Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguรกn Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
1
© UNDP, Honduras, June 2013 This document was developed under the supervision of: UNDP Honduras Environment and Risk Management Unit Juan José Ferrando Authors: Juan Carlos Orrego Amaia Pérez Senra Technical Team: Julia Ruiz – Sandra Buitrago Layout: Sahady J. Mencía ISBN: 978-99926-821-2-8 The translation of this document was made possible thanks to Allison Engle, a volunteer from OnlineVoluntreering.org This publication or parts of it may be reproduced in any form or by any means, be this electronic, mechanical, photocopy, or any other kind, provided sources are cited. The ideas and opinions expressed in this Report are the exclusive responsibility of its authors and they do not necessarily reflect the views nor opinions of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For more information about this publication, please visit the United Nations Development Programme Honduras website: www.undp.un.hn
Credits United Nations System Honduras United Nations Development Programme
José Manuel Hermida, Resident Representative Edo Stork, Assistant Resident Representative Juan José Ferrando, Environment, Energy, and Risk Prevention Unit Coordinator Ginés Suarez, Environment Unit Advisor, Project Coordinator (2009-2011) Sandra Buitrago, Environment Unit Advisor, Project Coordinator (February 2012 – June 2013) Technical Project Team Dennis Funes - Orlando Lara - Cristabel López - Claudia García - Diego Cortines Ena Almendarez - Samantha Cruz - Martha Izaguirre - Darwing Martínez – Sahady Mencía - Wilmer Cruz - Julia Ruiz - Violeta Mora - Marco Quan - Amaia Pérez Regional Center Freddy Justiniano, Director, a.i. Pablo Ruiz, Crisis Prevention and Recovery Area Leader Geraldine Becchi, Disaster Risk Advisor (July 2012 – June 2013) Karold Guzmán, Research Assistant Juan Carlos Orrego O., International Advisor, Risk Management and Early Recovery Systemizing Team Coordinator – Dora Astrid Gaviria – Research Assistant Gender Practice Area Carmen de la Cruz, Gender Practice Area Leader Yolanda Villar Gómez, Gender Technical Specialist (2009-2013) Knowledge Management Unit Octavio Aguirre – Marco Ortega SDC – Swiss Cooperation in Central America Fabrizio Poretti, Assistant Resident Director Responsible for Humanitarian Aid and Prevention Miriam Downs, Senior Consultant, DRR and Humanitarian Aid National Authorities Lisandro Rosales, Minister-National Commissioner, Permanent Commission for Contingencies Gonzalo Funes, Prevention Management Director, Permanent Commission for Contingencies Local Authorities Pablo Castro Gonzales, Mayor, Santa Rosa de Aguán Non-Governmental Organizations Fundación San Alonso Rodríguez (FSAR) Project 00075731: Experts, public institutions, mayors, and communities highly vulnerable to climate change have increased and strengthened their tools and adaptive capacities.
Mural made out of bottle caps, tiles, and other recycled materials.
Table of Contents Introduction.................................................................................................... 7
1. The Arrival to the Promised Land – Roots in White
Sand........................................................................................................... 8
2. Dangers of the Promised Land............................................... 10 3. The Decline of the Promised Land....................................... 11 4. From Decline to Crisis:
The Arrival of Mitch...................................................................... 16
5. Reconstruction Post-Mitch......................................................... 19 6. Santa Rosa de Aguán Facing Climate Change................ 21 7. Building Alternatives for Climate Change
Adaptation in Santa Rosa de Aguán.................................... 22
8. The Way Forward........................................................................... 34
Boys and girls from the Santa Rosa de Aguรกn community.
Introduction This document explains the experience of adapting to climate change from the point of view of the men and women of a community on the Honduran Caribbean coast. It is a story on the Garifuna village of Santa Rosa de Aguán (SRA), descendants of an ancestral mix of Africans and indigenous inhabitants of Central America, which has faced multiple adversities, errors, indifferences, and obstacles in its development process. The life histories of the aguaneños [residents of Santa Rosa de Aguán] are intimately bound with their sociocultural traditions and their relationship with natural resources and, as a result, with climatic variability and the impact of disasters. Without a doubt, their love to the ocean and its cultural influence has led the Garifuna community through its adversities. Santa Rosa de Aguán could be the reflection of multiple coastal communities in Latin America and their experience teaches to observe, reflect, appreciate, and protect. Coastal communities tend to be the most vulnerable to dangerous events, climatic variability, and climate change. This is why it is essential to initiate the development of adaptive strategies suitable for the intricacies of these environments. This experience has been based on various actors within the Santa Rosa de Aguán community with the help of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) between 2010 and 2013. Out of interest of showing the human focus that has characterized this process, two complementary publications are being edited simultaneously, “For the Love of the Ocean: Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change” and “Adapting to Climate Change: A Story of Communities that have Overcome their Vulnerability to Disasters on the Honduran Coast.” The first one, titles this document and was comprised from the oral histories given to us by this project’s actors during field work between February and March 2013, which was tasked with reflecting upon and systemizing Santa Rosa de Aguán’s experience. The investigation techniques employed included
observation, interviews, focus groups, and participative seminars1. Thanks to this work, we have returned to study Santa Rosa de Aguán in depth in order to improve the understanding and highlight the reality of this and other Garifuna communities on the Honduran coast. The second publication completes the project’s explanation, linking the various technical products and providing feedback on this and other development processes. It is our intention to recognize the level of participation reached by the local leaders, social organizations, and responsible institutions, as well as the involvement of all the men and women of Santa Rosa de Aguán that have made this experience possible. Although there is still a long way to go and many obstacles to overcome, we are convinced that the community of Santa Rosa de Aguán is excited at the opportunity to continue building a better path forward. We are pleased to be a part of their history and to contribute towards human development in this charming country.
1 Five interviews were conducted with different local leaders and volunteers from the Climate Change Adaptation Committee, two focus groups with a representative population (one with the board members of the Climate Change Adaptation Committee and the other with the women of Santa Rosa de Aguán), an in-depth interview with two older townspeople, a participative workshop open to the whole SRA community, a workshop with SRA schoolchildren, two interviews with the municipality (one with the mayor’s office located in Dos Bocas and the other with the Deputy Mayor in SRA) and four interviews with various professionals on UNDP and the Fundación San Alonso Rodríguez Technical Team.
For the Love of the Ocean
The Arrival to the Promised LandRoots in White Sand
H
istory says that the Garifuna people, an ethnic group of a convergence of Caribbean indigenous, Arawak, and African descendants, populated the islands of Saint Vincent and Roatán, Trujillo, Ceiba, Chapagua, and a large portion of the coast between Belize and Nicaragua since the middle of the 17th century. In an isolated environment, the Garifuna communities developed a culture characterized by its own dialect, original knowledge and values, and a proud love of the ocean. Their culture included living in harmony with nature and respecting their ancestors, which shaped family and community ties, strengthened by rites and ceremonies, led by spiritual leaders known as buyais, as well as folk dances, culinary practices, and medical knowledge held by the surusias, experts in ethnobotany. It was in 1797, at the height of the war of the European empires focused on the Caribbean islands, when British forces sent the Garifuna rebels to live on the Central American coast. There they lived for over a century until the transnational fruit companies, who received enormous tracts of land, displaced the Garifuna and employed them as labor in the Cuyamel, Tela, Standart and Trujillo Fruit Companies.
Ricardo
8
1
Ricardo’s gaze is lost in the distance. Into the expansive distance of the ocean of Santa Rosa de Aguán, as vast and deep as memories of years gone by, of so many suns and moons that have passed through the lives of these coastal communities. It is the same nostalgic look that so many settlers have seen, arriving to and leaving Santa Rosa de Aguán to escape poverty and disasters or in search of better opportunities in the city or in the countries to the north. It is the lively and defiant look of those who long to stay in a place full of wealth. He remembers the tales of his Garifuna ancestors, village founders, and explains that two families were the first to arrive in 1892: “As they told us, there were two families (…) that emigrated from Saint Vincent and these ancestors came in search of places where they could form or build their homes and establish themselves. As they told us, they arrived in the vicinity of Chapagua, a place they call Cocalito (…). They began to establish themselves in Cocalito, but it seems that they didn’t adjust there and they came a little further, they crossed the river and always along the shore line, until they found this spot
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
(…). So then they took possession of these two sides, they made their homes and began to more or less expand. And more and more and more immigrants came, until they settled everywhere… and making their homes out of the many, more or less, good trees in the area, including the manaca palm and there were a lot of yagua [royal palms] which they cut into little pieces, and took that and made wood (…). The royal palm is what this house is made of (…). This was the wood here in Santa Rosa de Aguán used for all the houses, and with manaca roofs (…). Right now here in Santa Rosa de Aguán I think that only two or three houses have manaca roofs. Now everything is sheet metal or tile.” 2
coconut grove reached the beach and welcomed the groups of Garifuna who slept in the shade and would sing their songs to the beat of drums and maracas. The two most abundant types of palm, provided, in addition to protection, manaca and royal palm to build their homes. Between the town and the ocean were the dunes, a natural barrier created by the wind and sand, that protected the champas3 from storms loaded with water and from the force of the wind. The coastal trees were also part of the great protective wall. The coconut palms, in addition to providing water, provided natural nourishment upon which various culinary practices were developed.
The Garifuna tradition had a notable calling for the Ricardo explains that back then the land was occupied care of the environment, the love of the coast, and spontaneously and there was no Territorial Planning. collective labor. The conversations between Claudina “Because undeveloped plots of land weren’t sold, and her grandmother Casilda about the old Santa but if a person liked it, that spot was empty, they Rosa de Aguán reflect pride in the memories of its saw that no one occupied it, then they would ask landscapes and day-to-day activities: for the land and everything and they just gave - “I remember when the farmhouses were them the document and they would just build here, afterwards it was full of plantations, there their house there… Maybe there was already a were grapes, icacos, and … coconut. There was neighbor (…) and they began to build (…) and an extremely long coconut plantation before the neighbors were happy because they had new reaching the river (…).” neighbors.” “I remember that over there by La Planada there In the first few years of settlement, streets and paths was a big hill, extremely big and below there was were created that established an ample distance freshwater, there was freshwater but with time between the beach and the town center, keeping they disappeared”. Claudina the center far enough away from the impact of sea - “I would go to plant yucca and bananas, guineo, swells and potential river flooding. The admirable corn, I’ve even planted rice here, to eat and to sell environment that Santa Rosa de Aguán is today known as well.” Casilda for was dazzling since the first years of settlement. A 2 This document has respected the orality of its narrators. To transcribe the silences ellipses are used and to indicate that a sentence has been interrupted, (...) has been used. For clarification of transcription, [ ] has been used.
3 Houses
9
For the Love of the Ocean
Dangers of the Promised Land
T
he Garifuna’s love to the sea took them to occupy the coastline. Without consciousness of doing so, or maybe thinking that they could manage it, the Santa Rosa de Aguán community situated itself in a double-threat zone by settling on top of a sand bar and in flood-prone area close to the mouth of the Aguán River. Its inhabitants say that years later, when they were excavating to build the school, they found clam shells and marine fossils. They then interpreted that the land they had chosen on which to live had once belonged to the ocean
10
2
and thought that one day the ocean would return to reclaim it. The proximity of the houses to the coast increased the community’s exposure to the passing of tropical storms, hurricanes, sea swells, floods, and other extreme hydrometeorological events. Many years later, the effects of climate change and climate variability have made these events much more intense and extreme and have increased sea levels and erosion.
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
The Decline of the Promised Land
T
he colonization of Santa Rosa de Aguán was never designed to accommodate the growth that it later experienced, which created new challenges for which this Garifuna community was not prepared.
It is said that at the end of the 20th century, there were more than 500 families and the forms and methods of the founders’ traditional occupation were becoming obsolete, ignoring the limits and restrictions imposed by the complex Aguán region. The town that had begun with two champas now had 480 homes, few trees were left, the houses were roofed with zinc, and the space between the ocean, river, and town had become urbanized, with four streets of buildings left at the mercy of the floods and sea swells. Some homes were built with bricks and cement against the sea and on the beach, destroying the dunes and reducing the natural vegetation. Herds of livestock began to expand and wander along the fragile coastal terrain, ruining vegetation and the dunes. Thus the territorial limits were exceeded by the settlement process, but also by the production of African palm in the middle of the Aguán River basin. Mercedes, a veteran woman of the village, explains:
3
“The large businesses have cleared out the river and have come to harm the community as well because previously the mouth of the Aguán River was here, right here in Santa Rosa de Aguán (...) but now the mouth is in a different area because due to human activities, the Aguán River had to divert its course (...). The Aguán River becomes salty in the summer because (...) it was diverted and everything comes back to hurt us here in Santa Rosa de Aguán because the sandbar has closed. That sandbar of Santa Rosa de Aguán has been open ever since I can remember (...). If our ancestors could see us now they would be frightened because that has never happened and now we’re seeing it! (...).The animals drink saltwater and will likely die (...) and the people who have their livestock here aren’t multimillionaires who can install a pump to pump freshwater and so the animals drink river water and the animals get sick and die (...) and we who use the Aguán River to fish can’t catch any fish because freshwater fish can’t live in salt water.”
Mercedes
11
For the Love of the Ocean
The studies on the environmental situation in Santa Rosa de Aguán, within this project’s framework, offered the following characterization: Table 1. Environmental Problems in Santa Rosa de Aguán. Santa Rosa de Aguán is a part of diverse tropical ecosystems rich in biodiversity and sensitive to disturbances. Nature has historically been perceived as a renewable resource. The settling of Santa Rosa de Aguán puts direct pressure on the dune system and aquifer. Livelihoods such as farming and livestock farming have expanded inordinately without any organizational plan or sustainable resource management.The majority of the land has few owners, who exploit the properties for livestock farming. Farming on small plots of land covers the majority of the dune ecosystem. The Aguán River has changed its course, feeding the majority of its volume into the Chapagua River.This behavior has marked an imbalance in the riverside and aquatic ecosystems, provoking the degradation of these ecosystems from the deviation in the Agua Amarilla community to the mouth of the river, altering the livelihoods of the nearby population. The key factors that have determined the evolution and current status of the area are: •
The inadequate location of settlement due to spontaneous processes of occupation.
•
The concentration of land possession in few owners that have used their land for livestock farming.
•
The inadequate use of soil as the biotic and abiotic characteristics of the land aren’t in line with its forms of use, above all with its lack of conservation techniques.
•
The vulnerability to natural events and climate variability has had negative effects on the production systems, coastal erosion, and human and material losses.
•
The limited economic diversification and low production performance due to the fact that the youth emigrate and do not integrate into the local productive system. The low or non-existent investment capital for new initiatives.
•
The loss of culture due to low transfer and assimilation of Garifuna traditions and customs.
Source: PNUD Honduras. Cruz, S. (2011). Adaptación de Cultivos a la Salinidad en Santa Rosa de Aguán Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
12
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
Table 2. Causes and effects of environmental problems in Santa Rosa De Aguán. Problem Loss and fragmentation of coastal tropical forest
Cause Farming expansion Deforestation
Loss of riverbank vegetation
Deforestation Physicochemical change in water due to sea water intrusion. Rerouting of the Aguán River. Loss of lake vegetation Deforestation. Physicochemical change in water due to sea water intrusion. Rerouting of the Aguán River. Degradation of dunes Felling of trees, burn-off, ecosystem trampling, animal vagrancy, sand extraction, farming, livestock farming, tourism, coastal erosion, natural e vents. Rerouting of the Human pressure. Aguán River Tropical storms. The river’s hydraulic behavior. Aquifer contamination Over-exploitation of the aquifer. Coastal erosion. Rerouting of the Aguán River. Absence of a baseline Absence of research projects. of existing plant and Indifference in learning the animal species regional biodiversity.
Effect Reduction in biodiversity. Reduction in environmental services. Difficulties in the regeneration capacity of the ecosystem. Loss of plant and aquatic species. Reduction in land protection. Deforestation. Physicochemical change in water due to sea water intrusion. Rerouting of the Aguán River. Degradation in vegetation, morphology, and life forms. Reduction in settlement protection. Loss of riverbank ecosystems, aquatic life, agricultural production, decrease in sedimentary input and flow input. Water scarcity. Habitat alteration of the slacks, or lowlands between the dunes. Absence of inventories and benchmarks. Disregard of taking into account the importance of Santa Rosa de Aguán in terms of resources.
Source: PNUD Honduras. Cruz, S (2011), Propuesta de Ordenamiento Territorial Santa Rosa de Aguán, Colón. Tegucigalpa, Honduras
13
For the Love of the Ocean
Additionally, life in the Garifuna village was affected by the death of the coconut, caused by a virus called lethal yellowing, and, according to its inhabitants, by external human practices. Its death gravely affected the Garifuna diet and informal economy, which was centered around the coconut and its derivatives, with the women who make various products with it being the most affected. The beaches were left unprotected, increasing coastal erosion, and the dunes were deemed as obstacles between the ocean and the village. The destruction of the Caribbean fish stocks by the hands of the industrial fishing fleet was also a factor of the economic crisis for the Garifuna communities who depended on artisanal fishing. With this decline, conditions worsened and forced many aguaneños to sell their land. Claudina explains that her family4 now lives off of profits from selling beverages and receiving remittances from her brothers in the United States. She translates what her grandmother Casilda says in the Garifuna language:
The strength of the Garifuna culture has been compromised by the previously mentioned events in addition to global means of communication, which since the 1980s have put the oral transmission between different generations at a disadvantage and have weakened the Garifuna identity, fragmenting development opportunities in the Aguán community. As Ricardo and Claudina explain, respectively: - “Many of these cultures are almost losing themselves, they’re losing quite a lot… because in the old times, the aguaneños, the Garifuna people, were very attached (…). Back then they took care of, they really, really took care of their identity, the culture and one felt quite proud when it was time for the big celebrations, which is to say, the dances, Fedu, that’s dance (…).” - “Before they were more beautiful, now they do it, they always do it, but without that grace that they had back then. Now we say that they do it just to go through the motions. Not back then, one found meaning in things or in what was happening with what was representing. And here it seems that we’re still living the culture, but it’s not exactly like it was before.”
“Back then, they would go to the countryside to farm, what she said, coconut (…); they lived off of that, the people would go to the countryside, farm and everything (…). Back then the people would lend land if someone didn’t have any… but many Even the Garifuna language has been disappearing. people began to sell (…). She [Casilda] had a plot With an easy laugh, Claudina says: and the owner sold it, he sold the land and that’s “There are children now that… almost don’t what has happened (…), many people don’t go to speak [Garifuna] and back then well then everyone the countryside anymore because they don’t have spoke their dialect. We had to stop speaking it anywhere to go.” in school in order to learn Spanish and now it’s the opposite; now it’s the opposite because now “There was land before, but now they’re selling the they’re even giving Garifuna classes.” land to the cattle-raisers and to the palm owners, we’re not going to be able to eat cultivated food Disasters associated with weather events, like the because there won’t be any left.” three storms that happened in successive years, also reduced in a devastating form the life possibilities of 4 Claudina’s family unit currently consists of four the Santa Rosa de Aguán community. The adaptive women from different generations. strategies were based on massive migrations of its
14
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
inhabitants, as had happened in the rest of the country of over a million Hondurans, headed for the United States. Migration and remittances then became the hope for livelihood. As this happened, many families in Santa Rosa abandoned farming as the base of their economy.
invested in necessary things and if I want to maybe do something else for my children, like send money for a house or for schooling for my children, that’s my dream.” Mayra
“I’m going to go to the United States…! That is my dream, to go to work for dollars to invest them here in my children; (…) that’s to say that I would like to live in the United States and I would like to work for dollars because here it’s worth more. (…) Here it gets
Many men and women who emigrated years ago decided to return and recover their way of life in SRA. This is how an aguaneña woman movingly explains why, after twelve years living in San Pedro Sula, she chose to return to her community:
Others, like Claudina’s cousin, who is seventeen years old, think that life is much easier in Santa Rosa de Aguán To emigrate to San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, or the because helping relationships still exist and there is less United States, or to live tenuously in Santa Rosa de violence than in the big cities. However, like Claudina’s Aguán is still one of the most important dilemmas cousin, many youth think that their village is too small of its inhabitants and has been gathered in various and has no future, especially now that the beach is so close and the village cannot grow. testimonies.
“My heart is beating for Santa Rosa de Aguán; that beautiful land… for me there is no better town than this one, because what I make here I sell, I go to my neighbor, to my Ana: Do you have something?, ‘Yes, I do.’ In the city, if I were in San Pedro I wouldn’t be alive; they would’ve killed me already. I’m happy even though I don’t have much to eat…! Because a woman can leave the house and nothing will happen to her, no one will want to kill you, but in the city one has her days numbered.”5
Claudina
5
Testimony from an SRA women’s focus group.
15
For the Love of the Ocean
From Decline to Crisis: The Arrival of Mitch
S
itting in the sand on the beach and listening to the sound of the breeze, Mayra says that she has always lived in Santa Rosa de Aguán, with the exception of a few months just before Hurricane Mitch in October 1998. She remembers traveling the river by canoe, the happiness she felt upon returning to her village and the people she found in her path. She also cannot forget what happened just days after her arrival. “When Mitch began, it began with… with a drizzle. It was drizzling, it was drizzling but not that much. All of a sudden the air, the breeze picked up. But no one was worried; no one was worried because no one was expecting the flooding. (…) They had warned that there was a hurricane, Hurricane Mitch (…) there was a radio from ODECO [Ethnic Community Development Organization] and they communicated by radio. What happened was… it was at midnight, when we were in bed, then… all of a sudden someone yelled; maybe it was a person… Ricardo, this was the man who alerted us with the megaphone (…). He was who alerted everyone who lived by the edge (…) of the andín [Garifuna word for larger dunes]. So it was midnight and the electricity went out and when the electricity went out everyone, when they heard the warning, the siren on the megaphone, everyone got up and as you were getting out of bed you’d put your foot on the floor and it was already wet, it was full of water (…). Some people were like, like drunks; some people almost lost their minds because they weren’t expecting something like this, so strong!. (…). Some people who were CODEL [Local Emergency Committee] rescuers (…) went to get the people closest to there, to Mitch, over there at the point. Many people almost lost their minds when Mitch came. The house where I lived was completely
16
4
flooded, it flooded, you couldn’t see the ceiling (…), I was with my daughter. (…) It was my grandmother’s house (…), it flooded and the next day all of a sudden… the water receded, but you could see the whirlpool. We were watching the whirlpool when the people passed by, I looked, we would throw them the rope; that was sad, it was sad to see human beings passing through on the river current and want to rescue them and not be able to (…). Close to the beach and close to the river, yes, they were more affected. It flooded over in Las Lomas and multiple people died because there wasn’t a way to get out over there (…). Everyone was so sad! (…). At the time no one could… some people were locked in because they couldn’t say anything… they couldn’t say a thing because they were in shock. And I had my daughter in my arms, at the time I was dazed, walking with my daughter like a crazy woman.” Mayra For Ricardo, the experience was overwhelming. When Mitch arrived, he had finished work at “El Cayuco”, his restaurant, and was relaxing at home. The restaurant and the home were located in the same place, right between the Aguán River and the ocean. Upon returning from Tegucigalpa, he had felt that this was the perfect place to permanently settle down in his village after being gone for 22 years. He himself, with a bitter laugh, explained how Mitch had been one of life’s dirty tricks, taking his savings, his projects, everything that he had been working for in the city in order to have a good life in his village; “I was at the other end, at my shop, (…) when I came from there, when I left there to seek shelter (…) the water already reached here, inside the shop, all the furniture, chairs, tables, and everything were already floating (…). I only brought 2 pants, 2 shirts… and a few cents I had in the bureau (…). I had my home, I had built my apartment next to
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
the shop (…).Then I wanted to from there to here where my sisters were and then the people that saw me say (…): ‘no, don’t go over there, it’s better to wait until tomorrow’ (…). So then I stayed at my cousin’s until dawn (…).
services. Even today, people harbor a lot of fear due to the impact of this disaster.
The next morning, around five in the morning, I left my cousin’s house to check on the restaurant and only one edge was left of the house. (…) Being there… that’s when the other part was taken away (…). I stood there paralyzed (…). It had taken everything, an investment, a purchase that I had made (…) because they had already been calling for bad weather, so I went to Tocoa to go shopping and to stock up in case of bad weather, I didn’t know it would be such a catastrophe. Everything was lost.”
“When Mitch came and Katrina [Tropical Storm Katrina, 1999] came, all that was carved out, all that was left bare, so then only the beach was left, sun, sand, and ocean, that’s how it was left (…).Then as the air was forming (…), the sand dunes began to reappear again and those sand dunes were always left bare because there was no vegetation on top.”
Mercedes explains what the storms did to the bare beach:
Mitch split the history of SRA in two and remained embedded in the entire nation’s memory. Unfortunately, according to Ricardo, no one wanted to neither think nor ask for explanations. Without Mitch generated such devastating force that it changed time to reflect, they simply regarded it as a natural the landscape unlike any other natural phenomenon in phenomenon. the last century. The coconut trees that had survived Santa Rosa de Aguán was vulnerable and as the the lethal yellowing were leveled by the force of the following table demonstrates, it has been affected wind and that sea swells that attacked the dune-less historically by reoccurring events of varying intensity. beach, invaded the coast and the community of Santa With Mitch began a downward spiral towards poverty Rosa de Aguán. The river accumulated a terrifying and the depletion of economic and sociocultural volume and combined with the ocean and took the resources. majority of the houses, the school, and community
Santa Rosa de Aguán
17
For the Love of the Ocean
Table 3. Effects of the principal meteorological events and climatic variability in SRA. The community has historically been hit by various meteorological events, affecting homes and livelihoods. Based on the records between 1870 and 2010, the Honduran National Meteorological Service (2011) estimates that 25 hurricanes have passed extremely close to the community of Santa Rosa de Aguán and 18 direct and 4 indirect tropical storms have affected the area. As for the damages suffered by the community from hydrometeorological phenomenon, it is reported that the first tropical storm that affected the entire municipality was in 1935, the second was in July 1961 and left victims, destroyed homes, and damaged crops. In 1974, Hurricane Fifi hit with greater force, causing deaths, destroying 190 homes, and destroying crops and livestock. Inhabitants have reported that the greatest losses were caused by the following events: •
The 1941 hurricane and Hurricanes Anna (1961) and Mitch (1998). Mitch was the most destructive in regards to agriculture and homes, with losses estimated at up to 5,000 livestock and 42 human lives.
•
Tropical Storms Katrina (1999), Gama (2005), Beta (2005), and Storm #16 (2008).
The productive sector has noticed the effects of climatic variability in a qualitative manner as the dry season has lengthened and precipitation in rainy months has decreased. It is estimated that 20 years ago, the rainy season began in October and lasted until December, with lighter precipitation between January and March. April through September were considered dry season, but nearly always included a few days of rain. Currently, there is little rain in October, with most precipitation falling in November and December. Precipitation between January and March decreases more than in previous years. Other climatic variations noticed by producers include the intensity of the heat in the dry season and the increase in tropical storms and hurricanes in recent years. The effects of climatic variability are clear and it is estimated that these effects will only intensify. According to Stratus Consulting (2006), sea level elevation in a 50 year projection will generate a loss of coastline of about 30 m on the Honduran coast. This estimate indicates that the settlement will be transformed, losing the first houses on the shore and the possible advance of coastal dunes towards the community. According to the UNDP Early Recovery Needs Assessment in 2010, out of the 83 homes surveyed, 51 are at risk of flooding, especially along the riverbank, 10 are at risk of sea swells, and 14 reported the risk of tsunami. In addition, the entire community faces the risk of hurricanes and tropical storms. After the deviation of the Aguán River, it is necessary to reconsider which area will be the floodplain once the water flow is altered. The impact caused by the river’s deviation puts the ecosystems and production systems in a vulnerable position.
Sources: PNUD, 2010. Encuesta sobre Necesidades de Recuperación Temprana 2010. PNUD Honduras. Cruz, S (2011), Propuesta de Ordenamiento Territorial Santa Rosa de Aguán, Colón. Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
18
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
Reconstruction Post-Mitch The period following Mitch wasn’t the best for Mayra, Claudina, Mercedes, Ricardo, and the rest of the inhabitants of Santa Rosa de Aguán. The entire country had been hit by Mitch and there was a large mobilization of international cooperation supporting reconstruction. Governments and donors wanted the reconstruction to be an integrated process, which was recommended in the so-called “Master Plan of the Honduran Government for National Reconstruction and Transformation.”
5
traditional village of Santa Rosa de Agúan, the lack of access to water, the reduced size of houses, and the lack of community spaces, which are vital in any recovery process and are part of the Garifuna identity. La Planada was designed without integrating the Garifuna way of life and it was later determined that the area faced scenarios of equal or greater risk than those facing Santa Rosa de Aguán.
However, the same path that follows after many disasters in Latin America was repeated after Mitch. Reconstruction was slow and inefficient, focusing on the reconstruction of homes and investment in bricks, concrete, and cement. It was an approach to recovery that didn’t work out the need for transformation required by the community and cast aside the recovery of livelihoods, natural resources, and the social fabric. In the case of Santa Rosa de Aguán, what happened was that after Mitch, relocation proposals came in from different organizations. It was initially proposed to build close to 500 homes, 150 in the sector called Las Lomas and 350 in the community of Santa Rosa de Agúan. Studies had shown that it would be inappropriate to rebuild the affected homes in the same place they once stood and therefore proposed the relocation of 150 homes to the area called La Planada, farther from the beach and the Aguán riverbed. Today, La Planada is a housing project only partially occupied. It was an international cooperation project that began five years after Mitch and consisted of constructing brick houses with only two rooms and dimensions of three meters frontage by three meters deep. The area lacks community spaces and still lacks basic public services.
Figura 1 2008 PMDN
These factors complicated the move of many inhabitants of Aguán and young families were the first to relocate. As the years passed, the community has remained divided in two sections. One is close to the mouth of the Aguán River, (also known as Aguán or Barra de Aguán), on the dunes, and the other a little over 1.25 kilometers away, behind the dunes (the socalled La Planada).
The location of the houses in La Planada presents multiple inconveniences, like the distance from the
19
For the Love of the Ocean
Table 4. Reasons that caused residents of Agúan to not resettle in La Planada, as told by the community to the UNDP technical team. •
Due community participation was not given in the decision making process in regards to planning and construction.
•
House assignments were not based on a participative study on the needs of the community after Mitch.
•
The new homes were located on a flood plain.
•
The houses were not adapted to the climate.
•
The houses are very small, which is not typical for the Garifuna community and culture.
•
There is no basic aqueduct or sewer system.
•
The distance between La Planada and the urban area of Santa Rosa de Aguán is great and creates difficulties in accessing services located in SRA. The displacement between both areas is especially difficult for children, the elderly, and those with health problems.
•
There is no access to livelihoods.
•
The area has since been considered to be at risk in following studies.
The most serious effect of Mitch has been the different by… once in a while… while I have to wait (…). manifestations of poverty and the lack of opportunities This year is dead (…). There’s nothing good here.” to reclaim livelihoods. The aguaneños lost everything and without job opportunities, it has been impossible The lessons of Santa Rosa de Aguán highlight the to reinstate their businesses and activities. Ricardo grown of human settlements without planning, as well as the weakness of reconstruction processes without explains: comprehensive recovery and without being oriented “Those who came to reorganize themselves again towards a human development approach. in that sense, they might have not lost much, while I lost absolutely everything and here there isn’t any source of employment to be able to earn money and start over and in spite of that, with the little I had left, I started to scrape together, with a little shop to sell (…) churros and things, like a general store (…). But it’s not in a good location, since the shop isn’t working and then I started getting down, it started declining until I ended up… with my arms crossed (…). There are no sources of livelihood, there just aren’t any. The only form of livelihood these days was my family [who are in La Planada the United States] who send me a little to get
20
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
Santa Rosa de Aguán Facing Climate Change The threatened and vulnerable state of Santa Rosa de Aguán currently forms a high risk context that will only increase with climate change and climatic variability trends. Studies show that the scenarios for 2025 and 2050 will be critical for the community as well as for the dune ecosystem if nothing is done about the matter. In the baseline scenario, the coastal dunes are exposed to erosion and could lose their geomorphology, the sand will reach the community, and it is possible that the vegetation gradient that currently exists on the dunes could be altered and that species adapt. The aquifer will be exposed to saline intrusion, decreasing supply sources for the community and changing the habitats of slacks, causing the disappearance of flora and fauna species, including endangered species. Plant resources and productive systems will be affected by long periods of drought due to the lack of precipitation and increase in temperature. An additional factor that will aggravate conditions is the deviation of the Aguán River, which will stop providing the environmental services it had previously provided. It is expected that storms and hurricanes will intensify and will be more frequent, affecting the villages and further degrading the dune ecosystem. Adaptation measures in the context of climate scenarios would be geared towards dune ecosystem adaptation, including the cushioning of event disturbances, contributing to the evolution of a new ecosystem called “emerging ecosystem”. It also provides adaption to climatic risks that include protecting the community and their livelihoods.
6
The dunes are in full spontaneous recovery, expanding towards the mouth of the river. The dune vegetation is quite resilient but is seriously threatened by land use changes and timber extraction. The loss of village infrastructure gradually continues with each tropical storm. Bad practices and the lack of land management exacerbate the impact of climate change. “It is a little difficult because many people say that we’re vulnerable and no, they can’t survive (…). But at the same time, I think that all of Honduras, wherever you go, is vulnerable, because of the very same climate change, a lot of flooding and a lot of drought, and nothing is the same as it was before. One, we have to figure out how to live… I don’t know, but I prefer to be here, because in the city… you need to pay for housing, you need to pay for water, you need to pay for electricity, and one walks around scared for their life because they don’t know when they’re going to be killed or get assaulted. So after all that time I was in the city, now I live in peace. I feel that I’m better here.” Claudina.
21
For the Love of the Ocean
Building Alternatives for Climate
Change Adaptation in Santa Rosa de Aguán
W
hen Samantha and Ena, technical advisors for the UNDP’s project on adaptation to climate change, knocked on the first doors in Santa Rosa de Aguán, they thought that it would not be easy to establish a dialogue with the Garifuna community because they knew that some people thought that the post-disaster response effort had not satisfactorily addressed their needs. A group of Social Work students from the Universidad Autónoma de Honduras had previously established contact points with community leaders and had identified the main social and environmental problems in Santa Rosa. “Many things came and they never finished doing them, they were always left halfway done.” Climate Change Adaptation Volunteer Committee SRA. It was also important for the technical team to understand the true reasons why families in SRA resisted the move to La Planada. The work in the following months allowed them to understand the community’s fears and motives as well as meet with a group of social leaders that would give them an opportunity to change Santa Rosa de Aguán. After a participative process, it was possible to invigorate various community groups and find interested people. Mayra was one of the first women to respond to Samantha and Ena’s call to action. Her experience with Mitch was powerful enough to make a commitment. She herself tells of the experience: “They came looking for people from different organizations and called for an assembly for us to meet (…). They come with the purpose of seeing what the people of Santa Rosa de Aguán were interested in, so they invited people and some came and others didn’t, but I did, I went because I wanted to inform myself about everything (…).
22
7
Then one day they called for an assembly to create the board [of the Climate Change Adaptation Volunteer Committee].” This was how the Climate Change Adaptation Volunteer Committee (CVACC) was formed with 24 representatives of local organizations and the youth group. The Committee defined its functions and later began to evaluate the economic, social, cultural, and environmental needs of the region with the help of the UNDP team.
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
detected in the climate. It was like constructing the history of the environmental and socioeconomic decline of their own community.
To understand what we are and where we live.The principle of commitment to collective action.
Protect the environment to survive.
The technical team began a dialogue with the community about the risks facing the municipality and identified a few explanations for the deterioration When the Garifuna community of Santa Rosa de Aguán of Santa Rosa de Aguán. They collectively began to reconstructed their history, they began to understand identify viable solutions to these problems. that their past was determined by the availability and The collaborative work between the Committee later depletion of natural resources, and that their and the technical team allowed an analysis on the future as a community would depend on their ability causes of resource deterioration in Santa Rosa de to organize themselves, to create awareness about Aguán. An ecosystem restoration specialist, a social their resources and the work they would dedicate to worker with experience in work with ethnic groups, the protection of their natural resources.
and two geologists supported the community. A new awareness of the risks of disasters and the This is the argument of Mercedes and Claudina: most important elements of their natural system -“ When the girls, Samantha and Ena, arrived, was created by a set of information and training and before them the other girls, to explain the proposals. The community then came to understand situation of climate change because practically, we what was happening in its territory and learned the as members of this community, we were practically use and utilization of the dunes, which until then had unaware of what was approaching us (…). Now in been considered a mound of sand that bothered the fact we’re seeing that climate change is damaging community. our country and not only in our country, the entire world (…).
“
“
Dune6. ¿What is a dune? Mayra
At that point a strong interest in the dunes’ importance began to appear and led to a reflection on the loss of the coconut palms, the impact of overgrazing, the danger of being located in a floodplain, and the changes 6 Duna (spanish word for dune), means “water” in garífuna.
But, why does this happen, I wonder? Because human beings, we have caused that climate change, from so much garbage, bags over here, bags over there, a ton of things and all of it damages the environment (…) That’s why (…) we’re looking for a solution”. Mercedes -“Nature is extremely important for us because ever since we came from Africa, ever since, we, I don’t know, all the Garifuna have lived along the
23
For the Love of the Ocean
beach (…), we like it (…). We have to constantly adapt to climate change because you never know when bad weather will hit that will sweep us away so that’s why we have to learn to coexist and understand our town to see how to take care of ourselves so that the town itself also takes care of us.” Claudina.
The Socialization of Climate Adaptation “We are close to the beach (…) and that’s why we are more involved in… in learning and…
Volunteers of CVACC
24
becoming more devoted to prevention (…) and protecting ourselves as much as possible for what could come.We have to continue learning.” Ricardo “After that we began to grow aware, they made us aware, then we went from home to home to raise awareness with the people. Some people knew, they understood, explaining it in our, in our language, Garifuna. So yes, as we explained things, they responded that it was good what we were doing to raise people’s awareness about not cutting down the trees, about taking care of the dunes, and so we began talking with people, then they were in agreement.” Mayra
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
The Committee made social and informational house visits to 230 homes in Santa Rosa de Aguán.These visits reached people who otherwise would not have been able to attend the community meetings, especially the elderly and female heads of household.
and diffused from the Garifuna sociocultural reality. For example, a play that included local attributes was performed at various locations, facilitating the attendance of each neighborhood for the majority of the population. The design of the play was supported by a group of volunteer graduates from the Escuela The youth were also implicated in this process, as de Arte Dramático de Honduras [Honduran School of Alondra explains: Dramatic Art]. Students at the school later participated “I went to talk to the people, but first I had to in discussions and a drawing contest listen to the talk (…). When we would arrive, we’d “A theater group performed in every neighborhood begin by saying to them ‘good afternoon, we’re so people would become informed as to how bad volunteers for the adaptation to climate change.’ weather arrives and how to adapt as well and what We would ask them if they had time to listen to us, it is that we need to do. (…). There it was clear and they would say yes, that it was very important. that people understood (…). A lot of people liked So then they would allow us to enter their homes it and the young people who were in the play did and we had to begin giving the talks from the a very good job (…). They performed many times beginning until the end, from the adaptation to in each neighborhood and even in La Planada, in climate change, reforestation, and how to take the school, they performed in the school and it care of the dunes. was nice.” Claudina There were some words that people didn’t understand and we would explain them, like those words about the dunes. People didn’t know what dunes were and we had to explain it to them, that they were the mounds that were here on the beach and how to take care of the dunes. I went to about 25 houses (…). Well the houses we had were in La Planada and there were some here, here in town. I really liked the experience because I had to learn many things (…). There were people who understood me (…). I felt really important because (…) it’s like being a teacher… first you go study then you’re their teacher, to be able to teach them how to take care of our town, how to take care of our environment.” The positive results from the socialization process could be attributed to the fact that it was designed
“After that… we began with what is now the mural. With what is now the mural they told us, ‘see those bottle caps? Those caps (…) that you all throw there, that works! (…) Let’s go pick up all of those caps, let’s pick up tiles, asbestos, let’s pick up sandals and then let’s wash them… we washed them and after washing them, they had us make a drawing that we liked with the caps (…). Some drew a fish, others drew a mortar to make machuca [a traditional Garifuna dish of fish, plantains, and coconut milk], some drew a person (…). And everyone ended up admiring the mural when they saw it! Because when they would stare at us under the midday sun, picking up caps here on the beach, ‘you look like fools, picking up caps, what are you going to do with that?’ the people would say and when they saw that work there, they were happy because it’s so pretty!! Really pretty!!” Mayra
25
For the Love of the Ocean
The work with the community encouraged the youth to participate and helped the community discover the inequalities that exist between the women and men, and the need to change their way of thinking of gender relations. Different women speak of their experience and some of their training7: -“The project is good for the whole village, for men, women.” - “But that whole equality thing is now because before almost all the jobs were given to the men. There was inequality. And when this training came on what are women’s rights, we started to realize that we women also have the right to equality. (…) With them we learned that we have the same rights as men and that’s why no one will distract us again, we won’t let them anymore!” -“Nowadays we know that the woman also has the right to go out, she has the right to participate, before it didn’t happen because the man would say ‘I’m the man, I am who is in charge.” To give women participation in this project created high self-esteem in the group. They felt that they had improved their understanding of important issues that affect their community and their everyday life, they have taken on more leadership roles, and now have the courage to give their point of view. They have formed part of the decision making process and have taken on responsibilities and activities that in previously projects had only been assigned to men.
Photograph of the mural on the façade of the SRA Community Center. Completed during the project with discarded materials on the beach.
7 These testimonies were told by a group of women from Aguán who participated in a focus group during the systemization of the project. Their expression has a collective dimension because they were repeated and supplemented by different women.
26
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
Back to Basics:The Protection of the Dunes. In the environment of Santa Rosa de Aguán, the dunes have an important function in the security and survival of the Garifuna community. The dune ecosystem provides important environmental services, like the provision of resources, climate regulation, conservation of water quantity and quality, carbon capture from the dune forest, and the reduction of exposure to hydrometeorological events, acting as a barrier to avoid seawater intrusion and to protect houses. Additionally, the parabolic dunes offer potential scenic beauty that improves the perception and evaluation of the environment by the native population and by tourism. “What was most important for me… was to learn, to learn what is… about the dunes (…) because I didn’t know that that was also important for us because we didn’t know, we would look at them like they were nothing, like they were nothing, we would trample them, walk on top of them (…) and we didn’t know that we were losing the best: When Samantha told us and Ena, that those dunes
were protection for us and that we had to protect them. So then… ‘dune, what is a dune?’, I said to Samantha. ‘Those dunes are the mounds of sand that you have over there.”Mayra Over the course of this communal and technical process, it was identified that it was necessary to rehabilitate the ecological functions of the dune ecosystem as a method to reduce disaster risk, as well as to bear the effects of climate change. The community understood that this was possible by means of eliminating activities and human disturbances on the dunes, given that this type of ecosystem is capable of regenerating. That is why it was decided to demolish the structures that were disturbing the dunes’ development and to build walkways to avoid human foot traffic on the dunes and thus decreasing their deterioration.
Mayra
27
For the Love of the Ocean
Table 5. Ecological value of the dune ecosystems and causes of degradation
•
ECOLOGICAL VALUE OF THE DUNE ECOSYSTEMS IN THE COUNTRY Provide environmental services and goods like the reserve and purification of water
•
CAUSES OF DEGRADATION OF THE COSTAL DUNES Hydrometeorological events
•
Serve as support for coastal tropical forests
•
Anthropogenic causes such as the lack of landuse planning
•
Act as a barrier to prevent seawater intrusion
•
Building on the dunes
•
Permit conservation of cultural traditions
•
The creation and use of pedestrian paths
•
Protect human settlements from hydrometeorological events
•
Disposal of solid waste
•
Act as a regulatory action against climate change
•
Crops on dune slopes and livestock grazing on top of dunes
•
Are a source of sediments
•
Animal vagrancy
•
Are habitats that harbor biological diversity
•
Tourism-related activities
•
Have a recreational value
•
Deforestation and burn-off, among others
•
Act as topographical barriers that prevent the destruction of homes
Source: PNUD, Honduras. Cruz Samanta, Informe de Avance sobre Ordenanzas Municipales en Santa Rosa de Aguán – Conservación de dunas y zonas de alto riesgo no mitigable. Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
28
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
Claudina and Alondra
Facilitating the dunes’ natural regeneration process. To achieve the natural regeneration of the dunes, certain measures were identified, including the reduction of human, animal, and vehicular traffic impact on the dunes. The Garifuna community, through the Committee and with UNDP technical assistance, agreed upon, reviewed, and disseminated conservation work design proposals for the dunes deemed to be most fragile and most affected by traffic. Today a set of three footbridges facilitate the conservation and rehabilitation of the coastal dunes through spatial organizing, facilitating beach access from homes, and preventing damage to the geomorphology and vegetation from foot traffic. These footbridges adapt to the topography, sand transport dynamic, vegetation, and changing geomorphology of the dunes. As assessed by the
community, the footbridges, in addition to their conservation role, facilitate access by the general population to the areas in Santa Rosa with greater foot traffic, allow those with reduced mobility to walk to the beach, and increase the collective self-esteem through the beautification and the value of the unique environment. “Those dunes over there? They weren’t there, it wasn’t there until now when it’s taking shape because we let it be, we avoid walking there (…). So for me that is the most important (…), to protect my community, because it’s protecting us! When bad weather hits, really hard, and the dunes are already really big, where will that bad weather hit? The dunes! It won’t even have the chance to cross them! That’s why we need to protect them.” Mayra
29
For the Love of the Ocean
Reforestation: Restoring the Natural Environment. With dune protection, in 2013 came the reforestation of critical areas in the community. Reforestation or vegetation restoration is a complementary method to strengthen dune vegetation areas that have been burned or cut and to reinforce the vegetation located along the roads. By strengthening vegetation degradation, the dunes are able to regain their ecological functions, be more resilient to climate change and more resistant to hydrometeorological events, and maintain the environmental services utilized by the community.
realized it, this beach here was well-forested, big grapevines like this! Look… big grapes alone the whole shore! But the ocean was over there (…). I wasn’t going to cut it (…) because they told me ‘if I see you cut one stick there, you’ll be answering to me,’ they said at my house and I couldn’t cut sticks, because who would believe that the beach would be dismantled like that, because it didn’t used to be like that, it used to be full of grapevines, icacos (…)”
One part was carried out by the Fundación San Alonso One of the women’s group participants states: Rodriguez [the San Alonso Rodriguez Foundation] in “What I liked was the reforestation because when association with the Committee and the other part those coconut palms begin to grow, we’ll be has occurred naturally. According to Porfirio: protected even by air, while right now we don’t “There’s the result, look (…) coconuts, almonds have any protection. We’ll be protected when are being planted, they are good trees to plant those coconut palms and that fruit that we have because they end up covering (…), the dunes over there begin to grow, then they’ll even protect are well protected (…). We must do everything the dunes. We are reforesting.” possible to not destroy it because before when I
Dune system of Santa Rosa de Aguán
30
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
Demolition of Debris After Mitch, some debris from homes affected by the storm and later abandoned remained on the dunes. The UNDP technical advisor determined that it was necessary to remove the structures and the obstacles that were impeding the dune formation dynamic, as well as the clearing of structures that should not be in the dune area. This contributed to the increase in dune formation rate and in their rise in height. The demolition and clearing of debris was carried out by the community. The Committee hired a group of people from Aguán, which carried out the demolition of eleven concrete structures that were located between the dunes and the shore and had impeded the natural dune regeneration. It is anticipated that this will cause the sand to begin to move to new spaces, accumulating and generating dune growth, and that vegetation will regenerate naturally over the long-term. The waste from the demolitions was used
as foundations for the construction of the community pier and as fillers for home improvement projects. These works and actions were supervised by the technical advisors. “We were there working, we worked for about 15 days in that job in order to clear everything, because it needed to be cleaned, because that was the only way vegetation could grow there because if there are rocks then it can’t (…). The demolitions were done, they began to do them because… vegetation couldn’t grow because there was a lot, a lot of cement there, a lot of houses, there were a lot of houses there after Mitch… so then we had to do the demolitions so that there would be space for the vegetation to grow back there. That was why they did the demolitions.” Porfirio.
Debris from the homes destroyed by Mitch.
31
For the Love of the Ocean
To Collect and Keep Water for Human Consumption.8 The scarcity and contamination of water has been highlighted by the seawater intrusion in the aquifer due to the resource’s over-exploitation, coastal erosion, the low capacity for water recharge due to the deviation of the Aguán River, the rainfall deficit, and contamination from unregulated septic tanks. In the urban area and La Planada, the extraction of underground water is the most used water supply. In the urban area, there is an official count of 156 hand pumps. Although some are public, the majority are private. The families with greater economic resources install electric motors with supply and storage systems. La Planada has problems with water storage, given that the population does not have sufficient economic resources to install hand pumps. La Planada is made up of about 70 families, 65 of which draw water from three public wells and only three have private pumps. This situation is time-consuming by requiring families to haul their water that is also poor quality.
After evaluating the situation in Santa Rosa de Aguan, the installation of individual systems was rejected as the capacity for individual water abstraction is low and the insufficient conditions of the homes for supporting the installation of roofs. A community water abstraction system was then proposed, with criterion of shared use and equitable distribution. The rainwater abstraction system on roofs is composed of an Aluzinc roof with galvanized gutters. The water is collected and supplied by the gutters that go on the lowest borders of the roof where the water tends to accumulate before falling to the ground and is later stored in tanks. The reserve capacity is three months and can provide for three families. This design can be attached to a house or be put in patios. According to these parameters, four stations of rainwater harvesting have been installed.
Rainwater abstraction systems
8 According to UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2012). Design of Water Capture and Storage Systems for the Community Santa Rosa de Aguán. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. 32
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
Land - Use Planning In the origins of Santa Rosa de Aguán, land use planning was a natural or spontaneous process in which families situated themselves where they considered it to be most appropriate, valuing, among other factors, the proximity of friends or family, easy access to water or roads, etc. The resulting disorderly land occupation processes increased and as the years went by, vulnerability and risk also increased. These conditions raised the need to analyze and create a system of landuse planning. The land-use planning process meant raising awareness with the authorities and the public about its importance, developing a land characterization, proposing an urban structure, and agreeing with the community and the authorities on the issuing of a set of municipal land use ordinances. The first task was the participative diagnostic of the territory and the creation of a vision of the territory. The next logical step was to create an Action Plan and zoning.
The assessment included an analysis of the root of the municipality’s main problems and the consequences and potential in each area. Key actors were determined for the territory and were classified according to their influence and importance, exercises were carried out to understand the Garifuna territorial identity, and the main factors that have influenced the land transformation and have hindered its development. The last step was to outline the territorial options, where maps were updated and the different areas were identified. The action plan that would allow the transformation of the territory was then drawn up. One of these key actions was the issuing of land use ordinances, especially the Santa Rosa de Aguán Dune Conservation Ordinance and the Unmitigable High Risk Areas Ordinance. With the backing of the mayor and the support team, the ordinances that regulate the materials that the community considers important were passed.
The land characterization was organized in accordance with their administrative, social, economic, and environmental framework as well as their threats and risks, considering the implications of climate change.
33
For the Love of the Ocean
The Way Forward Today there is considerable concern for the fragility, pover ty, and loss of cultural heritage of the Garifuna community. There also exists a firm conviction that environmental management has been an influencing factor in the deterioration of the community’s living conditions. In that regard, disasters are the expression of their vulnerabilities and limitations.
8
manner. With the right effor t and coordination of social processes of information and collectivization, it is possible to begin the regeneration of strategic natural resources in the shor t term. However, it is impor tant to remember that the continuity of the results demands a focus on the long term that revitalizes and increases key land resources. The experience of Santa Rosa de Aguán is a lesson for many Latin American communities that face coastal decline. The par ticipatory practices of sociocultural organization, the restoration of dunes and the natural environment, and the application of technology to offer clean water for human consumption are lessons that the Garifuna of Aguán now proudly offer to our region.
There is also a great dilemma in the aguaneño village. Emigration is considered by many people to be the only alternative to individually solve their problems. At the end of this systematization, Mayra, one of the female community leaders and who had a very impor tant role in this account, left Santa Rosa de Aguán and for many days no one knew where she went. The constant depar ture of community members causes great pain for those Although there is still a long way to go, the foundation of community development has been who emigrate and those who stay behind. reestablished in Santa Rosa de Aguán. As Mayra The process of recuperation and climatic and Mercedes say: adaptation in Santa Rosa de Aguán is not for the “Soon we’re going to reforest, we already shor t-term. Rather, it requires the transformation began with the coconut palms and some fruit of the conditions of extreme pover ty and a much plants as well, we already began over there and more active role of the government and society we will keep going until we finish… everything to protect and empower those who are voiceless here we’re going to keep going until over and defenseless against the overwhelming forces of there [the beach area] and then we’re going climate variability. to continue on to the village so it is protected over here and on the other side (…). We are However,the experience in the project titled“Exper ts, going to work to see an improvement and I’m public institutions, mayors and communities highly really proud because I’ve learned so much! vulnerable to climate change have increased and (…). We can continue to raise awareness with strengthened their tools and adaptive capacities” community members so that they too can be reflects that climatic adaptation is possible in social a par t of what we’ve begun and what we’ve and natural environments as complex as those in learned.” Santa Rosa de Aguán. With institutional presence and technical assistance, communities par ticipate “Many people saw Samantha taking water and are fully capable of creating adaptive strategies samples but didn’t know why… and here’s and improving their environment in a striking
34
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguán Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
the result, there’s the result (…). You need to visit them, house by house, to tell them that those sheds they see there with tanks are to our benefit so that we don’t keep drinking water from this pump, because this water is contaminated with the septic tank so close and that water has been hur ting us, Lord knows why it hasn’t killed us.” Ricardo, remembering his experiences, puts forward the following proposal: “Be strong (…) and maybe tell them, the new generation, to at least have faith in themselves and to (…) not neglect, to not neglect the protection they owe themselves, their family, their children, and everyone (…). It would be good, then, to explain things, if possible, periodically, to the youth, to the future generations.”
35
Bibliography Climate Change National Office, SERNA y PNUD (2000). Segunda Comunicación Nacional del Gobierno de Honduras ante la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre Cambio Climático. http://cambioclimaticohn.org/uploaded/content/article/1232125897. pdf U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID). (2002). Fifty-Year Storm-Tide Flood-Inundation Maps for Santa Rosa de Aguán, Honduras. Washington, D.C. UNDP Honduras. Argeñal. (2010), Variabilidad Climática y Cambio Climático en Honduras. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean Secretariat, Technical Program of Identity Development and Well-being. PRODEI. (2011). Proyecto Creación de una Red de Sistema de Alerta Temprana en las Comunidades Garifunas, SATG. http://www.fondoindigena.org/proyectos/php/xrecepcion2.php?codigo_ proy=CICA/HON/07 UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2011). Adaptación de Cultivos a la Salinidad en Santa Rosa de Aguán. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2011). Diseño Participativo y Supervisión de Obras de Conservación de Sistema Dunar en Santa Rosa de Aguán. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2011). Informe Campaña Sensibilizándome a la adaptación al Cambio Climático. Santa Rosa de Aguán, Colón. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2011). Informe Escenario de Comportamiento de Dunas en el Marco de Cambio Climático Santa Rosa de Aguán, Colón. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2011). Propuesta de Ordenamiento Territorial Santa Rosa de Aguán, Colón. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2012). Diseño de Sistemas de Captación y Almacenamiento de Agua para la Comunidad de Santa Rosa de Aguán. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2012). Informe Campaña de Sensibilización sobre Cambio Climático y Medidas de Adaptación. Santa Rosa de Aguán, Colón.Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2012). Informe Campaña de Sensibilización sobre Sistemas de Alerta Temprana (SAT). Santa Rosa de Aguán, Colón. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2012). Ordenanzas Municipales en Santa Rosa de AguánConservación de Dunas y Zonas de Alto Riesgo no Mitigable. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. UNDP Honduras. Cruz, S. (2012). Talleres sobre Cambio Climático, Adaptación al Cambio Climático y Planificación para el Desarrollo con Enfoque de Género, Reducción del Riesgo de Desastres y Adaptación al Cambio Climático. Santa Rosa de Aguán, Colón. Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Garifuna traditional dance, “Yurume”
For the Love of the Ocean
38
Chronicle of the Santa Rosa de Aguรกn Experience in Adapting to Climate Change
Empowered lives. Resilient nations.
United Nations Development Program Casa de las Naciones Unidas, P.O. Box 976 Col. Palmira, Tegucigalpa Honduras www.hn.undp.org
39