00:0012 fires have multiplied in Honduras in the first five months of this year.
00:04The new government has canceled the civil and military structure that control the fires
00:09and the budget has been cut in half.
00:11The Honduran population is suffering as well the consequences of the heat and environmental pollution.
00:17Gerardo Torres Zelaya has more information from Tegucigalpa.
00:21In the last four years, Honduras experienced a dramatic drop in the number of forest fires.
00:26This was due to the government's heavy investment in environmental preservation.
00:31La Chamara Castro's administration created the Green Battalions
00:34that patrolled the entire national territory with the support of local communities.
00:39With the arrival of the new government and budget cuts,
00:42this entire structure has been dismantled and fires have rapidly increased.
00:47No haber hecho campaña de concientización en todo el 2026.
00:50The lack of an awareness campaign throughout 2026
00:56and the absence of any guidance to use the fire for these productive activities
01:03during the first four months of the Asfura Sabla administration
01:09has led to its unregulated use, resulting in widespread fires
01:17with immediate effects on the population.
01:22A dense layer of smoke visible over cities for several weeks now
01:28is impacting in public health,
01:31increasing the number of people in urban and rural areas,
01:37reducing the energy generation capacity of hydroelectric dams
01:43and dismissing agriculture and livestock production.
01:48The consequences are already being felt
01:52in more than 100,000 areas affected by wildfires
01:57and other environmental impacts.
02:03The fires are caused by humans
02:05and are already endangering national parks like La Tigra,
02:10which is the main source of water of the Honduran capital.
02:13We cannot hide the reality here.
02:17Almost 100% of the fires are caused by humans.
02:20We lack of a culture of reporting due to fear
02:24or other factors that we must promote.
02:26We need to educate people and foster a culture of reporting
02:29because this is a crime against everyone,
02:32especially when it comes to protected areas which provide water.
02:36For example, La Tigra National Park provides 30% of the water for the capital,
02:41100% of the water for the 102 communities,
02:46and 60,000 people who live there
02:49and for all the surrounding municipalities,
02:51Planos del Parque Nacional La Tigra.
02:56The lack of environmental policy from the previous government is already being felt.
03:01The entire national territory has been under a thick layer of smoke for a month now,
03:06produced by more than 500 fires reported in the last 30 days.
03:12The area burned has increased from 40 hectares per fire to 70 hectares per fire.
03:20That's it.
03:21It has not only dug per fire, but has also multiplied proportionally
03:27due to the lack of community privilege.
03:31The failure to assign institutional mechanisms to add immediately
03:36and the lack of the coordination with local governments.
03:42Con los gobiernos locales.
03:45According to experts, due to the environmental phenomena,
03:48the dry season could extend until the end of July or mid-August.
03:52This could mean two or three more months of wildfires
03:55without a plan to combat them.
03:56For Telesur and English from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Gerardo Torres Zelaya.
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