Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Government Suspends Logging Permit

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Apr 19 2010 (IPS) - Honduran authorities ordered a halt to logging in 600 hectares of forest in six communities of Valle de Siria, in the central department of Francisco Morazán, in the wake of protests by local residents and clashes with the loggers, which left one person dead and two injured. The protests “were based on the environmental impact that forest exploitation will have in a highly depressed zone, due to the presence of mining companies that have generated problems in the area,” Trinidad Suazo, director of the Honduran Institute of Forest Conservation, told Tierramérica.

The management plan that authorized the lumber companies to log in the 600 hectares will be reviewed, she said, to measure social impact and give residents greater participation, with hopes of preventing “blood from running again as a result of defending the environment.”