Squez warned that if the transition from exploration to oil exploitation occurs, environmental impacts are not being considered, nor is there adequate prevention of marine pollution that would devastate the indigenous communities dependent on it for their livelihoods.
Velásquez pointed out that with oil extraction and the current government’s project to build a prison in the Marine Reserve of Isla del Cisne, located approximately 250 kilometers from Trujillo, Colón, in the Caribbean Sea, along with the neglect of the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras would be causing an ecocide “completely destroying a marine and terrestrial ecosystem.”
Ana Velásquez questions the validity of conducting an environmental impact study, as she is unaware of any Honduran biologists involved in the oil issue. “This raises an alert and concern because we don’t know for certain what they are doing. Furthermore, I see that they are handling the matter with considerable discretion [secrecy],” she stated.
Agronomist Juan Mejía, who has a postgraduate degree in environmental and water issues and is a member of MADJ, shares the same skepticism as biologist Velásquez regarding the environmental impact study. He declared that there is a process, and that before taking any action, a prospective study should have been conducted, which should have been preceded by a Prior, Free, and Informed Consultation.
“The environmental impact study is required to ensure that there is no negative impact on this ecological reserve, the indigenous peoples, and the environment, because we are in an area adjacent to the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, which is part of the ‘Heart of the Central American Biological Corridor,’ a binational area shared by Honduras and Nicaragua,” explained Engineer Mejía.
The Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982, coinciding with Honduras’s return to democracy after 18 years of military dictatorship, has been included twice on the World Heritage in Danger List. Its core zone, composed of around 500,000 hectares, has faced relentless pressure since it was first included on that list in 1996.
Although it was removed from that designation in 2007, it was re-listed four years later in 2011 at the request of President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo Sosa’s government. This harsh setback was a response to the second wave of settlers—stopping the first invasion took eleven years of effort—and the rampant advance of drug trafficking structures, which even built the so-called “narcotraffic road” connecting the departments of Olancho and Gracias a Dios.
This article was translated after appearing in Criterio