The Honduran government announced on Jun. 11 the creation of a Forest Conservation Institute, which will replace the existing Honduran Corporation for Forestry Development (COHDEFOR), entrusted with controlling and regulating the use of the country's forests. Ecologist Rigoberto Sandoval told Tierramérica that the new entity will put an end to four decades of COHDEFOR's inoperativeness, which he accuses of complicity in the illegal trafficking of lumber.

The Institute, says Sandoval, not only will regulate the more than 98,000 square kilometers of forestable land, but will also promote agro-forestry, which will give communities direct participation in the use, management and conservation of the forest.

Of the 112,492 square kilometers of Honduran territory, the area covered by forests is 54,310 square km, according to official data.