Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Security for Ecologists

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Feb 18 2008 (IPS) - The European Union representative in Honduras, Germano Stragneiro, asked President Manuel Zelaya to enact mechanisms to guarantee the security of environmentalists, specifically in the area of the Plátano River Biosphere, in the eastern department of Olancho. Stragneiro pointed to the difficulties in launching conservation projects in the biosphere because many of the experts fear for their lives since the murder three months ago of environmental leader Mario Guifarro.

Human rights commissioner Ramón Custodio told Tierramérica that he shares the EU representative's concern, noting that the biosphere is an area of “high insecurity” for environmental protection, and that Guifarro's death “must not go unpunished.”

At least 10 environmental activists have been murdered in the last 15 years in Honduras, most of them in Olancho.