By Margaret Southern For many people in the United States, food
comes from the grocery store. Most Americans would be hard
pressed to determine the real origins of much of the food we
eat. But residents of the Cayos Cochinos islands off the
northern coast of Honduras know exactly where their food comes
from: the ocean outside their doors. Here, it’s not just their
stomachs that rely on the bounty of the ocean—it’s almost their
entire economy. But overfishing and industrial fishing continues
to put pressure on their marine resources. The Nature
Conservancy is working with partners and locals to protect their
reefs through education, conservation and income-generating
projects. In 2007, the Conservancy and the Cayos Cochinos
Foundation identified almost 20 income-generating projects with
the goal of increasing income for households that depend heavily
on the reef. One of these projects was the construction of a
small tourist complex managed by the East End community. The
community hopes to attract tourists with