Environmental District Attornies flee from death threats

By IXCHEL GRANADA

TEGUCIGALPA – Five district attorney members of the Olancho district court have had to flee the Olancho area in response to threats and pressure from criminals exploiting forestland for illegal sale of lumber.

Olancho, the department or state with the greatest land area, is located east of the capital and forms a border with Nicaragua. Forests have been illegally harvested from this region for decades. Three government bodies are responsible for overseeing proper forestry development and protection in Olancho; the Secretary of the Environment (FDA), Department of Criminal Investigations (DGIC) and the Honduran Corporation for Forestry Development (COHDEFOR) .

Due to the illegal operations taking place in the municipalities of the south of Olancho various judicial actions were taken against the perpetrators, who specialize in illegal lumber sales, drug trafficking and money laundering activities. After charges were made a number of authorities involved in the case received death threats and other menacing warnings meant to intimidate law enforcement.

Due to concerns over security, the whereabouts of the district attorneys who work as investigators remains undisclosed. The Ministry of the Public ordered an immediate transfer of the investigators to other regions of the country and transferred four additional members who worked in the zone. Evidence against the guilty parties continues to mount, however, the fiscal will not disclose names of the charged individuals at this time.

Who is Involved?
A network of criminals traffic endangered wildlife and lumber along with drugs. Recent investigations have uncovered a series of money laundering activities partnered with the export of black market products. Oftentimes corrupt officials within the enforcement agency support these individuals. 

The manner in which they work is that they chose a remote location, rich in high-value lumber, they fell the trees and transport the prepared boards by 18 wheel trucks through regions of the country where COHDEFOR has no presence. On other occasions they simply bypass the authorities or involve them in the transaction.
Honduran lumber leaves the ports of Trujillo and La Ceiba destined for foreign markets such as Japan, the United States and Indonesia where the commercial value is highest.

Law enforcement agents of the Environmental Management Department has centralized its labor force in the most critical points of illegal activity which include; the north coast of La Union, Jano, Guata and Salama, as well as the biosphere reserve of Rio Platano.

Congress continues to debate how to combat corruption within the ranks of environmental enforcement agencies.

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Untamed Honduras: Knowledge will promote conservation

Covered by eternal fog, the park’s highest peak, Andino’s Rock, proudly stands 2,290 meters above sea level. 




By ROSIBEL PACHECHO DE GUTIERREZ 

TEGUCIGALPA -- The movie, Untamed Honduras has been conceived as a broad project with complex logistics that pretends to reach specific, scientific goals never before obtained inasmuch as exploration and diffusion of the natural, ethnic and cultural richness of Honduras is concerned. To reach this goal a group of approximately 20 persons was brought together in the field to realize the project. Arturo Sosa, the creator, is a multifaceted professional: photographer, writer, university professor, and television producer, amongst others. 

The Treasures of La Tigra 
The first expedition, “The Treasures of La Tigra” (La Tigra is national park located near Tegucigalpa), had as it’s mission to carry out a scientific expedition of such a park by investigating it’s physical characteristics, and the species of animals and plants that inhabit the area. Another parallel objective was to diffuse information to the general public in layman’s terms, in the form of an adventure/documentary that emphasized the possibility of a live educational, scientific, environmental, tourist, and above all, moral classroom, to ratify this park as a valuable treasure, property of all Hondurans.

Unique and exotic, nikania stipuliferia stands out amongst the nearly 800 species of plants registered in the park. It is one of the two endemic plants found in La Tigra and nowhere else on earth. 

The term, “scientific tourism,” finds in this context its true definition. For nine days the expedition went deep into La Tigra from Rosario to Jutiapa before the ascent to it’s highest peak, “the Rock of Andino,” 7,557 feet above sea level. Dr. Paul House, a Doctor in BotanicS and by Engineer Jorge Ferrari, an investigator of reptiles or amphibians guided the team. A wide variety of tree ferns and orchids (around 33 species) were documented, and one of the park’s two endemic plants, the “Mikania stipulifera” was videotaped and photographed. The “Brown Tamagás” the only poisonous serpent registered in the park was also caught on film. 

With the help of the Volunteer Firemen Rescue Company (Sosa is also a fireman), as well as scientists, cameramen, and photographers, multiple facets of the environment were documented. The one-hour documentary will be transmitted by Channel 48 in Honduras. The daily newspaper El Heraldo also published a supplement in full color. 
In this way, the information gathered will provide a better vision of the natural richness of the park, it’s national, and world-wide importance to science, and above all, the enormous and vital role it plays in the daily life of all the inhabitants of Honduras, and specially of those in Tegucigalpa. 

The expedition transmitted via satellite, and internet telephony, news to “Radio Rock & Pop”, and to the program “Abriendo Brecha”, and conferences to students and teachers of UNITEC (Central American Technological University), and out to the World through a Web site: www.hondurasindomita.com 

With the help of the Ministry of Tourism, arrangements are being made for foreign Universities (Washington’s, for example) to participate in the subsequent expeditions. Foreign universities, could for example, carry out biodiversity research.

With this handful of intrepid pioneer travelers, an infinite door of possibilities is being opened for investigation, scientific tourism, environmental education, and new formats of education. And it is hoped that by spreading knowledge and appreciation of these valuable resources, protection and conservation will follow.