Writing Sample

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As the north of Honduras consists of more than 91% of the country’s total coastline (735 of 820km), this coast contains vital resources for both the mainland and the smaller islands such as Roatan and Utila (Harborne, 2001). Fishing is a traditional practice throughout the north of the country and the neighbouring islands. Commercial fishers and native Garifuna communities have used the reefs “Banco Capiro” and “La Ensenada” in the bay of Tela for harvesting species such as Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus), fish, Caribbean King Crab (Mithrax spinossisimus) and conch (Strombus gigas) for subsistence (Luttinger, 1997).

Fishing is one of the largest sources of income in Honduras, and therefore, due to high demand, overfishing within small-scale fisheries is a common problem (Heyman, 2012). Fishermen throughout Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras have stated that most target species in the region are smaller now than in the past five years (Heyman, 2012). As well as fishing, international coral reef tourism is one of the most significant environmental industries in the world and has thus been implemented in Honduras acting as both a prominent source of income and a tool for education (Doiron, 2014). Associating economic values
to an ecosystem and its services has been investigated sparsely, however, it is estimated that the value of coral reef tourism is US$2.7 trillion a year (Spalding, 2017).

The benefits of tourism in Honduras are primarily economic, however, there are several negative ecological consequences (Harborne, 2001). The surge of tourists in and around the Honduran north coast has caused the need for expanding construction in the form of hotels and restaurants and increasing the amount of pollution released into the marine environment (Kurniawan, 2016). This increase in tourism correlates to the ever increasing recorded amount of nutrients in coastal waters leading to the destruction of coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass beds over the past ten years (Rioja-Nieto, 2019).

The practice of recreational fishing and littering whilst in and around the marine environment also contributes to the degradation of habitats (Kurniawan, 2016). Although destruction has and continues to occur, residents have, up to now, appeared not to be in favour of protection of the marine environment through MPAs due to economic priorities (Humphreys, 2018). Residents could see potential benefits in the form of increased fish stocks; however, they were unwilling to test the feasibility of such a designation. Implementing protective measures has caused adverse impacts on the livelihoods of residents in Tela that are directly reliant on the marine environment, and thus has caused them to become unsupportive (Lansing, 2009).

In the past three to four decades the Honduran government and 4 residents alike have started to accept MPAs as a valuable form of protection and recovering for coastal and island environments (Bustamante, 2014), due to Honduras undergoing many continuous stressors to the marine environment.

There are various definitions of what constitutes a Marine Protected Area or MPA. The CBD as seen above defines an MPA as an area designated for regulation and management, whereas the IUCN defines an MPA as a section of sea that is responsible for specific biological biodiversity maintenance and recovery (IUCN, 1994). Certain MPAs are managed to conserve nature with ecosystem services and cultural values that affiliate with each designated area (Bohorquez, 2019). Others are designed to protect a specific species or habitat (Jones, 2009) or to regulate fishing practices (Bustamante, 2014).

There are several categories of MPA defined by the IUCN. They range from the strictest of designations such as (IA) a Nature Reserve, including no-take zones and rigorous control over human activities to the most lenient designation (VI) of protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources allowing a considerable amount of movement around the designation by recreational users(Johnston, 2019). In 2017, the bay in Tela was designated as a marine park. A marine park is classification II under the IUCN categories meaning it is an area managed primarily for the protection of ecosystems and used for recreation (Kelleher, 1999).

The primary purpose of an MPA is for managing and maintaining coastal and marine areas. However, in the Caribbean, in areas such as Belize, recognition of ecosystem services from MPAs has begun to develop. MPAs are now also seen as a sustainable tool for enhancing tourism and improving fisheries through increased stock numbers and a higher quality of catch (Cho, 2005). Globally, there are nearly 7000 MPAs designated and has consequently this has become the favoured policy solution for problems within the marine environment (Bown, 2013).

Due to the increase in tourism around the world and the corresponding increase in the use of the marine environment for ecosystem services and cultural practices, MPAs allow the conservation of species and habitats. However, this restricts and or eliminates the ability to use resources (Harborne, 2001).