Honduras works to build resilience to climate change

by María Josefina Arce

Honduras is one of the 30 countries most vulnerable to natural disasters caused by climate change, according to the World Risk Report 2023. Xiomara Castro has been focusing on this issue since she assumed the presidency of the Central American country in January 2022.

As part of its commitment to protect the environment and the lives and well-being of its citizens, the government has allocated a multi-million dollar investment and developed several initiatives.

To strengthen and expand its actions, last May the President declared a state of environmental emergency for forests, the defense of protected and water-producing areas.

She launched the "Zero Deforestation Strategy by 2029" plan in the face of the annual loss of some 65,000 hectares of forest on Honduran territory, according to official data.

The collaboration between the Secretariats of Natural Resources and Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and the Armed Forces is essential to the implementation of this program.

In fact, shortly after assuming the presidency, Castro created the so-called Green Battalions, which today number three and are made up of 2,000 military personnel each, whose mission is to protect the environment.

Its members fight illegal logging, forest fires and the illegal trade in wildlife species, and are also involved in reforestation.

Another initiative is the declaration of nearly 130 protected micro-watersheds, a legal protection for the care of these water sources, which are vital for human consumption and agriculture. Honduras, with the support of the European Union, is working to advance in the decarbonization of the livestock sector, the mainstay of the country's economy, and has already launched a project to achieve a low-carbon production system. The indigenous peoples, whose actions and ancestral wisdom make them faithful guardians of the planet, play an essential role in the government's strategy.

Protecting the environment and building spaces in harmony with nature is a policy of the government presided over by Xiomara Castro, which seeks to raise awareness and involve the whole of society, especially the communities most vulnerable to natural disasters caused by climate change.