Cycad Conservation, Peasant Subsistence, and the Military Coup in Honduras

Abstract

In rural Honduras, collaborating U.S. and Honduran researchers have elucidated indigenous technical knowledge and customs surrounding local uses for, and conservation of, an endemic cycad—Dioon mejiae Standl. & L. O. Williams (Zamiaceae)—that is an important food source for the lowest economic stratum of local society. Dissemination of research findings within the region has produced positive outcomes for the cycad's conservation without undermining the usufructuary rights of cycad-dependent families. This experience suggests the elements of an effective, low-cost approach to promulgating noncoercive, community-based resource stewardship. However, recent presidential elections notwithstanding, the 2009 coup has undermined the conditions under which participatory research and conservation can take place in Honduras, highlighting the need for researchers and practitioners to consider and confront the assaults on human rights, intellectual freedoms, and natural systems that transpire in the countries where they work.