Ecobreves – HONDURAS:: Ecologists Still Not Satisfied

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Sep 13 2004 (IPS) - The Olancho Environmentalist Movement (MAO), based in northeast Honduras and led by Roman Catholic priest Andrés Tamayo, is considering staging yet another ''march for life''. After two months of intense meetings with the government, demanding official action to protect the nation's forests, ''they have failed to keep their promises and we see no political will,'' MAO activist Bertha Oliva told Tierramérica.

The government made 10 promises following the National March for Life, held in late June. Among them were the withdrawal of a forestry bill, efforts to protect flora and fauna, and the suspension of a forest management plan that the environmentalists said lacked regulatory measures. But ''nothing has been done,'' said Oliva.

''We are ready to head another pilgrimage to the capital if they keep putting off the forest issues. Illegal logging continues left and right, while the government invites us to sit down for coffee,'' she said.