Ecotourism has been embraced by a number of developing nations hoping to improve their economies

in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible. The Cayos Cochinos Marine Protected Area

(MPA) includes a set of two small islands (Cayo Menor and Cayo Mayor) and thirteen coral cays off the

north coast of Honduras, located at the southern most point of the Meso-American Barrier Reef (see

Figures A and B for maps of the MPA; HCRF 2006). The area offers some of the country’s best natural

and cultural attractions: white sand beaches, eco-adventure marine and terrestrial tourism, and Garifuna

“living culture.” In 2005, a resource management plan was developed by the MPA’s managing body, the

Honduran Coral Reef Fund, with assistance from the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF). This plan

included a series of regulations on the extraction of marine resources that would eliminate the possibility

of fishing for livelihood; ecotourism was suggested as a sustainable development option for the local

Afroindigenous Garifuna communities that have historically relied on the area for fishing.3 The Cayos

Cochinos MPA waters are home to a rich variety of fish, lobster, and conch and have served as the site for

Garifuna subsistence fishing since their arrival in the early 1800s.

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