Ecobreves – HONDURAS: United Front Against Illegal Logging

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TEGUCIGALPA, Sep 8 2008 (IPS) - The Honduran National Human Rights Commission signed a pact with civil society groups and the government as part of a shared strategy to halt illegal logging and lumber trafficking. Ombudsman Ramón Custodio told Tierramérica that the agreement implies the functioning of an inter-institutional commission that will monitor the actions and recommendations that emerge in the framework of the forest monitoring bill that they have been promoting for the past three years.

“This alliance is more than a declaration or just any commitment. We have been working and documenting the denunciations, proving the facts so that they can find who is legally responsible,” Custodio said.

Illegal logging reduces the Honduran forest cover by 100,000 hectares each year, Suyapa Otero, of the Forest Conservation Institute, told Tierramérica.