Ecobreves – HONDURAS: EU Backs Environmental Campaign

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Jul 26 2004 (IPS) - An environmental defense campaign will get under way in 25 Honduran municipalities in two months, with nine million dollars in financing from the European Union, Environment Minister Patricia Panting told Tierramérica. The funds are earmarked for protecting micro-watersheds, managing waste, protected areas and wildlife, as well as for environmental education in schools and communities, with citizen participation in protecting forests and promoting ecotourism, she said.

The aim is to ''change behavioral habits and improve management of natural resources (which) represent the prolongation of our lives,'' said Panting.

Singer-songwriter and ecologist Guillermo Anderson will participate in the portion of the campaign geared towards children.

''We will make songs and spread the message, because I think that without the help of children the development of a nation has no future,'' Anderson told Tierramérica.