Source: La Tribuna
With the opening of the inter-institutional control post in the community of Krausirpi, Gracias a Dios, the authorities are seeking greater preservation of the forest heritage of La Moskitia, where they affirm that they will not allow the advance of "narco-roads".
According to the environmental authorities, with the advances of the denounced road that was opened from Dulce Nombre de Culmí, Olancho, to Krausirpe, Gracias a Dios, due to the fact that there are no permits from the State, through control and surveillance no further progress will be allowed, nor will it be allowed to be destroyed in a "natural" or automatic way due to lack of maintenance.
The Minister of the Environment, Lucky Medina, expressed that "due to the fact that the State does not recognize this road, it has not been treated by the State, the road is not maintained by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation, nor by the Honduran Social Investment Fund (FHIS), nor by any of the municipalities".
"The road continues its process of automatic destruction due to the fact that it has no maintenance," emphasized Medina.
With concrete actions the State would be responding to the positioning of the peoples of the area, for the opening of an illegal road and land usurpation, a situation denounced by the Bakinasta territorial councils, the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras (Conpah), among other organizations.
With the inauguration of the interinstitutional surveillance and control post in the Tawahka-Asangni Biosphere Reserve, it was possible to consolidate presence in an area that had no presence of authorities, leaving many areas that could easily be affected vulnerable.
This was achieved thanks to the collaboration between the Forest Conservation Institute (ICF), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Honduran Armed Forces (FAH) and financial support from the European Union (EU).
Although the protection of the entire reserve continues to be a challenge for the authorities, it is expected that deforestation and degradation caused by predators and arsonists will be reduced. In the case of Puerto Lempira, in the department of Gracias a Dios, it is the municipality that has been most affected by forest fires.
The Minister of MiAmbiente, Lucky Medina, said that, "in 2022 there was a 51 percent reduction in illegal logging of forests in Honduras, this is information that can be verified in the management and monitoring system of forest data, this data can be compared with the last three years, 2019, 2020 and 2021".
"On average 120 thousand hectares were deforested per year, which, for the most part, the forest was first cut, put on fire and then became pasture for extensive cattle ranching, it is the biggest cause of deforestation in the country and above all it was happening in protected areas."
Medina added that, "this year we have managed to reduce 51 percent of deforestation in the country, with the incorporation of two thousand soldiers, through the green battalions, the first of which has taken charge of the biological corridor of the Rio Platano Tawahka Biosphere, Guarunta, where there is constant patrolling by river and by air". (KSA)
Source: La Tribuna