At the urging of Civil Society
The Forestry Law enters a new process of consensus building

The National Congress completed a new round of negotiations with civil society entities and institutions tied to the forestry sector, with the purpose of incorporating their recommendations in the proposed forestry legislation being discussed in Congress.

Among these groups is the Honduran Agro-forestry Alliance (HAA), which unites more than a dozen institutions and non-governmental organizations with years of experience and expertise in the forestry sector to guide the discussion and analysis of the new law.
In the first phase of negotiation, the legislative committee in charge of drafting the forestry law ignored recommendations from these organizations that feared that the new law would be an open door to the destruction of forestry resources, the politicization of its directing institutions and the poor management of economic funds that are designated for taking advantage of the forest.

With the new process they propose to listen to the arguments of AHA and other groups interested in sharing ideas to enrich the congressional discussion.

"We are convinced that we are still lacking a law that would assure the rational and sustainable use of forestry resources," said Ramón Valásquez Nazzar, a congressman from the Christian Democratic party, in a meeting of congressional representatives, Congressional President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and members of HAA.

After listening to the points raised by HAA, "We have decided to continue a full dialogue even though we have already spent a lot of time working out this legislation," added the Congressman.

César Ham, leader of the Democratic Unification Party, considered the arguments and fears expressed by HAA to be reasonable because, he said, they call the leaders to listen once again to civil society sectors. "This will not be a dialogue among the deaf," he promised.

Since the current legislative draft has already been approved in the first Congressional debate, it is proposed that the reforms could be offered via a motion in the on-going discussion.

"In the National Congress there is the political will to build consensus with this law. The party leaders agree that this is a problem of national interest and it should be given all the time necessary to work out a solution that fulfills national interests and not just the interests of certain individuals," Ham declared.

Celin Discua Elvir, congressional representative from the Nationalist Party, also expressed his support for the process, though he noted that the law brings together diverse groups, all with their own interests. But he noted that the Congress's interest is to approve "a law that favors the industry and the sustainability of the forests and the environment."

"It is not an easy law, but if the party leaders and congressional representatives are interested in giving it more consideration, in listening to more people, in building the best consensus possible, a law could be created to help us make the forests a number one priority, as they should be in a forested country like Honduras," explained Discua Elvir.

The new process of negotiation will be directed by Virgilio Umanzor, a congressional representative from the Liberal Party and president of the legislative committee responsible for drafting the new law.

Umanzor said that he would again listen to the points of disagreement from civil society representatives and other groups interested in the issue.

He explained that if the process is successful in combining the different texts with the current draft, they will present the modifications as a motion to the discussion.

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