Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve
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How it came to be
The Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve covers 350,000 ha in the Mosquitia region of north-eastern Honduras, the largest protected area in the country. It takes in the whole basin of the Río Plátano, from its mountain headwaters to its mouth on the Caribbean. Rainforest covers the mountains, which reach 1,418 m at Punta Piedra, and the coastal lowlands hold wetlands, savannah and lagoons.
Protection here began with archaeology. In 1960 the area was set aside as the Ciudad Blanca Archaeological Reserve, named after a legendary White City. It was renamed a biosphere reserve in 1980 and inscribed in 1982. More than 200 archaeological sites and many petroglyphs lie in the forest. Pech, Tawahka, Miskito and Garífuna people live in the reserve, along with Mestizo (Ladino) settlers.
UNESCO counts more than 721 vertebrate species, including 411 birds such as the harpy eagle and the scarlet macaw. Logging and the clearing of forest for cattle have continued, and the site was on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1996 to 2007. It was placed on the list again in 2011 at the request of Honduras.
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