Environmental Protection and Maritime Transport Pollution Control in the Gulf of Honduras

The overall objective of the project is to enhance the control and prevention of maritime transport related pollution in the major ports, navigational transport routes and adjacent coastal and marine areas within the Gulf of Honduras. This effort will be an important contribution to the environmental management of an area of significant ecological and economic value. As such, it is designed to complement a parallel regional initiative for the conservation and sustainable use of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS). The development objective of this project is to reverse the degradation of the coastal and marine ecosystems within the Gulf of Honduras by enhancing the prevention and control from maritime transport-related pollution in the major ports and navigation lanes, improving navigational safety to avoid groundings and spills, and reducing land-based sources of pollution draining into the Gulf. The Program’s global objective is the implementation of a regionally coordinated Strategic Action Plan that will result in regional, and by extension global, environmental benefits through protection of international waters, their resources and sustainable use of resources in conformity with the objectives of GEF Operational Program 10 while simultaneously reducing threats to the globally significant Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS).