<
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/10/23/honduras-takes-key-steps-in-ocean-and-coastal-conservation>
"For the first time, the Central American country of Honduras has announced a
national stance on ocean management. The statement is a way of acknowledging
the importance of the country’s ocean resources and the threats they face as
well as noting what the government has done—and plans to do—to manage and
protect them.
Honduras’ Ministry of Environment launched this national position (
Postura de
País) on World Maritime Day, Sept. 28. The announcement was timely: From Oct.
23-27, Honduran delegates will join representatives from The Pew Charitable
Trusts at Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week in Panama City, Panama,
where Honduras Vice Minister of Environment Malcolm Stufkens will share the
country’s oceans position and other conservation progress with an international
audience.
The position states, in part, that “Honduras will promote the protection of
coastal wetland ecosystems—mangroves, seagrasses, and marshes … [which] provide
adaptation and resilience protection against climate-related threats while also
providing habitat for marine biodiversity, supporting fisheries, and providing
climate mitigation benefits.”
The government has already designated 18 marine and coastal protected areas on
its Pacific and Atlantic coasts to safeguard the rich marine and coastal
biodiversity there. The Atlantic coastlines of northern Honduras extend into
the northwestern Caribbean Sea and form part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef
System—the second largest barrier reef in the world. Other coastal
ecosystems—including mangroves and seagrass beds—sequester and store carbon,
provide wildlife habitat, and confer other benefits to communities on both
coasts of the country.
But despite these immense benefits, Honduras’ marine and coastal areas are
under threat from extreme weather events, sea-level rise, ocean acidification,
and degradation from development and agriculture.
Honduras is taking additional significant steps on marine conservation
that—together with the
Postura de País—will help the government meet its
commitments under the Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate
change. Specifically, Honduras can account for coastal wetlands’ sequestration
and storage of carbon in the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions
(NDCs) to the Paris Agreement; NDCs are the commitments governments have made
to reduce global emissions and the impacts of climate change."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-women-rights-france-ntds-africa-bears-europe/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
