By Carlos Duarte Euraque | Program Officer, Honduras
Dear GlobalGiving supporters,
I hope you’re well! Things have been challenging in Honduras since I last wrote. From the environmental perspective, we’ve faced another severe dry season with a high incidence of forest fires. From January to April, 461 forest fires were reported country-wide by the Honduran Forest Conservation Institute (ICF) consuming over 22,000 hectares of forest.
In our project area, in the Uchapa-Pimienta watershed we have been working with a brigade to conduct forest monitoring, fire prevention activities--like establishing firebreaks and removing potential kindling--and control fires that do break out. Early analysis shows that we had a significantly lower rate of forest loss due to fires compared to the rest of the country, but we are still crunching the numbers.
The destruction of the forest and the effects of the El Niño phenomenon have reduced the flow of water in Honduras, so the authorities have begun to apply rationing in some neighborhoods. Rural areas are being hit particularly hard by this critical lack of access to potable water. Some of the streams and rivers have run completely dry.
This is why we continue to work with local communities in northern Honduras to produce and plant native trees in important watersheds (we have produced 50,000 so far this year) and to reduce their reliance on firewood for cooking by installing fuel-efficient stoves (we are in the process of installing 200 right now). We have also collaborated with local TV and radio networks to raise awareness about the situation. You can see one of the clips here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otven9wbEt8
The rains are starting now--so we're working to take stock of the overall condition of the watershed after the fires. I look forward to keeping you posted, Thank you so much for your support--it allows us to keep fighting every day for our forests and streams and for the health of our communities.
In solidarity,
Carlos Duarte Euraque, Program Officer, Honduras
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