Trees on farms in Honduras: a chance for biodiversity

Among the cattle ranches, mountainous natural forests and smallholdings of Catacamas, Honduras, researcher Yves Zinngrebe encounters farmers with both large and small holdings who are interested in the Trees on Farms for Biodiversity project and its transformative agenda.

The objective of our new project, Trees on Farms for Biodiversity, is to identify and support innovative approaches to integrate trees into agricultural landscapes.

Especially in the tropical developing countries we work in, it is agricultural production and land-use changes that compete with local biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Climate change and human expansion further add to the tension of this relationship, while at the same time highlighting the interdependence between production and healthy ecosystems.

Our current journey brings us to the city of Catacamas in the southeast of Honduras. The area is dominated by cattle ranching and its agricultural frontier keeps expanding into primary forest.