DAI to Support USAID’s Climate Resilience Work in Honduras

January 23, 2023

Building on 11 years of work with Honduran stakeholders and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on a broad range of environmental and natural resource management issues, DAI is preparing for a new phase of collaboration with the launch of the Building Climate Resilience (BCR) Activity.

BCR will strengthen the capacity of Honduran systems to respond to climate change, which will in turn help to address underlying factors that contribute to irregular migration. Our team will work closely with local communities, government officials, nongovernmental groups, and businesses to improve equitable, inclusive, and transparent water resources management; conserve critical ecosystems; and manage climate risk.

Other activities include improving solid waste management; developing organic and regenerative agriculture to reduce threats to critical ecosystems; promoting nature and adventure tourism; institutionalizing better management of parks and protected areas; increasing access to reliable weather and climate information to aid evidence-based decision-making; boosting water availability for domestic and agricultural use; and supporting overall economic development—all of which contribute to building socioeconomic and environmental resilience and reducing migration.

“Shifting precipitation patterns and stronger tropical storms that cause floods and droughts in different parts of Honduras are altering the hydrology of key watersheds,” said Walter Weaver, DAI’s Environment Global Practice Specialist and Acting Chief of Party for the Activity. “These climate stresses adversely affect livelihoods and economic opportunities, which exacerbate internal and outward migration. Critically, BCR takes an integrated, place-based approach to address these complex and linked challenges.”

The Activity builds on previous initiatives including the five-year ProParque project, which worked with government stakeholders to strengthen the nation’s protected area management system, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and clean energy development. ProParque and its successor project, Gobernanza en Ecosistemas, Medios de Vida, y Agua—or Governance in Ecosystems, Livelihoods, and Water (GEMA)—helped protect more than 350,000 hectares through improved natural resource management and more effective biodiversity conservation.

“ProParque and GEMA notably strengthened natural resources management in key watersheds of western Honduras; BCR is now building on this legacy with a significantly expanded nationwide scope that addresses climate stresses in upper watersheds all the way to urban centers,” said Weaver.

BCR is working with multiple local partners, including the Secretariat of Natural Resources and Environment; the National Institute of Forest Conservation, Protected Areas and Wildlife Development; the Permanent Commission for Contingencies; and numerous local governments across Honduras.