Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Timber bill may hurt economies in Honduras and Peru

The economies of Peru and Honduras may be hurt by a proposal to cut down on the illegal timber trade which currently being considered by Congress in the U.S. Though nearly a third of the world’s hardwood lumber and plywood come from environmentally fragile areas such as the Peruvian Amazon, proponents of the bill argue that illegal timber is costing U.S. wood firms nearly $1 billion a year.

Links- Guardian UK, ABC News

Image- The Goldman Environmental Prize (Illegal logging operation in Honduras)

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2 comments:

La Gringa said...

Who cares if illegal timber operations are hurt? These illegal operators certainly don't pay taxes to the government of Honduras.

They are hurting the people of Honduras a lot more through deforestation and the destruction of our water supply, not to mention the Hondurans that they murder when they protest these illegal practices.

You could just as well say that stemming illegal drug traffic will hurt the economy of Honduras. So be it!

3:06 AM
Erwin C. said...

You rightly and justly point out the negative consequences to illegal timber operations. Yet my point is that the economies of the countries where they operate in will get hurt by this proposed bill. It's a cynical view, yes. But look at Colombia to see how closely tied the drug trade is with the economy. It's an unfortunate reality, but that's how it is.

12:26 PM

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