Mangrovenwald, Honduras

Protecting mangroves, preserving habitat

Smallholder farming families in Southern Honduras use forest, water and soil sustainably

Protecting mangroves, preserving habitat: smallholder farming families in Southern Honduras use forest, water and soil sustainably



8 village communities in the munici-pality of Namasigüe, department of Choluteca in the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras

Sustainable water and agriculture, protection of natural resources, empowerment

128 members of the village community and water committees, 30 farming families, 20 women from a women’s network, 4,170 inhabitants of the village communities (water supply)

Comité para la Defensa y Desarrollo de la Flora y Fauna del Golfo de Fonseca (CODDEFFAGOLF), Honduras

The project costs amount to CHF 216,315. Not included in the total costs are local contributions.

01/07/2022 - 31/12/2023

Project background

The people on the hot and dry southern coast of Honduras live on what they can grow in their small fields and extract from nature. However, the natural resources of forest, water and soil are often overused, also by large landowners and shrimp farms. The ecologically valuable and sensitive mangrove forests of the Gulf of Fonseca, an internationally protected wetland, are acutely endangered. Forests are dwindling and with them the freshwater reserves. Village communities possess neither the knowledge nor the organisational structure required to steer this development in a different direction and to conserve the mangrove forests and their resources.

Our solution approach

We support the farming families in improving their farming methods through agroecological practices. They thus reconcile resource conservation with higher crop yields. Together with the communities, the project team is committed to preserving the mangrove forests and the natural resources of the Gulf of Fonseca, as well as the sustainable management of the natural resources. It supports the village population to better organise and making their concerns visible to decision-makers. The project also contributes to improving the water supply of the villages.

Project goals

Improving the living conditions of smallholder farming families in 8 village communities in the municipality of Namasigüe:

  • The population of 8 village communities in Namasigüe is well organised to sustainably manage their natural resources (soil, forest, water).
  • 30 farming families achieve better harvests and protect their soil by applying agroecological practices.
  • 25 ha of terrestrial and coastal ecosystems (10 ha of tropical dry forest and 15 ha of mangroves) have been restored and protected, and the water balance is stabilising.

Regional approach

The project is part of our Central America regional program, in which we implement projects in the same thematic area in a context-appropriate manner, together with partners in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. We bring together local experiences and share them with our partners and applied research institutes in regional meetings. Through the shared experiences, we learn from each other to continuously improve our projects at a local level. In addition, we are working with all partners and with the technical support of the CATIE research institute to establish a climate monitoring system that also documents the local impacts of climate change on agriculture, ecosystems and biodiversity in the different project regions.