Title
Stopping the Tide: A Strategy for Maintaining Forest Connectivity within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor
Author(s)
Brian Lee; Manus McCaffery; Chandni Navalkha; Sarah Sax; Miranda Sinnott-Armstrong
Published
2018
Abstract
The Mosquitia forest corridor between the Rio Platano and Bosawás Biosphere Reserves
in Honduras and Nicaragua is a dynamic region with a patchwork of diverse historical, ethnic, legal, and social issues that affect the connectivity of the corridor. Connectivity loss caused by ongoing deforestation within the corridor will have negative and irreversible impacts on the persistence of key and endangered species which require large areas of forest cover, such as the jaguar, and threatens the livelihoods of indigenous groups whose territories are within the Mosquitia. Effective and equitable strategies to maintain adequate forest cover for wildlife connectivity are urgently needed. The aim of this white paper is to identify the current state of deforestation within the forest corridor, as well as practical tools and opportunities for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to mitigate deforestation and maintain forest connectivity within a near-term timeframe. The success of the conservation recommendations given here should be evaluated through 1) forest cover loss and its decline over time 2) reduction in the movement of non-indigenous settlers into the region 3) reforestation of hardwood forest in deforested areas through forest restoration and 4) the observation of important indicator species of conservation importance, such as the white-lipped peccary and the jaguar, to the region.
Keywords
Honduras; Nicaragua; Moskitia
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