Clean Water for Rural Honduras

Thanks to your support, thousands of people in northern Honduras now have access to safe drinking water managed by the local community. Collecting a small monthly fee, our local partner, the Association of Water Councils of Pico Bonito National Park’s Southern Sector  (AJAASSPIB in Spanish), provides comprehensive watershed management and environmental education services to a population of about 11,000. AJAASSPIB is made up of 28 water councils and their inclusive payment-for-ecosystem services model has been an inspiration. The municipality of Olanchito has launched a program to duplicate and expand upon this model, with the goal of providing clean water for 40,000 of the city’s inhabitants.  

Collective ownership has been a key part of conservation and development, as our goal is for local communities to provide as much direction as possible. Before devastating Hurricane Mitch struck in 1998, water boards did very little, and after the hurricane, water infrastructure had to be reconstructed from scratch. More than 14,000 people were killed, and the landscape was torn apart.  Yet in a striking reversal of the “tragedy of the commons,” people came together, turning the area’s heavily deforested slopes into a collectively owned property that they could restore. The approach we are helping Olanchito develop is working to achieve the same feat on a much larger scale.

Access to clean water will make a big difference for the residents of Olanchito, and we are excited to see our work in Honduras expanding with rural communities at the helm.  The change we’re seeing is both environmental and social. AJAASSPIB’s model has become an inspiration for a larger municipality, and this unique rural-to-urban “idea innovation flow” has been extremely empowering for our rural partners.

AJAASSPIB and EcoLogic’s partnership also has been honored with several international awards, including the2015 Yale International Society of Tropical Foresters Innovation Prize for “outstanding initiatives in biodiversity conservation at the landscape level,” the 2014 Energy Globe National Award Honduras, the 2012 United Nations Equator Prize, and second place for the 2011 Swiss Re International ReSource Award. At EcoLogic, we are grateful that this award offers recognition for our local Honduran partners, and allows them to share their experiences to inspire others, not only in their home communities, but around the world.

Please consider donating to protect and revitalize the water sources thousands of Hondurans depend on. We greatly appreciate your support!