The Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve is a protected area in the La Mosquitia region on the Caribbean coast of Honduras.

The reserve has a number of endangered species and some of the largest remnants of tropical forest in Central America.

[1] The reserve encompasses both mountainous and lowland tropical rainforest, full of diverse wildlife and plant life, and has more than 2000 inhabitants.

[1] The reserve is part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor that stretches from Mexico southward through Central America.

Currently, there are threats to the conservation of the reserve which include illegal hunting, logging, and clearing of land to graze cattle.

Recent rafting expeditions from the Rio Plátano headwaters through all three zones of the reserve (cultural, buffer, and core) have documented cattle grazing in the core zone, commercial fishing and hunting camps along the river, and clear cutting of forest near Las Marias.

The overall threat, especially in the nucleus zones, had decreased in 2006 recognizing a significant improvement in conservation efforts, leading to the removal of the World Heritage in Danger designation in 2007.

Drug smuggling, clearing of land for cattle grazing, and illegal fishing and hunting along the river are currently happening.

[5] The reserve's conservation plan aims to integrate local inhabitants into their environment via sustainable agricultural practices (see La Ruta Moskitia Ecotourism Alliance).

[citation needed] The annual precipitation is between 2,850 and 4,000 mm (112 and 157 in), and the local inhabitants have noticed a trend towards dryer seasons over time.

[7] The climate in the region is key to preserving the valuable wet forests and important for the agriculture upon which the indigenous people depend.

Development plans and agriculture depend upon the river's natural levees to drain water from low-lying areas.

The reserve is mostly mountainous, including Pico Dama, a giant granite formation, and Punta Piedra, the highest peak at 1,326 m (4,350 ft).

The low-land areas covered with water throughout the winter, and the rivers and the various tributaries house a wide variety of flora.

The reserve contains part of the largest surviving area of undisturbed tropical rainforest in Honduras and one of the few remaining in Central America, with numerous endangered species.

[2] The major ecosystems include mangrove and freshwater swamps and marshes, sedge prairie, pine savanna, and gallery forest.

Mammal species commonly found within the reserve include white-headed capuchin, mantled howler and spider monkeys, brown-throated sloth, paca, kinkajou, coatimundi tayra, Central American otter, puma, collared peccary, white-lipped peccary and red brocket deer.

These include Baird's tapirs, giant anteaters, jaguars, ocelots, margays, and Caribbean West Indian manatees.

While the conservation programs are reaching their goals, it is difficult to tell whether or not the management plans are successfully protecting these species directly.

Although private organizations are launching ecotourism enterprises throughout the region,[13] the government does not have a comprehensive plan to control or benefit from ecotourists.

[7] Ecotourism can offer relief for poverty stricken local populations, increased awareness of biological value, and can generate income that can be used to fund projects for the reserve.

Logging and development continue to be problems, and the situation is exacerbated by an increasing population from poorer parts of Honduras or refugees from Nicaragua.

Much of the non-legal de facto ownership has spurred conflict, sometimes violent, among different cultural groups over rights to agriculturally productive areas.

Future management goals aim to promote sustainable technique among a larger number of the traditional farmers.