Development & Aid, Environment, Tierramerica - Ecobrief

Ecobreves – Combatting animal trafficking in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, Apr 1 2006 (IPS) - El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras will draft a transnational operations manual in the next four months for fighting the trafficking of animals in danger of extinction.

El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras will draft a transnational operations manual in the next four months for fighting the trafficking of animals in danger of extinction.

The goal will be “to halt the smuggling of flora and fauna amongst the three countries,” said Fátima Vanegas, Guatemalan delegate of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor project.

The authorities in each country will train the border officials so that when they find contraband species they will return them as soon as possible to their natural habitat.

Omar Molina, technical director of the National Council of Protected Areas, explained that with the new policy they will be able to protect species like the jaguar (Panthera onca), the scarlet macaw (Ara macao) and the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) — all endangered species.