Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Million-Dollar Losses in Lumber Trafficking

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Mar 6 2006 (IPS) - An annual average of 145,000 cubic meters of latifoliate and 600,000 cubic meters of conifer lumber are illegally traded in Honduras, costing the country 18 million dollars a year in lost revenues, according to an official source. Ramón Custodio, national human rights commissioner, said that according to a World Bank study, illegal lumber production in Honduras is “alarming”.

“We are going to confront the major predators who are behind the lumber trafficking and the destruction of our forests,” Custodio told Tierramérica, as he announced the country's first independent forest monitoring effort, which will oversee public policies for protecting natural resources and is supported by the international organization Global Witness.