Deforestation

The Forest Conservation Institute (ICF) discovered environmental damage in the buffer zone of Sierra de Agalta National Park in Olancho, including about 1.5 hectares of illegal land clearing, agricultural plots, and evidence of fires set to prepare land for planting.

An aerial reconnaissance by Honduras's military environmental battalion found three active illegal mining sites with at least 10 workers and seven floating dredges in the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, plus an illegal road network facilitating deforestation in Gracias a Dios.

A forestry engineer warns that El Niño arriving earlier than usual from June through September will reduce water supplies for drinking and power generation, harm planting of beans and corn, and increase wildfire risk across Honduras.

An Environmental Protection Battalion patrol in Las Agujas, Catacamas, Olancho stopped the illegal felling of about 98 mixed hardwood trees following a citizen report; two chainsaws were seized and the suspects fled.

Environmental prosecutors inspected the protected zone of the Río Oloma in El Negrito, Yoro, after a report of illegal cutting of mahogany, hormigo, and sangre trees.

Military forces seized 126 pieces of milled pine wood and two chainsaws during an operation in Olancho and arrested a man suspected of illegal logging that damages Honduras's natural resources.

Honduras recorded 1,007 forest fires during the extended dry season, scorching 93,634 hectares nationwide, with Olancho suffering the worst damage and officials warning of serious risks to water supplies.

The arrest this month of the alleged killer of Carlos Luna, a forest-rights activist murdered 28 years ago, has brought some relief to his family and renewed attention to the dangers faced by environmental defenders in Honduras.

A decree transferring authority over the El Merendón mountain range to the national forestry agency ICF has alarmed the local conservation group Guardianes del Merendón, which warns of deforestation and threats to San Pedro Sula's water supply.