Celaque National Park (officially known in Spanish as Parque Nacional Montaña de Celaque) is a national park located in the western part of Honduras, in the regions of Lempira, Ocotepeque, and Copán. It was created on August 5, 1987, and covers an area of 266.31 square kilometers. The park includes Honduras’ highest mountain, called Cerro Las Minas or Pico Celaque, which rises to about 2,870 meters (9,416 feet) above sea level. The elevation within the park ranges from 975 to 2,870 meters (3,199 to 9,416 feet). The land in Celaque is very rough, and two-thirds of the area has slopes steeper than 60 degrees. The park is a type of cloud forest, with an average rainfall of 1,600 millimeters at lower elevations and 2,400 millimeters at higher elevations. The word "Celaque" is believed to mean "caja de aguas" ("box of water(s)") in the local, but now extinct, Lenca language. The nine rivers in Celaque provide water to 120 nearby villages, including the district capital of Gracias. Celaque has a lot of different plant and animal life, including pumas, ocelots, and Bolitoglossa celaque, an endangered type of salamander found only in the mountains of Celaque.
Establishment
Between 1970 and 1980, the Honduran Forestry Development Corporation (HFDC) conducted heavy logging in Celaque's mountains. This caused a loss of many plant and animal species and important resources for the communities. However, logging was not the only reason for forest loss. People living near the park also created open areas by farming. In the nearby town of La Campa, people became concerned and formed a local group to stop the logging. Their goal was achieved in 1987 when the National Congress of Honduras made Celaque a national park. This protected about 266 square kilometers (65,730 acres) from logging, farming, outside people entering, and logging for sale to markets.
Early progress
The success of the park was not known until recent studies. From 1987 to 1998, it was found that the area of open forested land got smaller, while mature forests became the most common type in the park. Forest fragmentation, which measures the size of bare areas and the distance between them, decreased in areas without villages but increased in areas with people living there. However, when studied more closely, these results are not as significant. Over the 11-year period, the environment in the park changed a lot. These results were found in high elevations, remote and uninhabited areas of the park and in areas where the environment being studied already existed before. This means the increase in mature forests happened in places that already had mature trees, not in areas that had open forest or farmland before. Though the results of the park's conservation efforts were positive, they are not enough to protect all the different plants and animals in Celaque.
Conservation studies
Recent studies about conservation efforts in Celaque National Park show fewer positive outcomes. The rate of environmental change in the park slowed after 1995. While the park bans logging and farming outside its boundaries, it does not limit activities by communities living within the park. Patchwork areas near the park’s edges have expanded greatly because of increased farming by local communities. Inside the park, more land is being used for agriculture, and much of this land uses fertilizers that harm the environment. The number of people living in the park has increased. Eight communities in the upper third of the park have created a patchwork of villages. However, only 6% of the land is used for small-scale farming. Most damage to the park continues to come from illegal logging and large-scale commercial farming. Because of high demand for coffee beans, there are now more coffee plantations on the park’s slopes than ever before.
Present efforts
Although converting the land into a national park had some good effects, it did not stop harmful practices in the park. Many nonprofit organizations in Honduras work to protect Celaque's untouched hillsides. One of these groups is The Federacion de Desarrollo Comunitario de Honduras (FEDECOH). FEDECOH teaches communities how to farm in ways that protect the environment. They use a 60-acre (240,000 square meter) farm called El Molino, located at the base of Celaque, to teach soil protection, rotating crops, preserving plant and animal life, and other sustainable methods. Over ten years, they have trained thousands of farmers in 120 rural areas. Their latest project is developing ecotourism for Celaque National Park. Another group, Friends of Celaque, was started by a few people who care about the park. Their goals include sharing information through regular reports, working with other environmental groups, inviting scientists like ecologists and biologists to help protect the park, and showing how conservation benefits local people. Although these groups and others are working hard to protect Celaque National Park, more people need to learn about its importance to keep this remote but special place safe.