Lourdes and Neto |
| Cast of Characters |
| When we originally realized the significant positive
impact this film could provide in helping preserving one of the last great natural parks
in the world, and revealing some historical facts of a practically unknown civilization, I
knew there would be many organizations involved. However, I never expected to find over 30
agencies, foundations, and government bodies that would already have some involvement, or
a direct interest in the Region. The numbers of people I have been dealing with outside of
those many organizations are just as staggering. May I point out that all Members of SEPH are volunteers and no members have received any monetary compensation for their efforts. The same goes for SEPHA. That is not to say that they will never accept recompense for time spent, or hard cost recovery. All the current members I would consider philanthropists, even those without money continue to give their time. After months of internet research, I headed off to Tegucigalpa to represent my former group SEPHA, to the IHAH (Anthropological and historical Institute) and explain our project, goals and methods to them, in an effort to obtain their official involvement. On my first day walking to the Institute, I was startled in the street by a street boy who remembered me from my Island home of Utila. I was in a hurry and did not care to speak with him. He was insistent that I come into his house to meet his brother. Fate prevailed. Meeting his musician brother Neto, turned out to be the most significant link in my research. Neto was the grandson of a highly respected former congressman in Honduras. Netos’ musical talents and charming manner have acquainted this extrovert with many of Tegucigalpa’s top socialites, politicians, bohemians and scholars. While by no means wealthy, Neto volunteered his time generously to the cause of our research in the interest of Honduras. He was soon to become one of the founding members of SEPH, and also a close personal friend. Shortly thereafter, he introduced me to a lady named Lourdes. She had much enthusiasm for the project, and personally knew several historians that were highly knowledgeable about our intriguing subject. Here is a shot of two of SEPH's founding members. |
Lourdes and Neto |
| Many of the discoveries we have made have not come
from hiking in the bush, nor from pouring over vast volumes in libraries, but by talking
with older historians in the capitol, as well as several people engaged in a highly
questionable practice of art dealership. Lourdes had arranged for me to meet with two of
the greatest minds of Honduras. Leticia de Oyuela, is known even to most high school
students in the country as a renowned author and art historian. While she is quite old,
her mind is a sharp as a tack, and she provided much information, which was mainly the
names of others who knew the area and its history. She also detailed past events regarding
previous discoveries in the region, complete with newspaper references, author titles, and
dates. |
Leticia de Oyuela |
| Leticia has a close friend and neighbor, Don Julio
Rodriguez Ayestas, who was at one time the director of the National Archives. He was also
a friend of the famous cartographer and explorer Jesus Aguilar Paz. In 1950 Senor Ayestas
wrote a paper entitled "La Ciudad del Mono-Dios". It was a reprinting of an
earlier paper by Theodore Morde in 1939 entitled "Los Misterios de la Mosquitia
Hondurena, La Ciudad el Mono-Dios." Theodore Mordes’ expedition was sponsored by
the Heyes foundation and Museum of American Indians in New York. This topic highly
interested Don Julio, and he studied the resources available to him, and retained much
information that never made it into print. |
Don Julio Rodriguez Ayestas |
| Both of these living treasures of Honduran history
had much to offer in the way of information, including a list of several people that it
would be necessary to go through to meet with someone who had actually been to many of the
sites. Their advice was to go about the project with as few people involved as possible. I
wish we had taken that advice. Dona Leticia and Don Julio have both been voted honorary
SEPH members for their limitless patriotism, love of Honduras, and their desire to have
the true story of this topic become public. I look forward to telling them this
personally. Someone who also exemplifies those same characteristics is SEPH's historical consultant, Wendy Griffin. |
Wendy Griffin |
| Wendy has been living and working in Honduras for
many years. She is an anthropologist, and has done much research on the Indians of
NE Honduras, including writing a currently unpublished book by that title. Her work many
times revolves around her bilingual teaching skills. She has written many papers on the
traditions and legends of the areas Indians. She regularly writes articles for the English
language Honduran newspaper, Honduras This Week. When I told her about the project she
hopped on a plane and headed back down from the U.S. to make sure we get the story right.
For more about her qualifications see Wendys’ resume.
We’re proud to have her on the team.
|
Armando Aleman Zuniga |
Mr. Zuniga and Neto |
| Armando is a civil
engineer for Honduras, as was his father. With road building in the
family blood, Armando has always been fascinated with the legends of
Ciudad Blanca and the paved roads the Natives built thousands of years
ago, many of which can still be seen today. He told us he had discovered
the path, including the river and ocean systems which connected the
Indians of Northern and Southern America. He immediately placed his
finger on a map and described his well founded hypothesis. From what
I know of the area, he was right on the money. He is a valuable resource
and another SEPH volunteer. |
| Of the many lead agencies whose goals are the
protection, advancement and controlled development of the area, MOPOWI (progress in the
Mosquitia) seems to have made the most progress. They are a very honorable group, always
diligently working on the many projects to stop the destruction of the region and develop
programs that will benefit the region. MOPOWI is involved with much more than the
Biosphere as they work with the entire Mosquitia, which is a vast region. They seem to
have no ulterior motives and are supported my many other agencies. The director is a man
of unquestionable integrity, Sr. Oswaldo Mungiua. |
Sr. Oswaldo Mungiua |
| The organization that has the most to do with the
protection of the Biosphere is BRP (Manejo y Proteccion de la Biosfera del Rio Platano). A
representative of this group proudly announced that they held the conditional dominio
pleno for the park. It seems to me that the job of park management currently belongs to
the German people, who have generously offered to provide funds for its protection. This
management duty is shared with COHDEFOR, the Honduran government body in charge of the
forestry of the nation. With many abbreviations, it is difficult to determine who all the
players in this group are. GFA, GtZ, and KfW are all, along with AFE-COHDEFOR, partners in
BRP. Harald Erichsen is an intelligent businessman who is the Principal Technical Assessor
(jefe) of BRP. He was gracious enough to speak with me regarding the project on several
occasions.
The group has enlisted some of the most knowledgeable authorities on the area including Peter Herlihy and Juan Cardona. BRP currently helps finance the efforts of MOPOWI. The current director of AFE-COHDEFOR is Sr. Antonio Ortez, who has apparently held the position before. His nickname in the capitol is "Zorro," hopefully from marking old growth giants with "Do Not Cut". The COHDEFOR representative that may be working with BRP is Gloria Zelaya, a very familiar family name in regard to both the Honduras and Nicaragua Moskitia. BRP has well over US$10,000,000 to attempt to save the biosphere. This is no small task, due to the recent immigrations into the reserve. They have recently completed and distributed a plan for the Biosphere which includes relocation of some populations. This plan should go into full effect next year.
There are many facets of the park which require immediate attention including slash and burn cattle ranchers, endangered species habitats, the presence of historical artifacts, logging, mining, polluting, and construction within the protected area. This area has been named a Honduran archaeological reserve since 1960, and a National Park since 1969. In 1980 this area was named The Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve. It was the first such biosphere to be named in the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organizations’ "Man in the Biosphere Program" (MAB). In 1982 it was accepted on the world heritage list. That was over 15 years ago, and still there is almost no protection for the park. As SEPH members have had two recent expeditions to the Biosphere, we were able to see large tracts of old growth forest going up in flames. The rest of the country did not appear to have as many large forest fires. At this time the airport in the capitol (where we think), was shut down for about ten days. During a four day period all of the International Airports in Honduras were closed due to smoke. Why is the park burning? Lack of education and perhaps because of under or ill management. There are many well intentioned contributors, foundations and funds that appear to be involved in some way with of the effort to save the park, including the World Wild Life Fund, The Nature Conservancy, The Tear Fund, USAID, the Peace Corps, the Smithsonian (thank goodness), and many others.
A good friend of SEPH is Edgardo Benitez. |
Edgardo Benitez |
| He is a Tawahka Suma Indian, and heads up the
Asociacion Asang Luana, which represents the interests of the Tawahka Nation. They say the
name Tawahka means first men. His people live along one of the park boundaries, the Rio
Patuca in "a delicate balance with nature". I believe they speak a Chibcha
stock. Edgardo likes the idea of a film about the area, and will help. They have
several threats from approaching "civilization" such as a proposed grand dam
upriver and diminishing water quality. Edgardo has been a major influence on the effort to
create the large Tawahka Biosphera that is adjacent to the Rio Platano Biosphere. These
two parks are part of a plan to keep a protected "track" for endangered animals
that runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans in a North-South alignment. This belt
has been referred to as Paseo Pantera (Path of the Panther) by a consortium of
international conservation agencies.
|
Don Herman Alan Padgette |
| Don Herman Alen Padgette is known to many Hondurenos
as he has had a radio talk show in the country for years. He truly seems like the man I
would want to have in charge. The ministry of Culture is new to him, and he seem to be
busy all day enlightening himself with some of the cultural aspects of his new position
through the many contacts I saw go through his office. His job is complex and entails
overseeing many areas of the Honduran government such as the National Institute of
Anthropology and History. He was relaxed when he permitted our first meeting. Attending
for SEPH was Neto, Lourdes, and Ted. Making it the last appointment of the day he was able
to talk with us for some time about the film we propose to shoot, and the safeguards we
would employ to prevent increased looting of the area. We told him of our plans to avoid
the use of place names when showing areas with an anthropological interest. While he is
new to the area of problems in the Biosphere, I’m sure the Hondurans can rely on the
decisions of Herman Allen Padgette. He said he liked our project, and will recommend its
approval with the associated government bodies.
SEPH's goal of non-invasive exploration and preservation of the natural and archaeological heritage of Honduras has attracted a lot of interest and offers of assistance. As other individuals and groups contribute to the work and the knowledge base of SEPH, we will be adding more members. Keep checking back for new member information.
There are many organizations that have met with SEPH members and are involved in our goals. Below is a partial list. |
| ALDEA GLOBAL ASANG LAUNA ASSOCIACION DE PROMOTORES ECOTURISMO DE HONDURAS BANADESA BAY ISLANDS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION BIODIVERSIDAD DE HONDURAS CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY CARIBEAN CONSERVATION CORPORATION CENTER FOR TROPICAL CONSERVATION COHDEFOR COLLECTIVARTES COMITE VIGILANTE DE TIERRA COMUNICA DEPARTMENTO DE AREAS PROTEGIDAS Y VIDA SIVESTRE. DIRECCION DE EVALUATION Y CONTROL AMBIENTAL DORIS STONE FOUNDATION THE EXPLORERS CLUB FONDO HONDURENO DE INVERSION SOCIAL FUNDACION HONDURENA DE AMBIENTE Y DESARROLLO FUNDACION WATA FOUNDACION RIO PLATANO GERMAN BANK OF RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT GEORGE GUSTOV HEYE CENTER GRUPO ECOLOGICO DE OLANCHO THE HEYE FOUNDATION HONDURAN ECOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION HONDURAN ORGANIZATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE ENVIORMENT (OHDA) HONDURAS DIRECCION GENERAL DE RECURSES NATURALES RENOVABLES HONDURAS SIEMPRE VERDE IHAH IHCAFE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON MONUMENTS AND SITES (ICOMOS) MAB, CENTRO AGRONOMICA TROPICAL DE INVESTIGATION Y ENSANANZA MENEJO Y PROTECTICCION DE LA BIOSFERA DEL LA RIO PLATANO MINISTERIO DE REURSOS NATURALES Y MEDIO AMBIENTE MOPAWI NATIONAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHIVES NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF HONDURAS (UNAH) THE NATURE CONSERVANCY NSF OVERSEAS ECONOMIC COOPERATION FUND (OECF) RARE REHDES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY THE TEAR FUND UNITED NATIONS (UNESCO) U.S. EMBASSY UNITED STATES DEPATRMENT OF INTERIOR USAID HONDURAS US-PEACE CORPS-HONDURAS WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY THE WORLD BANK WORLD CONSERVATION MONITERING CENTER (WCMC) WORLD CONSERVATION UNION (IUCN) WORLD NEIGHBORS WWF-US |
