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Writer's pictureRoatan Marine Park

Big Steps to Protect our Reef

Updated: Nov 24, 2021

Our presence at sea is a constant and we aim to cover the largest possible area of the Island to generate trust in the community. In order to improve our patrols and coverage, in September we added a new boat named "Bella Bean" .

We would like to extend our gratitude to the long term supporters of both the RMP and the Roatan Community who generously donated this boat. Also Peter Schaefer and several others who enabled the purchase of the engine. We will be able to increase the efforts to protect our reefs mainly on the south side, since this vessel will patrol the Coxen Hole area, Mahogany Bay, protecting the Cordelia Banks and all its biodiversity.


Likewise, we continue to collect data from all patrols through the application of the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART). We are very proud to be part of one of the six protected areas that use SMART in Honduras and the only one successfully implementing it in a marine area as complex as the Bay Islands National Marine Park.



Our most outstanding results in July-September quarter:


281 patrols have been carried out which are equivalent to 16,520.7 km around the island of Roatán.


In the quarter from July to September, 39 incidents have been reported:


- Incidents of illegal fishing

- Mangrove cut incidents

- Jet ski incidents

- Construction of docks and tourism development

- Anchoring incidents on the seabed

- Petrochemical pollution incidents

- Removal or damage to seagrasses

- Incident of damage to the marine infrastructure of the park



During these months, the Naval Force with the support of RMP has seized 224 individuals of protected species such as:


- Queen Counch

- Lobster

- Parrotfish and others

A reef without the Marine Park rangers,

is a reef in danger


Written by: Gabriel Banegas, RMP Patrols Coordinator

📸 Credits: Antonio Busiello


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