Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras

Abstract

Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve is the largest surviving area of undisturbed tropical rainforest in Honduras and is one of the few remaining in Central America. The Biosphere Reserve covers virtually the entire watershed of the Plátano River. The preserved area includes steep mountains which form 75% of the site and a flat to undulating coastal plain. Its main ecotypes are estuarine and marine, mangrove swamps, coastal pine savanna, broadleaf gallery forest, humid subtropical forest, very humid tropical forest, and, on the ridge tops, elfin forest. The forested valley and its coastal plain contain a wide range of habitats with abundant plant and wildlife. There, more than 2000 indigenous people have preserved their traditional way of life. The reserve also contains the site where Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492.