Goodbye, Open-Pit Mines

Honduras becomes the third South American country – after El Salvador and Costa Rica – to halt open-pit projects, as the mining activity is accountable for deforestation, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity across the country.

“The approval of extractive exploitation permits is canceled for being harmful, threatening natural resources, public health and limiting access to water as a human right,” as stated by the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment, and Mines.

Environmental permits will no longer be granted for open-pit mining projects, and the authorities also plan on carrying out a “review, suspension and cancellation” of environmental licenses for the open-pit mines in operation — out of the 217 mining concessions in operation, 130 are near or inside indigenous territory — notably to preserve the areas of “high ecological value”.