RÍO PLÁTANO BIOSPHERE RESERVE, Honduras — Deep inside Honduras’ protected forests, a battle is taking place between environmental defenders and deforestation. Deforestation rates in the country are among the highest in the Americas, threatening one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. In 2024, its government launched a plan to eliminate deforestation by 2029, with a special focus on recovering land used by criminal groups for timber trafficking.
The “Zero Deforestation by 2029” plan, launched by the National Defense and Security Council in May 2024, declared a state of emergency for the country’s forests and set aside funds to retake control of protected areas where agriculture, livestock, mining and other illegal activities have been thriving, often with the involvement of powerful criminal groups. And part of this plan involves building up an “environmental protection battalion” of 8,000 troops.
However, the militarization of conservation has always been a controversial issue. “Militarization […] is not a long-term solution,” says Professor Kendra McSweeney, Professor of Geography, at The Ohio State University, who has been studying conservation in Central America. “Absent a larger investment in public policies, in leadership and in legal regimes that will enforce the law in those areas, it cannot work.”
With young civilian scientists now leading armed patrols into jungles with cartel activity, the question remains: can militarized conservation stop forest loss, or is it creating new risks for conservation, environmental protectors and forests alike?
Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here!
Banner image: Collage, Fritz Pinnow, Mongabay contributor, and a Honduran soldier.
Transcript
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
Right now we’re on the Río Twas,
within the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve.
The reason we’re here is basically to inspect
an open-pit mine
that has been reported to us.
Without the military, we are nothing.
They’re there to protect us.
Their main objective is to shield us.
Around here, we say that this is
the new endemic animal of the reserve.
[It is] urgent that the National Congress
reform the penal code
to firmly punish
environmental crimes.
It’s organized crime that’s around here, embedded in the environment,
like deforestation.
Because we’ve been in operations where we go because
we identified deforested areas,
but in those deforested areas we find other illicit activities,
like the cultivation of coca leaves.
The Armed Forces are responsible for the defense
and sovereignty of our nation
[and] for the defense of our natural resources.
When you’re one hour from the mine,
stop and wait for us.
We’re 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the mine,
which is our main goal.
Here we’re already starting to see traces of mining.
We’ve already found machinery and fuel.
We have to be more careful from here on out.
This is for panning for gold.
It’s an industrialized mining operation.
I don’t think they left any documents [here].
I have some news that will make you happy
and make all of this worth it.
Here is the receipt from the vendor
and the company they are selling to.
Credits
