areas to the refuge are several small communities and institutions of importance to agricultural development and research the region. Some have interesting links to the Standard Fruit Company and rural development in the region. These include:
Fundacion Hondurena para la Investigacion Agricola (FHIA) is an institution that specializes in humid tropical agricultural production research--particularly on bananas. One of its most important field stations is located near La Masica along the Tela/La Ceiba highway--FHIA-CEDEC; it specializes in cacao/cocoa production. The satellite image online quiz--see Point #9--shows some of the experimental fields of FHIA-CEDEC.
The Escuela Agropecuaria John F. Kennedy (Escuela Nacional Experimental Agropecuaria de la Region Tropical Húmeda) is also very important to the region and works closely with Cuero y Salado on natural resource management and rural development extension.
This institution started out as a private agricultural school in 1948 and due to economic competition and other encounters with the Standard Fruit Company was sold to the government about 1953. It then became a Normal School--a center for teacher training--until about 1965 when it became the tropical agricultural technical school which it is today. It's current history dates back to the Alliance for Progress under President John F. Kennedy, from which it gets its name. See article about "agricultural extension training" for women in Central America tested and promulgated at this school.
If you look on the satellite images in the online quiz (Image #1 and Point No. #6) you will see the small community of San Francisco, Atlantida to the southeast of the large industrial African Oil Palm plantation (CAICESA)--see also the TOPO MAP. Note the Campo de Balonpie (soccer field) on the campus seen on the map.
Robert E. Ford (the principal author of this module) spent part of his early childhood at the Frisco Vocacional School as it was known then--see photos above. Robert Ford is three years old in the early photos and the later one shows Dr. Ford in 1994. Can you find the community and school on the satellite image?
Note that the school was once right on the main Standard Fruit Company railroad line. That line was ripped out after Hurricane Mitch in 1998 when most of the bridges washed out. Nevertheless, its location and focus--humid tropical agricultural research and extension --continues today.
The early school (built around 1948) was constructed of wood with a tin roof following the architectural style of many early "fruit company" buildings before air-conditioning. The early structure lasted until the early 1960s when new cement buildings replaced the old. The original structure was sited about 100 yards from the statue to JFK in the main entry.
Agricultural production on the early school farm and even today is very good! Note the large size of the pre-hybrid pineapples grown in the region as well as the papayas--the gentleman next to the papaya plants is Dr. Ford's father around 1950. This era of agriculture was done largely by hand and with a horse and oxen for plowing. This was long before the modern Dole Pineapple operations with its machine harvesting and planting. Old timers still feel these early pineapple and papaya varieties (and many others) tasted better though they were more perishable. The traditional varieties seen in the early photos are very hard to find today.
Modern Status of the C&SR
The modern refuge was established in 1987 for the purpose of protecting manatees and their coastal wetland and forest habitats. Under the administration of the Ministry of Natural Resources, responsibility for technical management was allocated to the Fundación Cuero y Salado (FUCSA) in 1989, with technical and financial assistance from the United Nations Program for Development, the Honduras Institute for Tourism, U.S. Agency for International Development, and numerous international conservation organizations. FUCSA is one of seven protected areas along the north coast of honduras that belong to a larger network known as REHDES (Red Ecologista Hondureña para el Desarrollo Sostenible ).
FUCSA’s programs at the Refuge include wardening, environmental education, research, and ecotourism. Currently, FUCSA has an on-site staff of ? park guards and? interpretive guides and it has a new Visitor's Center just completed this year (2005) which is soon to be inaugurated (photo at left). Note the historic old railcar (narrow gauge) that is still the primary transport to the C&SR "jump-off point at Salado Barra. You will learn a lot more about Cuero y Salado and its landscape when you take the Virtual Tour.
Modern Status of the PBNP
The area enclosed within the Pico Bonito National Park (PBNP) was once also part of the territorial concession given to the Standard Fruit Company. In 1974 several professors at CURLA (Centro Universitario Regional del Litoral Atlántico)--the regional campus of UNAH, the National Autonomous University of Honduras--first proposed it become a reserve. But it was not legally protected until 1977 by the Dirección de Recursos Naturales Renovables (RENARE). The park is located in the Nombre de Dios cordillera or mountain chain which rises like a wall behind the narrow coastal plain in this part of Atlántida and Yoro--the departments or states on this part of the North Coast. See Topo Map of the La Ceiba region showing the dramatic landscape.
This protected area is one of the largest in the country--107,300 hectares--and within the park are found several distinct altitudinal life zones that rise from near sea-level to almost 2500 meters within a few miles. In fact the local relief seen on this part of the Atlantic coast is one of the most dramatic seen anywhere in Mesoamerica. And as one would expect, the biodiversity of flora and fauna in the park is world class (see photo at left above). In its forest one can still find the elusive jaguar, colorful toucans, and rainforest plant species of all types (see more at the PBNP website). Learn more about cloud forests in general HERE.
Land Use/Land Cover Change
Following are on-the-ground and aerial photo tours of both reserves as well as surrounding human-impacted landscapes. The purpose of the tour is to give you a virtual view of the different types of land classes that you will encounter in your interpretation of satellite imagery. This will be essential as you move from an unsupervised to a supervised classification. It will also give you a tourist's or specialist view of ecology, agriculture, forestry, human-impacts, and other land uses or land covers that are visible today.
Virtual Tours and Case Studies
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MAPPING RESOURCES:
Ecotourism Mapping and Protected-Area Management
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 ArcGIS SERVER - Interactive Map:
Webmapping of Trails and Ecotourism Services (Prototype websites) : University of Redlands Student Chisa Nishii (GPS and field-work by Robert Ford and David Nguyen, University of California, Irvine) and students and staff of CURLA (La Ceiba) under guidance of Leonardo Mejia (professor):
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Ecotourism Maps by Robert Ford and Tim Wolff (Loma Linda University):
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Support to proposal-writing by FUCSA:
Helping the Cuero y Salado Foundation seek funding from TNC(The Nature Conservancy) to purchase private lands and easements to increase protection of critical habitats within the reserve (Cuero y Salado).
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Conservation Biology
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Fonseca Herp Project - directed by Rob Lovich and Robert Ford.
MAPS and SATELLITE IMAGERY. |
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 The Manatee Projects (Belize and Honduras) - see reports and presentations. Daniel Gonzalez and Marie-Lys Bacchus (students with Robert Ford). |
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Arthropods (Insects, Spiders, and their relatives) of Honduras:
Insect biology, photography and mapping (in support of ecotourism) - Peter J. Bryant (professor), and David Nguyen (student), University of California, Irvine with logistical support and GPS work by Robert E. Ford (Loma Linda University).
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Water Resources and Coastal Zone Management
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 See Maps and satellite Imagery (more coming soon).
Work being done bySerene Ong (University of Redlands) and staff of the UNAH-OACS** Remote Sensing and GIS program (Rafael Corrales), the new Disaster Mitigation Masters program at UNAH (Nabil Kawas and staff), and with support from USGS (Eric van Praag) , UNEP-WCMP (Lera Miles), and WRI (World Resources Institute) Lauretta Burke and Zachary Zugg).
See WRI study on Watershed Analysis for the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.
**UNAH (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras), Department of Biological Sciences with the GIS/RS program based at the National Astronomical Observatory at the university (UNAH) Observatorio Astronomico Centroamericano de Suyapa.
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Fishing zones as identified by local fishermen in Salado Barra and Boca Cerrada.
Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge July 2007. Support to a WWF-sponsored survey of artesanal fishing within and outside the refuge limits--to better understand actual practice in order to both increase protection of species while providing livelihood options.
Done in collaboration with Ester Lopez, WWF consultant and staff of FUCSA (Cuero y Salado Foundation) under guidance of Robert E. Ford, Tim Wolff (LLU), and David Nguyen (UCI):
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 Landuse / Landcover Mapping, Training, and Analysis
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