Ecobreves – HONDURAS: UNESCO Urges More Protection for the Río Plátano Biosphere

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Feb 14 2011 (IPS) - A technical team from UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) sent a recommendation to the Honduran government to improve protection of the Río Plátano Biosphere, which extends through three of the country's 18 departments. The Honduran minister of defense, Marlon Pascua, told Tierramérica that a UNESCO delegation, after a three-day tour of the area, called for greater police and military action to prevent drug trafficking and illegal logging in the forest. It also urged the local community to make a greater commitment to environmental protection.

The Río Plátano Biosphere has an area of 814,000 hectares, is rich in flora and fauna, and was declared a UNESCO Heritage of Humanity Site in 1982.

Pascua said they are considering declaring it a “threatened area” in order to bring attention to the zone's problems for all actors involved.