Honduras: Ecological Hotspot

With coasts on both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean and a massive area of tropical rainforest, the ecology of Honduras is crammed full of biological resources. Its significance to regional and indeed world ecology is recognised and Honduras is tagged as being a Biodiversity Hotspot.

Flora

The plant life of Honduras is so vastly varied that over 6,000 individual species have so far been catalogued, many of which grow in the rainforests. Just over 40% of the total land of Honduras is forested although this is significantly depleted and deforestation is still an issue. Much of the Honduran forest is what is known as Cloud Forest. Trees grow on land over 2,500 metre and they poke through the clouds, hence the name. Common trees of Honduras are kapok, cedar, balsa, rosewood, rubber mahogany, lignum vitae and rosewood. As well as trees, there are 630+ species of orchid recorded in Honduras and large areas of the country are covered with mangrove swamps as well as there being large patches of savannah grassland and coastal palm forests.

Fauna

All of this marvellous vegetation provides a wide range of habitats to support a massively diverse wildlife including tapirs, jaguars, armadillos, sloths, butterflies and the national animal, the white tailed deer. The bird population of Honduras boasts over 700 different species including the highly coloured scarlet macaw and over half the 100 mammal species are bats. Reptile and amphibian species number over 250. There is also a varied marine life off both coasts including those that make their homes in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System such as dolphins, rays, parrot fish and whale sharks.

The importance of the ecology of Honduras has been recognised and there are large areas of national parkland and conservation and preservation programmes.

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