Forest Governance Project: agroforestry communities, Honduras
The Forest Governance Project, financed by the European Union, is developed in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, by ...
The Honduran Muskitia, located in the eastern part of Honduras, has historically been inhabited by Indigenous Peoples; mostly by miskitus; Garifunas, Tawahkas and the Pech people. These people, unlike the Garifuna, who settled down after the colony, have coexisted in this region. Beginning in 1859, through the Cruz-Wyke Treaty, England yeilded control of the region to the government of Honduras, and the possession of lands and territories of the indigenous people who inhabited the region was violated by the State.
MASTA (Moskitia Asla Takanka), founded in 1976, is an organization of the Miskitu people in Honduras. Throughout its existence, it has worked to defend and fulfill the collective and individual rights of its people. Currently, 12 Indigenous Territorial Councils have titled approximately 1,400,000 hectares of territories, distributed in 215 Miskitu communities that are the base of MASTA. This represents an advance in the claim of the right of the indigenous people to manage their lands and territories.
Through CONPAH (Confederation of Autonomous Peoples of Honduras), MASTA works in REDD Plus and VPA-FLEGT process, bringing together the 9 indigenous peoples of Honduras, and working in the areas of prior consultation and the right to land tenure, attending the different conflicts in the territories as land grabbing, expansive livestock and deforestation.