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UK promotes sustainable fishing and environmental protection in the Atlántida Coast

UK project will allow communities in the Atlántida Seascape, Honduras, to improve small-scale fishing and to strengthen protection of critical marine habitats and species.

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp British Ambassador to Honduras, Nick Whittingham, visited the project “Strengthening ecological and socioeconomic resilience in the Atlántida Seascape, Hondurasâ€� between 5-8 September. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp project is supported through the financed by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) of the British Government.

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp project will support 23 coastal communities located across the Honduran Atlántida Seascape who depend on small-scale fisheries for food security and income. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp Atlántida Seascape is home to key populations of locally and globally threatened species, including the hawksbill turtles, the Antillean Manatee, and the endemic Utila spiny-tailed iguana. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp seascape faces issues of illegal poaching, pollution and the growing pressure of climate change.

In response to these challenges, the project will focus predominantly on reducing destructive and/ or illegal fishing practices, while helping to build vital ecological and social resilience to climate change reduced impacts, through:

  • Sustaining and improving protection and enforcement of critical marine habitats and species;
  • Improving small-scale fisheries markets that reward responsible fishers and are more equitable;
  • Building recognition of small- scale fisheriesâ€� importance with national government and empowering direct fisher engagement;
  • Strengthening and building organisational resilience of existing seascape partners and management platforms to support locally-led, sustainable conservation; and
  • Improving understanding of community vulnerabilities to climate change and how to tackle these.

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp project has a duration of three years starting from April 2023, with financing of £529,999 (approximately US$675,000) from the British government, and a counterpart contribution of £85,674, which makes a total of US$784,000. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp project will be implemented by Fundación Cayos Cochinos in partnership with Fauna & Flora, Asociación Pro Comunidades Turísticas de Honduras, Centro de Estudios Marinos, Fundación Cuero y Salado, and Fundación Islas de la Bahía.

Updates to this page

Published 11 September 2023