Ecobreves – CENTRAL AMERICA: Transborder Plan for the Gulf of Fonseca

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Oct 3 2011 (IPS) - Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua are preparing to implement a transborder development plan for the Gulf of Fonseca, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean shared by the three countries, with the goals of reducing natural disaster risks and more effectively managing natural resource use. The 60-month, 25-million-dollar project will be executed in the departments (provinces) of Valle and Choluteca in southern Honduras, La Unión in eastern El Salvador, and Chinandega in western Nicaragua.

The plan forms part of a series of initiatives for Central American integration aimed at promoting joint efforts by countries and communities to protect the environment and foster sustainable development, Scarlette Orozco, the European Union representative in the project, told Tierramérica.

The Gulf of Fonseca encompasses 409 kilometers of coastline, a water surface area of 2,015 square kilometers, and roughly 22,000 square kilometers of land.