New EU support to forestry in Honduras
The European Union today signed an agreement with Honduras to provide €47m of new funding to help protect forests in the country. The project, known as Eurofor, will cost €49.1 m in total, and will help local forest communities, together with civil society groups, to better manage the forests by improving research on forestry and agro forestry and providing better employment opportunities and increased food security through access to water and sustainable forest systems (such as environmental services, effective implementation of national and local management plans, reforestation initiatives).
The project will also enable those who depend on forests to make a living to better adapt to the effects of climate change, by helping them to better manage their natural resources in order to provide themselves with better living conditions and at the same time preserve biodiversity. The financial agreement will be signed by Director of Latin America and the Caribbean in the Development and Cooperation Directorate-General of the Commission, Jolita Butkeviciene, and the Honduran Minister of Forestry, Mr Suazo. Honduras has been identified as the third most vulnerable country in the world in terms of climate change. Almost half of the territory of the country is covered by forests, but they are reducing steadily and it has the highest annual deforestation rate in Latin America. This week, Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will visit Central America to discuss future EU cooperation.
