Punta Izopo National Park

Last Updated
2026-02-03
Name of the Protected Area / Park / Reserve
Parque Nacional Punta Izopo
Country
Honduras
Status of the Protected Area
In Operation
UNESCO Classified
No
Carbon Offsetting Project
No
IUCN category of the Area /Park / Reserve
National Park
Name(s) of the Impacted Indigenous People(s) / Community / Villages
Garífuna
Name(s) of the Support Groups/NGOs and Contact Details

OFRANEH - Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña): Garífuna-supporting organization in Honduras (1)

ODECO - Ethnic Community Development Organization (Organización de Desarrollo Étnico Comunitario): organization that supports Afro-Honduran communities, including the Garífuna (2)

1. Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña OFRANEH, https://www.ofraneh.org/ofraneh/index.html.

2. Organización de Desarrollo Étnico Comunitario, https://odecohn.blogspot.com/

Information about Involved Institutions

Smart Coasts project:

The Smart Coasts project ran from 2018 to 2023. Its goal was “to incorporate climate change principles into the management of marine protected areas and coastal development policies in the countries bordering the Mesoamerican Reef, to improve the capacities of coastal communities to adapt to climate change.” This project was implemented in four countries—Honduras, Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala—across ten protected areas, including Punta Izopo National Park. The executing organization was the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Germany. The implementing partners were WWF Guatemala/Mesoamerica, WWF Mexico, WWF U.S., Columbia University, and Natural Capital Project – Stanford University. (9)

Responsible summer tourism initiative:

In 2023, the Honduran Tourism Institute, Municipality of Tela, Interinstitutional Committee for the Environment of Tela, and the Costas Listas Project implemented a campaign to promote responsible summer tourism. The project was implemented by World Wildlife Fund Mesoamerica along with the Center for Marine Studies, with support from the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The project focused on climate change adaptation, drawing on information from the Costas Listas Project, which covers Honduran coastal areas, including Punta Izopo National Park. (10)

9. Smart Coasts, World Wildlife Fund, https://www.wwfca.org/en/smartcoastsmar/.

10. Lanzan campaña para promover el turismo responsable en Tela, Instituto Hondureño de Turismo (Mar. 15, 2023), https://www.iht.hn/es/lanzan-campana-para-promover-el-turismo-responsable-en-tela.

Administrative Authority of the Protect Area / Park / Reserve and Contact Details

The nongovernmental organization PROLANSATE (Protection of Lancetilla, Punta Sal, and Texiguat Foundation) administers the park under an agreement with the State Forestry Administration–Honduran Forestry Development Corporation (AFE–COHDEFOR). (3)

3. Inter-American Commission Report on Merits No. 76/12, ¶¶ 165, 169, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Nov. 7, 2012), https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/court/12.548FondoEng.pdf.

National Conservation / Environment Agency or Ministry in Charge of the Protect Area / Park / Reserve

The Department of Protected Areas within the National Institute of Forest Conservation (ICF – Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre) is generally responsible for policy governing protected areas in Honduras. (4)

4. Areas Protegidas, Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre, https://icf.gob.hn/areas-protegidas/ .

Major Public and Private Donors
Life Web Initiative
The German Development Bank KfW
Tela Bay Tourism Project
The World Bank
Inter-American Development Bank - IDB
The Global Environment Facility -GEF
Involved International Conservation NGOs, Foundations and Institutions
The World Wildlife Fund-WWF
WWF-Germany
WWF-Mesoamerica
WWF-Mexico
WWF-U.S.
Columbia University
Stanford University
Honduran Toruism Institute
Municipality of Tela
Interinstitutional Committee for the Environment of Tela
Center for Marine Studies
International Climate Initiative - IKI
Donor's Information

Life Web Initiative:

The ICF implements the Life Web Initiative project in 17 protected areas, including Punta Izopo National Park. The project goal is “effective sustainable management of marine-coastal protected areas to improve the living conditions of populations, mitigate the risks of climate change and conserve biodiversity.” The government of Germany, through the German Development Bank (KFW), financially supports this project. (5)

Tela Bay Tourism Project:

The World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank have financed the Tela Bay Tourism Project and its various components. (6)

Older projects:

Honduras Biodiversity Project (1997), funded by GEF (Global Environment Facility) Trust Fund, has supported Punta Izopo National Park.(7)

Biodiversity in Priority Areas Project (1997), funded by The World Bank, has supported Punta Izopo National Park. (8)

5. Conservación en 17 áreas protegidas del caribe de Honduras con segunda etapa del proyecto «Life web initiative», Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre (Sept. 30, 2023), https://icf.gob.hn/2023/09/30/conservacion-en-17-areas-protegidas-del-caribe-de-honduras-con-segunda-etapa-del-proyecto-life-web-initiative/ .

6. OFRANEH, Letter to International Finance Corporation Compliance Advisor Ombudsman p. 1 (Oct. 9, 2015), https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/sites/default/files/downloads/REDACTEDLetterofComplaint_Tela_Honduras_October_9_2015.pdf .

7. Honduras Biodiversity Project, Eur. Comm’n eConservation, https://econservation.jrc.ec.europa.eu/project/5000010.

8. Biodiversity in Priority Areas Project (GEF), Eur. Comm’n eConservation, https://econservation.jrc.ec.europa.eu/project/1000461.

Historical Background

The National Congress of Honduras created Punta Izopo National Park on December 28, 2000. The park “overlaps with the territory allegedly occupied historically by the Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz.” (11) 

In 1996, approximately 3,000 Garífuna were living in the area that became Punta Izopo National Park. (12)

11. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment ¶ 86, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Oct. 8, 2015), https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_305_ing.pdf.

12. Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands: Punta Izopo, Ramsar p. 4 (Mar. 20, 1996), https://rsis.ramsar.org/RISapp/files/RISrep/HN812RISformer1996_EN.pdf. “The Garífuna ethnic community lives along the coast and numbers about 3,000 individuals.”

Short description of the alleged violations

Lack of consultation:

Creating the park in 2000: According to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, “lack of consultation with the Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz, regarding the creation of the Punta Izopo protected area, constitutes a violation of their right to consultation, for which the State of Honduras is responsible.” Further, lack of consultation regarding the park’s management plan constitutes a violation of the right to consultation for the Garífuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz. (14)

Moreover, the Garífuna testified that they were not aware of the environmental or social impact studies nor consulted on decisions affecting their land.(15) 

Biodiversity in Priority Areas Project: The Biodiversity in Priority Areas Project, funded by the World Bank, did not consult the Garífuna when it promoted the management of Punta Izopo National Park by an external entity. “The government and the NGOs that manage the protected areas not only ignore the rights of the Garifuna communities to manage and use the natural resources in their territory, but they also carry out actions that seriously harm their right to life and the right to food, among other rights.” (16)

Violation of land rights: Punta Izopo National Park overlaps with the historical territory of the Garífuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz. In 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered Honduras “to guarantee the Community’s free access, use, and enjoyment of its collective property in the parts that overlap with an area of the Punta Izopo National Park.” (17)

Within the park and its surrounding areas, tourism promotion and related development also violate and/or negatively affect Garífuna land rights. The Tela Bay Tourism Project is a concerted effort to promote tourism and related development in Tela Bay, which includes Punta Izopo. According to OFRANEH in 2015, Garífuna communities in Tela Bay were not consulted about the project; “rather, they have been seriously affected by the dispossession of their lands and the degradation of the means of life such as: the grabbing of agricultural lands and the degradation and dispossession of fishing areas.” This leads to “economic crisis,” which leads to forced migration, “which represents a serious threat to the cultural survival of the peoples.” (18)

The Indura Golf & Beach Resort is a particularly concerning component of the Tela Bay Tourism Project. This resort displaced the entire Garífuna community of Miami and has threatened the Garífuna community of Barra Vieja (19). Garífuna communities have expressed that the project has resulted in the dispossession of their lands, environmental damage, and cultural loss. Further, communities have expressed that promises of community development, profit sharing, and job creation were not realized (20). The army has evicted Garífuna families from their ancestral lands (21). More information about the Indura Golf & Beach Resort is available from Business & Human Rights Resource Center (22), a 2016 Radio Progreso HN documentary (23), and a 2024 Alba Sud article (24).

Physical abuses:

According to OFRANEH in 2015, if park patrol finds artisanal fishermen within the park, the patrol seizes the fishermen’s property, threatens them, and beats them. (25)

14. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment ¶¶ 170–71, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Oct. 8, 2015), https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_305_ing.pdf.

15. Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v Honduras (n 1) pp 169–172.

16. OFRANEH, Letter to International Finance Corporation Compliance Advisor Ombudsman p. 4 (Oct. 9, 2015), https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/sites/default/files/downloads/REDACTEDLetterofComplaint_Tela_Honduras_October_9_2015.pdf

17. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment ¶¶ 86, 280, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Oct. 8, 2015), https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_305_ing.pdf.

18. OFRANEH, Letter to International Finance Corporation Compliance Advisor Ombudsman p. 1 (Oct. 9, 2015), https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/sites/default/files/downloads/REDACTEDLetterofComplaint_Tela_Honduras_October_9_2015.pdf

19. OFRANEH, Letter to International Finance Corporation Compliance Advisor Ombudsman p. 6 (Oct. 9, 2015), https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/sites/default/files/downloads/REDACTEDLetterofComplaint_Tela_Honduras_October_9_2015.pdf

20. Giorgio Trucchi, Expolio de los Territorios Garífunas en Honduras: Impactos del Extractivismo y la Expansión Turística, Alba Sud pp. 12–14 (May 2017), https://www.albasud.org/publ/docs/78.pdf

21. Los Micos Beach and Golf Resort Project, Honduras, EJ Atlas, https://ejatlas.org/conflict/los-micos-beach-and-golf-resort-project-honduras.

22. Honduras: Nuevo informe documenta conflictos de tierra entre proyectos turísticos y garífunas; así como ataques a defensores y defensoras, Bus. & Hum. Rts. Res. Ctr. (May 30, 2017), https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/honduras-nuevo-informe-documenta-conflictos-de-tierra-entre-proyectos-tur%C3%ADsticos-y-gar%C3%ADfunas-as%C3%AD-como-ataques-a-defensores-y-defensoras/

23. Bahía de Tela: el tercer destierro, Radio Progreso HN (Jan. 18, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd-hlNzP03k&t=1s

24. Samual Jouault, Las promesas fallidas del mal nombrado desarrollo: recuento del (mega)proyecto turístico de la Bahía de Tela, Alba Sud (Nov. 26, 2024), https://www.albasud.org/noticia/es/1771/las-promesas-fallidas-del-mal-nombrado-desarrollo-recuento-del-mega-proyecto-turistico-de-la-bahia-de-tela

25. OFRANEH, Letter to International Finance Corporation Compliance Advisor Ombudsman p. 4 (Oct. 9, 2015), https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/sites/default/files/downloads/REDACTEDLetterofComplaint_Tela_Honduras_October_9_2015.pdf

Categories of Human Rights Violations
Right to Consultation and Free and Prior Informed Consent
Rights to land, territory and natural resources including access to means of subsistence, adequate food and adequate housing
Social Rights
Civil Rights
Cultural Rights
Before Violations Overlapping Extractive Activities or Industries in the Protected Area / Park / Reserve

Oil palm industry: As of December 2019, “African oil palm ha[d] taken over 20… percent of land in Punta Izopo National Park.” (13)

13. Leonardo Guevara & Lesly Frazier, Palm oil, fire pushing protected areas in Honduras to the ‘point of no return,’ Mongabay (Dec. 30, 2019), https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/palm-oil-fire-pushing-protected-areas-in-honduras-to-the-point-of-no-return/.

National Legislation Links

The National Congress of Honduras created Punta Izopo National Park on December 28, 2000. The establishing legislation was Decree No. 261-2000, published in the Honduran Gazette No. 29.427, Articles 1 and 4 of March 13, 2001. (26) 

The Forestry, Protected Areas and Wildlife Law (Decree No. 98-2007) governs the Department of Protected Areas within the ICF. (27)

26. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment ¶ 86 & n.114, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Oct. 8, 2015), https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_305_ing.pdf. Note that the Honduran Gazette is available online, but it appears that a subscription is needed to access it. http://www.lagaceta.hn/.

27. Areas Protegidas, Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre, https://icf.gob.hn/areas-protegidas/

Latest Developments

As of 2021, community representatives before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights reported fenced areas and continued difficulty accessing and using their territory within the park. They also reported “a worsening of the situation because… the National Agrarian Institute would have granted titles to lands located within the same park.” (28)

As of 2024, the effective restitution of lands and guarantees of access within the park have still not been achieved, despite nearly a decade having passed since the judgment.(29) (30)

28. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Medidas Provisionales y Supervisión de Cumplimiento de Sentencia ¶¶ 40–42, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Apr. 30, 2021), https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/supervisiones/ComGarifunasPPyTDLC_30_04_21.pdf

The Garífuna in and around Triunfo de la Cruz face human rights violations outside Punta Izopo National Park. The Garífuna experience ongoing land rights violations due to the oil palm industry, further tourism-related development in Tela Bay, and drug cartels. For more about these land rights issues, see:

29. The Garífuna also endure attacks and violence, including the abduction of four land defenders from Triunfo de la Cruz in 2020. For more about these human rights violations, see:

Honduras: Killing of human rights defender and leader of the Garifuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz, Martín Morales Martínez, Frontline Defenders (May 31, 2023), https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/honduras-killing-human-rights-defender-and-leader-garifuna-community-triunfo-de-la-cruz-mart%C3%ADn

30. Aimee Gabay, ‘Garifuna land rights abuses persist in Honduras, despite court ruling’ Mongabay (17 July 2024) https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/garifuna-land-rights-abuses-persist-i…

Sources

 

  1. Organizacion Fraternal Negra Hondureña OFRANEH, https://www.ofraneh.org/ofraneh/index.html.
  2. Organización de Desarrollo Étnico Comunitario, https://odecohn.blogspot.com/.
  3. Punta Izopo, Protected Planet, https://www.protectedplanet.net/41024.
  4. Refugio de Vida Silvestre Punta Izopo, Ramsar Sites Info. Serv., https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/812.
  5. Inter-American Commission Report on Merits No. 76/12, ¶¶ 165, 169, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Nov. 7, 2012), https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/court/12.548FondoEng.pdf.
  6. Areas Protegidas, Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre, https://icf.gob.hn/areas-protegidas/
  7. Conservación en 17 áreas protegidas del caribe de Honduras con segunda etapa del proyecto «Life web initiative», Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre (Sept. 30, 2023), https://icf.gob.hn/2023/09/30/conservacion-en-17-areas-protegidas-del-caribe-de-honduras-con-segunda-etapa-del-proyecto-life-web-initiative/
  8. OFRANEH, Letter to International Finance Corporation Compliance Advisor Ombudsman p. 1 (Oct. 9, 2015), https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/sites/default/files/downloads/REDACTEDLetterofComplaint_Tela_Honduras_October_9_2015.pdf
  9. Honduras Biodiversity Project, Eur. Comm’n eConservation, https://econservation.jrc.ec.europa.eu/project/5000010.
  10. Biodiversity in Priority Areas Project (GEF), Eur. Comm’n eConservation, https://econservation.jrc.ec.europa.eu/project/1000461.
  11. Smart Coasts, World Wildlife Fund, https://www.wwfca.org/en/smartcoastsmar/.
  12. Lanzan campaña para promover el turismo responsable en Tela, Instituto Hondureño de Turismo (Mar. 15, 2023), https://www.iht.hn/es/lanzan-campana-para-promover-el-turismo-responsable-en-tela
  13. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment ¶ 86, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Oct. 8, 2015), https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_305_ing.pdf.
  14. Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands: Punta Izopo, Ramsar p. 4 (Mar. 20, 1996), https://rsis.ramsar.org/RISapp/files/RISrep/HN812RISformer1996_EN.pdf. “The Garífuna ethnic community lives along the coast and numbers about 3,000 individuals.”
  15. Leonardo Guevara & Lesly Frazier, Palm oil, fire pushing protected areas in Honduras to the ‘point of no return,’ Mongabay (Dec. 30, 2019), https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/palm-oil-fire-pushing-protected-areas-in-honduras-to-the-point-of-no-return/.
  16. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment ¶¶ 170–71, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Oct. 8, 2015), https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_305_ing.pdf.
  17. OFRANEH Letter, supra note 8, at p. 4.
  18. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment, supra note 16, at ¶¶ 86, 280.
  19. OFRANEH Letter, supra note 8, at p. 1.
  20. OFRANEH Letter, supra note 8, at p. 6.
  21. Giorgio Trucchi, Expolio de los Territorios Garífunas en Honduras: Impactos del Extractivismo y la Expansión Turística, Alba Sud pp. 12–14 (May 2017), https://www.albasud.org/publ/docs/78.pdf
  22. Los Micos Beach and Golf Resort Project, Honduras, EJ Atlas, https://ejatlas.org/conflict/los-micos-beach-and-golf-resort-project-honduras.
  23. Honduras: Nuevo informe documenta conflictos de tierra entre proyectos turísticos y garífunas; así como ataques a defensores y defensoras, Bus. & Hum. Rts. Res. Ctr. (May 30, 2017), https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/honduras-nuevo-informe-documenta-conflictos-de-tierra-entre-proyectos-tur%C3%ADsticos-y-gar%C3%ADfunas-as%C3%AD-como-ataques-a-defensores-y-defensoras/
  24. Bahía de Tela: el tercer destierro, Radio Progreso HN (Jan. 18, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd-hlNzP03k&t=1s
  25. Samual Jouault, Las promesas fallidas del mal nombrado desarrollo: recuento del (mega)proyecto turístico de la Bahía de Tela, Alba Sud (Nov. 26, 2024), https://www.albasud.org/noticia/es/1771/las-promesas-fallidas-del-mal-nombrado-desarrollo-recuento-del-mega-proyecto-turistico-de-la-bahia-de-tela
  26. OFRANEH Letter, supra note 8, at p. 4.
  27. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Judgment, supra note 16, at ¶ 86 & n.114. Note that the Honduran Gazette is available online, but it appears that a subscription is needed to access it. http://www.lagaceta.hn/.
  28. Areas Protegidas, Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre, https://icf.gob.hn/areas-protegidas/
  29. Inter-American Court of Human Rights Medidas Provisionales y Supervisión de Cumplimiento de Sentencia ¶¶ 40–42, Garífuna Community of Triunfo de la Cruz and Its Members v. Honduras (Apr. 30, 2021), https://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/supervisiones/ComGarifunasPPyTDLC_30_04_21.pdf
  30. Aimee Gabay, ‘Garifuna land rights abuses persist in Honduras, despite court ruling’ Mongabay (17 July 2024) https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/garifuna-land-rights-abuses-persist-i…

Additional links: