After a long process of consensus building and negotiations lasting four years, Congress is at the point of approving the Forestry Law for Protected Areas and Wildlife by the end of the session in January, 2004.

Discussion in the consensus building process lasted until the first week of December as the President's office sought to develop a bill to present to Congress that would represent the needs and concerns of all the people interested in the forestry process in Honduras.

Sandoval Corea is participating actively in the negotiations for both laws. He is considered one of the most well-versed people in the country in forestry and property issues.

Sandoval Corea believes it is important that the government take action to minimize conflict and confrontation between small farmers and lumber companies in rural areas.

He points to the recent events in Olancho where an environmental movement led by Father Andrès Tamayo is protesting environmental degradation as evidence that urgent action is needed to correct the problems that generate this kind of conflict in the country.

Sandoval Corea says previous versions of the Forestry Law are being incorporated into the current legislation. He explained that the process strengthens COHDEFOR and includes opportunities for representatives of civil society to act.

The document lays out that the government should include a line item for COHDEFOR in the annual budget to help cover its costs and the money should be disbursed in trimesters through deposits in the Central Bank.

Furthermore, the bill proposes the funds COHDEFOR collects through income streams like lumber auctions should be reinvested in programs to benefit the forest.

The first version of the bill planned the creation of a new administrative body, but that idea has been scrapped in favour of maintaining the current COHDEFOR structure with the addition of three funds to be managed independently from COHDEFOR. The Municipal Forestry Fund should be managed by municipalities where there are forestry related operations. It has been suggested that the Fund for Protected Areas be managed by a non-governmental organization.

The bill also establishes the government's right to divide and title land to the occupants when those occupants have lived on the property for at least five years and no one has registered a legal title to the land.

Sandoval Corea believes the new version of the bill includes several valuable additions, like a clear title search mechanism, that will benefit small farming communities.

It is important to note some civil society groups are urging the creation of local bodies with responsibilities in forestry management. However, legal experts have suggested that the government or interested non-governmental bodies could set up a local system of management without it being necessarily included in the legislation.

Sandoval Corea believes that the Property Institute that would be created by the bill would be a positive step toward allowing the government to put land tenancy irregularities in order.

He said that they have been working with all the proposals for the final version of the legislation that will be discussed in Congress. Motions for additions or changes can be introduced during the Congressional discussion by the chair of the Congressional Commission for the Forestry Law, Virgilio Umanzor.
One of the changes he would like to see introduced as a motion would be a guarantee that rural communities will be allowed to participate actively in the use, management and protection of the forests.

Sandoval Corea said that, given all these considerations, he believes it is urgent that the Congress proceed with the discussion and approve the Forestry Law, including all the suggestions that have been worked out by the main participants in the consensus building process.

The Property Law is also a necessity

Sandoval Corea said that he also urges the approval of the Property Law for Economic Promotion that means to resolve land tenancy problems that have been affecting urban and rural communities for decades.

He said that the public discussion about this law has also developed revisions to the original version to be discussed in Congress.

He gave the example of the final decision to create an independent office administered by the President to manage the land registration process instead of the decentralized system recommended by representatives of civil society.
Sandoval Corea said that small farmer groups' fears that they would not be represented by such an office were answered during the negotiations by a guarantee that they will participate through a Consultative Council.

He added that all the suggestions made by small farmer organization and other civil society representatives are being taken into account and will be presented as motions to be considered by Congress once the bill is under discussion.

This law plans to put the property system in order and one of the first steps would be the creation of an organized property registry as one of several steps toward titling land, he said.

Sandoval Corea said he hopes the law will be approved because he believes it could finally put an end to Honduras' eternal land tenancy problems. He called on the lawyers and Supreme Court Justices who have opposed the law to rethink their position, to put aside their own interests for the benefit of the country and to support a process that will be good for all Hondurans.

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