American Bird Conservancy
2020-21 Donation: $30,000
American Bird Conservancy (ABC) works throughout the Americas to protect biodiversity. Our donation will help ABC transition the economy in the Moskitia region of Honduras from cattle to cacao — slowing deforestation, preventing watershed pollution, preserving ancestral lands, and providing farmers with an alternative source of income to livestock.
Why They’re Climate Smart
The wilderness in the Moskitia region of Honduras has declined by over 30 percent since 2001 as the pressure to convert forests to pastures is immense — nearly 90 percent of the deforestation is driven by the demand for beef cattle — and farmers often need to defend their ancestral lands from illegal encroachment.
Over the last four years, ABC and their in-country partners have implemented conservation agreements with over 60 households, and introduced climate-smart, sustainable land use practices such as silvopastoral cattle systems (i.e. letting cows picnic in the forest) and agroforestry. In addition, they have helped reclaim over 800 square kilometers of forest from illegal invasion.
Now, ABC wants to take the next step and introduce farmers to an alternative income stream: cacao. By teaching farmers climate-smart farming techniques, ABC will be able to tap into the cacao harvesting networks in the region — which currently supply chocolatiers that are keen to link their product with climate-smart practices — and provide farmers with an income stream that is more lucrative than cattle and clearing more forest for pasture.