Honduras Update: July 2005
Added to website: 30 August 2005
Project Brief
Aim
Project Bay Islands is a collaborative undertaking between Coral Cay Conservation and Proyecto Manejo Ambiental de las Islas de la Bahia (PMAIB – the Bay Islands Environmental Management Project), to survey and assess the status of the coral reefs the islands of Utila (1998 – 2000) and Roatán (2000 to present). The programme also provides training and conservation education opportunities for local Hondurans, as part of an integrated programme to develop local capacity and ensure the long-term protection and sustainable use of marine resources throughout the region.
Location
The Point, Santa Helena, Roatán, Bay Islands.
Marine Science Programme
Baseline Surveys
Background: Our baseline surveying programme is designed to gather data about the biological and morphological standing of the reefs around Roatán. These data are combined with information on human and natural impacts on the reefs, along with oceanographic data, to ultimately produce Geographical Information Systems data ‘maps’ of the reefs. It is like a ‘stock-take’ of the current marine resources, which is being produced to provide policymakers and concerned institutions with information necessary to effectively manage those resources. To date, the south and northwest coasts of Roatán have been surveyed, and the remainder of the project will concentrate on the east end and Barbaretta Island. If you would like more information on our surveying rationale or methodology, please don’t hesitate to contact our Project Scientist.
Number and location of surveys
23 Ongoing
The reefs that we are currently surveying around the island of Barbaretta look to be the healthiest reefs in the Bay Islands (and possibly some of the best remaining reefs in the western Caribbean), and it is therefore pivotal that effective and appropriate management systems are instituted as soon as possible. Currently, data on these reefs are sparse and the survey programme is a timely effort to provide these badly needed data. As Caribbean reefs continue to degrade in most areas, we intend that this information will be used in the creation and instalment of appropriately sited Marine Protected Areas, which have been shown to be the most effective tool in the conservation and regeneration of depleted reef stocks. This will benefit both the reefs themselves and the local fisherfolk of the islands who can thus continue to make a living from these incredible natural resources.
Reef Check
Background: ReefCheck is the name of both the world’s largest coral reef monitoring network and of the common methodology used, allowing the comparison of results from various locations worldwide. Although less detailed than CCC’s baseline surveys, the ReefCheck method is effective for monitoring changes in reef health over time. In order to do this, we mark the survey ‘transect’ with metal stakes, to ensure that repeat surveys are in the same place each time. These stakes are sited in rock, dead coral or sand for minimal disruption of the fragile reef system. CCC is proud to be a major contributing member of ReefCheck. Check out their site at www.ReefCheck.org
A new series of Reef Checks has just been started at Roatán, following preliminary analysis of the east-end baseline data to highlight the most useful locations in which to concentrate the surveying effort. These surveys will be repeated at regular intervals throughout the duration of the rest of the project.
Interesting / Unusual Sightings
Although whale sharks have been evasive this season, everyone is keeping their eyes peeled for these gentle giants of the ocean. However, our survey teams continue to see Nassau groupers (Epinephelus striatus), which is very encouraging. These large carnivorous fish were once one of the most abundant of their kind throughout the Caribbean coral reef system, but heavy fishing pressure has depleted their numbers dramatically. For example, between 2002 and 2004, CCC survey teams recorded these large and distinctive fish on only 23 out of 517 surveys at the west end of Roatán. The reefs around Barbaretta (east end) are anecdotally reported to be a spawning ground for this species and for other groupers and snappers, and our Project Scientist is currently working with the fisher folk in the vicinity of our project base in order to identify these sites, both geographically and seasonally, for the inclusion of these essential grounds within government management plans.
Environmental Awareness
Our schools educational programme is going ahead full steam, with groups from both of the elementary schools on the island of Santa Helena ploughing through a 15 lecture series. A large ‘knowledge gap’ has appeared within the local community, where the understanding of the reef systems that has been acquired over many generations of fisherfolk has not been passed down to the children of today. As these young students will be the future custodians of their reef resources, the environmental awareness being generated by the programme is invaluable. It has also been very encouraging to see so many of the adults of the villages becoming involved in the programme. The BBC kindly donated DVD copies of their Blue Planet series to CCC, and these have been devoured by the children! Our new Project Scientist has also been involved in an outreach programme, where she has been visiting schools in the towns of Oak Ridge and Punta Gorda on the main island of Roatán to expand the work started on our ‘home’ island of Santa Helena.
On Santa Helena, there is currently no garbage disposal facility, and thus most solid waste simply ends up in the sea. To remedy this, our Project Scientist has spent the past few months working with the local community to set up a self-financing garbage collection scheme, which will simultaneously tackle the pollution/health issue and will create local employment. This month, 54 steel oil-drums were been acquired for use as bins. These bins have been coated with anti-rust paint and will be placed at key locations within the major settlement areas. Each household within the local community is willing to pay 50 lempiras (around stg£3) per month for the collection of these bins by a local team and the transport of the garbage to the municipal landfill site on the main island. We are currently looking at ways to finance an incinerator for the island of Santa Helena, which will be a huge step towards solving this problem permanently.
On the last Thursday of the month, CCC presented the results of our two years of surveying the reefs of the west end of Roatán. This is the most developed part of the island in terms of tourism, and as the majority of this tourism is concentrated in the diving industry, these results were of great interest and concern to the assembled audience who attended the presentation. Representatives of the diving industry and other tourism sectors joined the local media, the Native Bay Islanders’ Professional and Labourers Association and Proyecto Manejo Ambiental de las Islas de la Bahia to understand more about the threats that are facing the reefs of this part of the island. As a result of this event, CCC will be hosting a training workshop in September, aimed at the diving professionals whose livelihoods depend on the health of their reefs. Above is a Geographic Information System output that was generated from the data gathered by the CCC survey teams. Areas highlighted in green are those which can be considered to be of the greatest ecological ‘importance’ and thus the areas that require the most immediate management and monitoring effort to help sustain these reefs for the future. CCC would like to thank the Roatán Institute for Marine Sciences for the use of their Audio Visual room for the event.
