The COEAS Legacy

By Valentina de Rooy, Central America Program Co-Director

“I started to get there (Triquilapa Mountain) with my dad, and when we integrated more strongly,

I felt hope that something could still be done.”

Douglas Garcia, Member of COEAS

Pedro Rodriguez. Forest ranger, longest serving surveillance member in COEAS

This month we celebrate alongside our partner the Ecological Committee of La Aldea de Suyapa (COEAS) the upcoming declaration by the National Congress of Honduras of the Triquilapa and Cantagallo Mountains as a Wildlife Refuge. The mountains of Triquilapa and Cantagallo are located to the east of the Central District, Honduras, ten minutes from the Aldea de Suyapa, also a cultural heritage of the country. These geological formations are the largest suppliers of water for La Aldea de Suyapa and surrounding communities, and have an endemic biodiversity of subtropical dry forest.

Since the end of the 1980's, a group of young people led at that time by "Mero" (Luis Baca, President of COEAS), decided to undertake the task of initiating voluntary actions to protect the Triquilapa Mountain, the green treasure of his community. Concerns about water scarcity in the communities that remain to this day have been a constant driving force for the Committee and its allies.

COEAS members have volunteered for more than three decades motivated by love for nature and their community, investing efforts in reforestation, surveillance, cleaning and regeneration to counteract the consequences of illegal burning, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, and  unauthorized settlements, among other human actions. They have waited anxiously all these years to install these protection and conservation strategies through the recovery of the land titles, which belong to the descendants of the Laborios peoples, inhabitants of La Aldea de Suyapa and other communities surrounding the mountain. 

With the support of the Forest Conservation Institute (ICF), the Environmental Unit of the Honduran Armed Forces, and Trees, Water and People, COEAS committed to a path with no turning back 4 years ago: achieve the declaration of the mountains as a Wildlife Refuge. The initial goal consisted of declaring the area as a Natural Reserve covering 1,052 hectares; now, the achievement is greater with the initiative endorsement that will protect 5,107 hectares under the Refuge category. As a finishing touch, COEAS will act as co-manager of the area, complying with the guidelines of the Protected Area Management Plan.

Tania Erazo - Communications and COEAS member

Tania Erazo mentions that the Declaration brings  a series of relevant benefits such as the protection and recovery of water resources, and endemic flora and fauna species. But above all, "We hope that the Declaration gives us a sense of belonging, ownership and roots in La Aldea de Suyapa".

COEAS undertakes this new challenge with renewed dreams, aspiring to be an example organization in the administration and protection of the Refuge's natural resources. We thank TWP-COEAS allies and collaborators for being part of this long struggle and its successful outcomes.