Community acti ons to manage climate risks: An approach to the Lenca indigenous communities of Honduras

Abstract

The dimension of the environmental crisis has deepened in recent decades, with it increasing poverty and the weak attempts at democratic politics becoming more visible, especially in regions such as Central America. The current scenarios raise the need to approach the environmental subject and its alternatives; In this sense, it is imperative to approach and dialogue with this political subject who, from his uses and cultural practices, reaffirms his worldview and harmonious models of adaptation to the environment. This study seeks to approach the actions developed by the Lenca indigenous communities of Yamaranguila, in the department of Intibucá, in western Honduras, to face the different climatic hazards existing in the area and thus be able to minimize the risk of disaster, through its cultural practices linked in many cases with a magical religious framework. In Honduras, several indigenous communities are currently carrying out actions aimed at managing climate risks. In Lenca indigenous communities, particularly this management tends to be inclusive, harmonious and based on its own logic that recovers the common and retakes the dignity of all living beings.