The Proposal Has Generated The Highest Level of Discussion and Coordination

Virgilio Umanzor, President of the Congressional Forestry Law Report Commission, says that this Forestry Law proposal has generated more discussion and coordination than any other in the history of Congress.

He added that these discussions are serving to refine a proposal that combines all the pieces of the issue into one single document so that when it goes to this final debate in the legislative branch of Congress, it will be approved.

Umanzor goes on to say that, the immediate approval of a proposal will not be easy since there are only a few days left in October, "but the idea in Congress is to extend the normal period of sessions, enabling us to go into recess starting on the first of November, but still leaving the period extended in order that we may have a set number of extra sessions afterwards to approve the new law.

The Consensus

When asked if there is consensus in this proposal, he expressed that there is a high number in agreement with it, but it is difficult to reach 100% due to the fact that there are multiple actors and interests involved. Umanzor adds that remarkably the majority of participants have now had their concerns answered.

He did not discard the possibility that some organization or involved party may still have reservations with respect to issues determined in the proposal.

Inside Congress

He did not dare give assurance of any consensus that might exist inside Congress, but he did express that the Report Commission has a certain level of influence in decisions made by the Legislative branch, "They have the last word, of which, there are three options: to vote for the project, to not vote for it, or suggest a new proposal."

On a positive note, there is awareness in the legislative branch that this document has come to a consensus in other arenas, "and when we have these types of projects normally, discussion surrounding them have not been prolonged because trust is generated in the representatives by the committee bringing them the information."

Article:

New Forestry Law
proposal sent
to Congress

Law works to respond
to all concerns

Interviews:

Rural worker´s perspective

AJS lawyer -Gilda Espinal

Representative of Congress

Former Director of Honduran Forestry Development

President of the Honduran Federation of Agro-Forestry