The Great One
The sun rose a little brighter in Honduras this morning.
After a unanimous congressional vote, 12,620 acres of forest and a water source serving 5,000 families will be permanently protected as the Wildlife Refuge of Suyapa, Luís Hernán Baca Valladares, “MERO”.
“Mero” means “the great one” in Honduras, and was the nickname given to the founder and president of Trees, Water & People’s partner, COEAS. He started this volunteer organization 37 years ago to protect his community’s water and forest from the growing capital city, Tegucigalpa.
In December 2023, he was murdered for his cause, and two months later his struggle has been memorialized through the creation of Honduras’ 95th protected area, bearing his name.
Martyrdom shouldn’t be the cost of achieving protections for the environment. Unfortunately in Latin America it is far too common, and the higher the stakes, the more dangerous it gets. But when the consequences of inaction outweigh the dangers of action, people stand up and face the danger together, as a community.
Today we celebrate the brave warriors of the Aldea de Suyapa and their ecological committee COEAS, who have persevered in spite of tremendous odds against them. They make us proud to do the work that we do at TWP, because when they succeed, we succeed.
May their forest stand for the benefit of all future generations, and may the stories of this group of individuals and their fearless leader, Mero, reverberate through history.
Felicidades compañeros… Los amamos.
