TEGUCIGALPA – U.S. Ambassador James Nealon, an avid birder, traveled to Cerro Azul Meambar National Park (PANACAM) on October 18 to inaugurate two bird watching towers. The U.S. Government partnered with the park to install the bird-watching towers and three lookouts, and has improved the hiking trails in an effort to improve the infrastructure for visitors.
Ambassador Nealon was “struck by the beauty of this area, and with the construction of these towers, Honduras and this park enter into the big leagues of ecotourism in the world.” He referred to the fact that many countries, and Central America as a region, are taking advantage of their natural beauty and biological diversity and that “Honduras can enter the big leagues with the good news that there are nearly 20 groups that will arrive here for bird watching, because they don’t have similar opportunities at home.”
Honduras has an enormous potential in avi-tourism, with over 750 bird species including the rare quetzal and beautiful toucan and scarlet macaw. Because of its close location to Lake Yojoa and the Santa Barbara Mountains, PANACAM hosts over 300 bird species over the course of the year.
With the installation of the bird watching towers, the number of visitors to PANACAM is expected to increase to over 10,000, which in turn will benefit the surrounding municipalities and help cover costs for protection and conservation of this beautiful resource.
