By MAR Leadership | MAR Leadership Team
The 2021 cohort cycle started in January with an introduction to the program in the context of COVID-19. In February, leaders participated in a webinar on the Mesoamerican Reefs' health and were trained on project design. Afterward, Fellows were trained on Storytelling and developed videos of their projects. We want to share with you the video of the Honduran fellows' project, which is looking at the inadequate treatment of wastewater in Roatan Island.
Currently, in Roatan Island, Honduras, the infrastructures used for wastewater disposal are mostly septic tanks, private treatment plants, and very few community treatment plants. One of the latter is located in the West End community, considered one of the most significant tourist affluence areas. It is organized with a board of trustees and a water board called Polo's Water Association, which provides continuous access and treatment of drinking water and has a sewage system and a wastewater treatment plant. In recent years West End, through the water board with the support of different organizations such as MAR Fund, Coral Reef Alliance, Zolitur, BICA, Healthy Reefs, has achieved the implementation of projects related to the rational use of drinking water and improvements in the wastewater treatment system, connections of properties to the sewage system. This is part of the achievements in the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People 2020 Reef Health Report, where macroalgae decreased from 27% to 24% and coral cover increased from 21% to 27%. However, the other existing community treatment plants or those that have been formulated for future construction fall in between:
- A treatment plant built and inactive due to a lack of efficient technologies, causing unsustainability of the system.
- A treatment plant in use, but with inefficient management by the service provider.
- Treatment plants are constructed, but the communities are uncertain about their management and operation.
With the experience of the water board in West End, the team intends to create a treatment plant management model that will serve as a guide to improve the current systems on the island and future constructions. Thus ensuring the proper governance and sustainability of the system and not putting at risk the quality of the treated effluent and, consequently, the reefs' health.
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