Paskaia Ab

The Swedish company Paskaia is helping to reduce the inequalities faced by Miskito indigenous peoples of Honduras by supporting the implementation of sustainable forest practices. These practices also lead to the sequestration of carbon and contribute to combating climate change. Paskaia means future in the local language Miskito. Mosquitia is located on the coast of the Caribbean Sea and hosts Hondura’s last large intact area of tropical rainforest forest. Mosquitia is also one of Honduras’s poorest regions, and it is inhabited by the Miskito indigenous peoples. Historically this group has been socio-economically marginalised, and this situation has been amplified in remote regions, such as Mosquitia, on account of poor access to adequate healthcare and education. In 2015, apx one million hectares were demarcated and titled to MASTA, the Misikto’s territorial authority, Unity of the Miskito People. MASTA was also mandated to oversee the land use and defend their territory from ranchers, drug traffickers and palm oil and petroleum companies. The Miskitu’s newly won property rights over large tracts of their ancestral territories can be instrumental in securing a sustainable livelihood for over 60 people. However, much of this land has been seriously degraded on account of centuries of unregulated forestry and livestock production. Climate financing for nature-based projects has enabled many indigenous groups in Mesoamerica to advance territorial claims and secure sustainable livelihoods. In a joint venture, Paskaia and MASTA aim to support the Miskito in the restoration of forest areas. The goal is to build the Miskito’s capacity to implement sustainable forest practices, and thereby secure their sustainable livelihoods through the provision of certified carbon credits and other co-benefits. In so doing, this initiative will also support Honduras’s commitment to 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by contributing to combating climate change.