History
The Corazón TBR project was designed in 2001 with the “Declaración Conjunta Creación del Corazón del Corredor Biológico Mesoamerican” (Joined Delcaration of the Creation of the Corazón of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor) with the participation of both Honduran and Nicaraguan diplomats, under the project supervision of the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD) (SIAM 2005). For the following five years, Honduran and Nicaraguan governments surveyed the environmental, social, and political implications of the project proposal. They also produced a process plan for the creation, execution, and management, of the Corazón project (Global Transboundary Protected Areas Network 2007). These proposal documents served to help the planning committees organize their thoughts while also proposing the idea to potential donors. To view these proposal documents, please click here and refer to the “Project Proposals” section.
In 2006, the World Bank approved a starting budget for the project, along with the support of other international donors and activist groups including the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the Nature Conservancy, and the Center for International Forestry (Global Transboundary Protected Areas Network 2007). Donors made financial and ideological appraisals of project proposals, ensuring that environmental priorities would be at the forefront of the project, with a special concern regarding indigenous welfare (CCAD, et. al 2006). To read these project appraisals, click here and refer to the “Project Appraisals” section.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pz5hT5SGnwg" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
This video, produced by the non-profit indigenous support foundation, Fundacion SiD Moskitia, explores some of the landscapes of the Corazón TBR region, set to the music of local traditional groups.
Why Corazón?
Critics have described the Corazón project as one of the MBC’s most direct projects, and one of the biggest and best-protected areas in Central America (Lopez, et. al 2007). As a potential exemplar of regional mitigation of environmental protection, the Corazón project has stirred up a considerable amount of international attention with high expectations, especially in terms of local interaction. Apparently, “the forums and meetings organized by the Corazón del CBM project are helping indigenous and local groups get to know each other and devise ways to work together”(Lopez, et. al 2007).
However, these expectations have not yet been met due to a variety of obstacles. The 2007 UNEP report on the project listed some serious concerns, including the areas “socio-economic conflictive context…diversity of interests to control natural resource use…[issues with] frontier conceptualization…[and] the identification of stakeholders” (Lopez, et. al 2007). The aim of our research is to investigate these shortcomings and propose recommendations so that it can move closer to achieving its ambitious goals.
Currently, the Corazón TBR project is still in its planning stages, as Nicaraguan and Honduran governments work together to organize the efforts on the ground with the ideas proposed on paper. As our findings indicate, regional cooperation has wavered, as Honduran and Nicaraguan governments have been”operat[ing] semi-independently…[and] CCAD’s role has been minimal” (Kaimowitz 2010).