Drugs and agriculture cause deforestation to skyrocket at Honduran UNESCO site
Honduras’ Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve occupies a large portion of the country’s eastern region.
However, despite official protection and recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Río Plátano is plagued by deforestation; satellite data show the biosphere reserve lost 13% of its primary forest cover between 2002 and 2020.
Deforestation shot up in 2020, nearly doubling the amount of forest loss over 2019. 2021 may be another rocky year for the biosphere reserve, with satellite data showing several “unusually high” spikes of clearing activity so far this year.
Sources say deforestation in the reserve is being driven by logging, agriculture and the drug trade.