Thanks to your support and generous donations, we’re delighted to announce that our Save the Cloud Forests of Honduras appeal has reached its £443,540 target. Our partner AESMO can now purchase and protect another 91 hectares (225 acres) of highly threatened cloud forest in Honduras’ Trifinio region.
What your donations will do
Thanks to your generosity, AESMO will now work in collaboration with local people to protect more fragmented but vital land which is under serious threat from deforestation, preserve habitat for species and safeguard essential water sources for surrounding communities.
A closer look at what your support will achieve:
- Enable AESMO to purchase key areas of standing forest in and around the Güisayote and Volcan Pacayita Biological Reserves: bringing 91 hectares (225 acres) under permanent protection before it’s lost to deforestation. This includes a 31-hectare (77-acre) privately owned property in Pacayita which contains four water springs. This property sits directly next to plots of land currently being used for coffee farming, leaving it under imminent threat of being cleared next. You will now protect it from this fate.
- Employ three rangers for the next three years: AESMO’s team of rangers play a vital role in ensuring the long-term protection of this land. Your donations will put three rangers out in the field for the next three years, significantly helping AESMO’s work on the ground to safeguard these cloud forests for the future.
- Preserve clean water sources: The land AESMO will purchase has been specifically chosen as it provides essential clean water to surrounding rural villages. By protecting this land, you are now helping to improve the quality of life of local people, who rely on the water from these forests for both domestic and agricultural use.
Benefits for communities and wildlife
Safeguarding the forest and the water sources within it will have a huge impact for local communities, who co-own protected land with AESMO and take an active role in its ongoing protection through participation in co-management councils.
Alongside this, your support in preserving these forests will also have significant impact for the many threatened species that live here. These include the Critically Endangered Cerro Pital Salamander (Bolitoglossa synoria), an elusive amphibian endemic to Honduras, as well as the Golden Cheeked Warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia), an Endangered migratory bird which depends upon the lush forests of Honduras for its winter home.
Every single donation from WLT supporters means so much and will go on to make a huge difference for this remarkable area and the communities and wildlife who call it home.
From all of us at World Land Trust and AESMO, we want to say a huge Thank You!
We are extremely appreciative of every donation you have made to our Save the Cloud Forests of Honduras appeal, and we can’t wait to share future updates as the project progresses.