Ecobreves – HONDURAS: EU Funds for Environmental Projects

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Dec 22 2008 (IPS) - The European Union has earmarked for the next five years some 53 million dollars to carry out environmental projects in Honduras's poorest areas. It will follow a model of citizen participation guided by local governments, with goals of preserving natural resources, reducing poverty and promoting self-governance of sustainable programs, according to the EU representation in this Central American country.

In 2008 alone, 14 million dollars went to projects with participation of local governments and communities for forest management plans, water councils, forest cooperatives and environmental networks of teachers, Gaery Ortiz, technical expert with the EU, told Tierramérica.

In Honduras, eight out of 10 people live in poverty, and most are concentrated in areas of high ecological vulnerability.