ABSTRACT
Southern Honduras is a triangular-shaped region covering approximately 5,775 square kilometers in the southern-most part of the country along the Gulf of Fonseca (Figure 2.1). It is located primarily in tropical dry and subtropical moist forest zones and encompasses a coastal ribbon of mangrove and wetlands, a lowland plain, and rugged foothills and mountains (Holdridge 1962). Steep slopes, irregular precipitation, and easily eroded soils make the area extremely susceptible to environmental destruction as well as highly risky for agriculture (USAID 1982; SECPLAN/USAID 1989).
