Pico Bonito in Honduras. Photo by Rhett A. Butler (May 2008)
Parque Nacional Pico Bonito is the largest protected area in Honduras after the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve. Spanning over 7800 feet (2400 meters) in elevation and capped by the 7900-foot-high (2435 m) Pico Bonito, the park ranges from humid tropical broadleaf forest to high cloud forests.
The park is perhaps the best place in Honduras to see endangered wildlife and is well known for its spectacular waterfalls.
Getting to Pico Bonito. Most travelers reach Pico Bonito by flying from San Pedro Sula (the commerical capital of Honduras) to La Ceiba. The park is just inland of La Ceiba.
In 1987 the Honduran government decreed all land above 6,000 feet as park territory.
Rainforest conservation: a year in review
(12/27/2009) 2009 may prove to be an important turning point for tropical forests. Lead by Brazil, which had the lowest extent of deforestation since at least the 1980s, global forest loss likely declined to its lowest level in more than a decade. Critical to the fall in deforestation was the global financial crisis, which dried up credit for forest-destroying activities and contributed to a crash in commodity prices, an underlying driver of deforestation.