U.S.-Honduras Workshop: Advancing a Long Term Coastal-Ecosystem Education, Research and Management Initiative in Honduras and Neighboring Countries, La Ceiba, Honduras, Fall 2012

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

Victor Rivera-Monroy and colleagues at Louisiana State University will hold a workshop in La Ceiba, Honduras in conjunction with Andrea R. Sosa and colleagues at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. The object of the workshop is to discuss a research program to establish and utilize a network of long-term ecological monitoring sites, primarily in Honduras and neighboring countries. The objective is to assess the sustainability of water use in large watersheds in Central America compared to that in other sites in the United States, particularly in the Mississippi Delta and Florida Everglades, which already have established long-term ecological research programs. Ecologists, hydrologists and environmental economists from the US and Central American countries, including Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, will participate. Despite the socioeconomic importance of marine resources to economies in Central America, the scientific and technical information needed to develop sustainable management plans for coastal zones is often lacking or inadequate. This workshop aims to link U.S. researchers with Honduran and other Central American colleagues in a collaborative dialogue to identify timely research topics. One of the workshop activities is to select tentative Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites on both Caribbean and Pacific coasts. These sites will be used to develop research initiatives and promote international research collaborations in Central America and the Caribbean region. A priority of the workshop is the inclusion of US and Central American students and early-career scientists in the workshop and subsequent international research collaborations.