Protected Water, Strengthened Communities

Fundación Comunitaria Puca – Honduras

In western Honduras, more than 2,500 families depend on water that flows from the watersheds of the Caje and Caral rivers, within the Puca Wildlife Refuge. Protecting those sources is not a task for the government alone, nor for any single organization: it is a commitment the communities themselves have chosen to take on.

Through the Fondo Verde —a water compensation mechanism supported by Fundación Comunitaria Puca— local Water Management Boards, communities, and municipal governments make voluntary contributions to conserve and restore strategic water recharge areas.

They didn’t wait for someone to come and solve the problem: they built the solution from within.

The results are concrete and powerful. Approximately 125 acres of land have been acquired through an investment of over USD 270,000, funded 85% by community contributions.

Those areas now protect ecosystems essential to biodiversity and the well-being of the entire territory.

The impact extends beyond the Puca Wildlife Refuge. In 2023, the project earned second place in the Habitat and Conservation category at the Premios Verdes, and in 2026 it was selected among the top 500 projects on the platform, advancing through final evaluation stages. Organizations and communities from across Honduras and beyond have visited the RVS Puca to learn about the model and explore how to replicate it.

Because when a community shows it can organize to protect its water, it becomes a reference point for everyone still searching for the way.