UN World Heritage Site in Danger

Earlier this year the United Nations officially added the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve to its list of endanger world heritage sites. The Río Plátano, along with adjacent national parks, protects nearly the entire lower-patuca watershed. The Biosphere reserve is home to over 2,000 indigenous peoples. 


In 2007 the old Honduran government requested the site be placed on the list of endangered sites due to "the combined threats of illegal logging, fishing and land occupation, poaching and the reduced capacity of the State to manage the site, notably due to the deterioration of law and to the presence of drug traffickers." UNESCO.  

Courtesy of Cultural Survival 

Now, with the threat of dam construction on the river, there is yet another threat to the reserve. Many scientists, ranging from biologist to hydrologists, have stated the damming of the Patuca River wil have adverse affects on the river's ecosystem. Dams restrict the flow of nutrients downriver, alter water chemistry and temperature, which can drive species from their historic waterways. 


In the United States, the Glenn Canyon dam fundamentally altered the ecological conditions. Many species of local fish were driven out, allowing invasive species to dominate the local ecosystem. Since the dams completion, water temperatures at Lees Ferry, several miles downstream of the dam, have dropped significantly. 

USGS FS–014–00

This change has allowed rainbow trout, a species that normally cannot survive on the Colorado River, to dominate the local ecosystem. In addition, the natural ebb and flow of the river changed, and many of the species dependent upon this fluctuation could not longer exist. The chart below compares the flow rates prior to dam construction to those after. 

USGS FS–014–00

Why is this related?
The Glen Canyon dam showed us these construction projects are not benign, and serious ecological consequences do exist. The Glen Canyon dam was a mistake, a decision made with unknown consequences, but the Patuca River dam would be a tragedy. Those of us in the United States made mistakes, and we are learning from them. It is our hope the Honduran government and people can learn from our mistakes, instead of making their own.