Partners of the Americas has been involved with several successful Youth Conservation Corps Programs throughout the hemisphere.

The Honduras Conservation Corps (HCC), a program of Partners of the Americas, worked through the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The work of HCC began in response to disasters in Honduras caused by the destructive Hurricane Mitch. Conservation Corps made an important contribution to the rebuilding of disaster areas in Honduras by providing trained volunteers to work on specific environmental projects, while at the same time enabling citizen volunteers to become environmental action leaders in their communities. The geographic focus of HCC was those regions most affected by Mitch including the upper watershed areas of the Ulua, Humuya, Choluteca, Chamelecon and Aguan rivers and in the buffer zones and nuclear zones of the Honduran national parks.

HCC had two principal components; work camps organized by the National HCC Program and year-round activities organized by the Local Corps. The work camps, which combined work, intellectual training, and environmental recreation, ran for one week to a month and were organized around specific environmental projects. Thirty or so volunteers resided in a community to carry out work projects defined and supervised by reserve administrators, municipal officials, and/or volunteer technicians. By the end of year 2000, 300 youth (ages 16 and up) had participated in these camps working with communities in the reconstruction of damaged watersheds, planting trees, repairing roads to bring goods from rural areas to the city, in the reconstruction of retention walls, and cleaning and establishing trails. Volunteers also worked with subsistence farmers in fragile areas to promote the practice of environmentally friendly agricultural techniques.

From the work camps emerged leaders prepared to form Local Corps in their own areas that worked throughout the year to put in practice the skills learned during the camps and continued working on programs to protect the environment. These local Corps also offered support of environmental work to governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations as well as help national park administrators identify the geographic areas and design of reconstruction projects. On the way towards the goal of providing nationwide coverage, Local Corps were formed in San Marcos de Colon, Comayagua, Siguatepeque, La Esperanza, Gracias, Yoro, Tela and Omoa.

The successful Mexican Conservation Corps (MCC) served as a model for organizational structure of the Honduran Conservation Corps, and the umbrella association of the Honduran Corps was based on the democratic principles practiced by the National Association of Mexican Conservation Corps. Additionally, the HCC have benefited by the transfer of the technology and the capacity of the thriving Mexican program. MCC professionals have provided technical assistance and training throughout the development and implementation of the HCC program, as well as having provided hands-on guidance to help organize Honduran volunteers.

HCC has also organized work camps in El Salvador to help with the earthquake reconstruction there, and as a result, there is now a fledgling Salvador Conservation Corps. To learn more about the Honduras Conservation Corps, log on to http://www.cch.hn/