Honduras Needs Its Environmental Activists to Battle Deforestation

Honduras Needs Its Environmental Activists to Battle Deforestation
Flyers bearing the image of slain Honduran environmental and Indigenous rights activist Berta Caceres lie on the ground during a protest calling for justice for her murder, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, July 5, 2021 (AP photo by Elmer Martinez).

Earlier this month, Juan Lopez, an environmental activist who gained recognition for his protests against mining and hydroelectric projects in northern Honduras, was murdered. Lopez is far from the first Honduran activist targeted for trying to protect the country’s forests and rivers. To the contrary, Honduras has one of the highest murder rates for environmental defenders globally, with at least 148 activists murdered there between 2012-2023. In perhaps the highest-profile case, Berta Caceres, a celebrated Indigenous leader, was assassinated in 2016 for her opposition to a hydroelectric dam project.

The targeting of Honduras’ environmental activists is no coincidence. They often stand in the way of mining and development projects backed by powerful vested interests, in a country where corruption and weak rule of law have created a culture of impunity for both environmental destruction and violence against those seeking to prevent it.

But unlike previous administrations, which were often accused of ignoring or exacerbating environmental destruction—and in particular deforestation—the administration of President Xiomara Castro has taken a more proactive stance. Since taking office in 2022, Castro has declared a state of emergency for the country’s forests, and her administration has launched an ambitious “Zero Deforestation Strategy by 2029.”

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