Honduras has lost 27,000 hectares of forest to fire in the past 12 months, but it is far less than the annual average of 50,000 hectares of forest destroyed by fire for the last five years. “If we continue this trend we could halt the destruction of our forests from various causes, including forest fires,” Environment Minister Mayra Mejía told Tierramérica.

She credited the lesser destruction to the ecological recovery plan launched 16 months ago with the Armed Forces, with more than two million hectares reforested and some 15 clandestine sawmills shut down.

Honduras, whose territory covers 112,492 square kilometers, averages 2,000 forest fires each year, according to official figures.