And both Juan and Kay - as leading conservationists - responded to what the Minister said last night was his reason for considering a license for the environmentally sensitive area. Here's what he said as a justification and here's their response:
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development:
"What has happened in this era particularly is that a lot of illegal logging has occurred. So we saw it from that standpoint that if the logs are being stolen and the government isn't getting any revenues and it is being done in a way which we don't want it because it's not sustainable, then preferably look at it as a sustainable forest license."
Dr. Elma Kay, MD - Bze Maya Forest Trust, Chair -BNN:
"I think that is an argument that is often used. I think it's been used, for example, for the Chiquibul, for Manatee, for different areas that's been the justification."
"But I do think that there are other solutions than just logging to ensure that the illegal stuff is not happening."
Aaron Juan, Co-Manager Tapir Mtn. Nature Reserve/1000Ft. Falls:
"Then I could see where his response comes from and how he tried to justify it. But my question as a concerned citizen and a protected area manager, my first question would be let's look at the data. Has anyone, has the forest department gone in and do an assessment of the area? Are we talking that a group of illegal loggers from the nearby community stole 50 trees or five trees? Or are we talking that they've been stealing 80% of what's there? We don't know. And I think that needs to be answered first to draw to that conclusion. The big question is, is it true? Is it how much have been logged? How much have been lost?"
"And is there an alternative?"
"Like I said at the beginning, my, personally, my response to that would be, well, let's increase patrols."
"Let's meet with the community members. Let's find out who is actually doing this logging."
We are told that APAMO will also be putting out a statement on this. The logging license has not been granted but we understand it is in process.
