Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Ex-Ambassador Visits Threatened Forest

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Nov 10 2003 (IPS) - Former U.S. ambassador to Honduras and director of the Center for International Policy, Robert White, has called for protection of the forests in the northeast department of Olancho and the resolution of the June murder of environmentalist Carlos Reyes. The main problems that Honduras faces are the environment, corruption and impunity, and the destruction of the Olancho forest is a “clear example” of community poverty while riches accumulate in the hands of the few, White told Tierramérica.

White, who served as ambassador in the 1960s, visited Olancho in October to learn about the environmental situation and how peasant farmers, led by Catholic priest Andrés Tamayo, are fighting to stop deforestation.

The Washington-based Center for International Policy will begin an Olancho forest protection plan aimed at prevention and monitoring, with periodic reports, the first to be presented this month.