“It is the cry of nature, the tears of the forest that keep us here,” says member of the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders.

National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras - Last Saturday, February 15, townspeople from Marcala, La Paz, participated in the Second Open Environmental Town Hall Meeting, in which organizations, platforms and community members presented proposals for the care and defense of natural resources.

Results included the approval of several different actions, and a declaration that Marcala is now free from mining projects and electric power plants. Townspeople also stated their resolve to protect fauna and wild life and to form a commission of social organizations to follow up on the agreements.

The National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras (RNDDH), together with other human rights organizations, accompanied townspeople and observed the activities in which RNDDH members from the territories spoke out for the defense of natural resources, demanding respect for the defense of individual and collective rights.

This Open Town Meeting was a major community achievement. Despite the risks of confronting the economic interests fostering extractive activities, the town raised its voice against mining and hydroelectric projects and in defense of the health of the townspeople.