Honduras - San Fernando de Omoa Fortress

"The San Fernando Fortress is located in the bay of Omoa on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. In the municipality of Omoa, there are altitudinal differences that go from zero at sea level to 2,242 meters above sea level in the Sierra de Omoa, which causes climatic variations in precipitation, temperature and relative humidity1.

This region is part of the Sula Valley, which, in pre-Hispanic times, was inhabited to the west by peoples belonging to the Mayan ethnic group, and to the east, by the Tolupán ethnic group, a group that still survives in Honduras. This area was part of the trade circuits of the Mesoamerican economy, and was one of the main suppliers of cacao to the Yucatán peninsula2. The Toqueguas were also located on the north coast in the Indian village of Chivana between Puerto Caballos and Omoa3. From the end of the 15th century, the surviving peoples continued to exist as indigenous villages in some cases until the 19th century, several of which were close to Omoa. This was the socioeconomic context that Hispanics encountered at the beginning of the 16th century, when they arrived in Honduras and began the conquest. Later, the Port of Omoa was established and consolidated as one of the most significant in the Central American region..."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Honduras - El Gigante Rockshelter

 "The El Gigante rockshelter is located on the southwestern part of Central Honduras over the Estanzuela River valley floor at a height of 1,300 MASL, allowing for a panoramic view of its surroundings. It is a completely enclosed site with a restricted entrance, given that the lower rim of the shelter is some 3-4 m. above the slope leading to it. Since the vault protects the shelter’s interior from rain and wind, the sediments inside have accumulated through thousands of years of use. This peculiar situation has preserved a long sequence of occupation in a very dry micro-environment where not only stone artifacts have been registered, but also remnants of woven fibres and leather. In fact, El Gigante has one of the largest collections of preserved basketry and textiles in Mesoamerica. The 10,300-year-old cordage is the oldest directly dated perishable artifact from Mesoamerica. Also human remains are present and a variety of bones from faunal species (dear, armadillo, rabbit, crabs), as well as plant remains (hog plums, avocado, soursop, and wild beans), and in the most recent phases, also cobs of early domesticated corn..."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Honduras - Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve (Extension)

As noted above, the existing property was recognized as having World Heritage merits due to its significant block of contiguous humid broadleaf forest, the coverage ofan entire and major river from its source to its mouth on the Atlantic Coast and the exceptional diversity of the landscape mosaic in the coastal plains. The nominated area builds upon that rationale, while substantially adding surface area and ecosystem diversity. Compared to the existing property, the most obvious difference of the nominated area is its much larger scale of some 630,000 hectares, an enormous area by any standard and in particular by the standards of a relatively small country. Unlike the existing property, which included some 120,000 hectares of contiguous dense broadleaf forest, the nominated area includes the vast majority of that entire forest block, some 210,000 hectares fully coinciding with the core zone of the biosphere reserve.