The Honduran Parliament approved a special law to preserve coral reefs in the Islands of Bahía, in the Caribbean, said legislator Germán Leitzelar, of the Innovation and Social Democratic Unity Party. The already enacted law regulates the mechanisms of protection and exploitation of the biodiversity surrounding the islands.

Leitzelar said the emphasis is on “guaranteeing the preservation of 16,000 hectares that make up our coral reef, the second most beautiful in the world.”

Poor waste management, environmental contamination, natural disasters and “destructive actions threaten the reefs, and this law seeks to better support the protected areas,” he said.