Country Risk Profiles

Timber Risk Score: 0 / 100 in 2017. The Timber Legality Risk Assessment contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Honduras for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found:

• Specified risk for 19 sub-categories.
• Low risk for 0 sub-categories.
• No legal requirements for 2 sub-categories.

Forest cover in Honduras is estimated to cover 48% of the country, of which:

• about 57.5% is broadleaf forest
• 36% coniferous forests
• 5% mixed forests
• 0.9% mangrove forests.

With respect to planted forests, a total of 29,940 ha of plantations certified by the government of Honduras have been reported (about 0.5% of the total forest area).

The government manages the National Public Forest (Bosque Público Nacional) and regulates municipally-owned and private forests through the Institute for Forest Conservation, Protected Areas and Wildlife (Instituto de Conservación Forestal Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre, ICF) and other relevant agencies.

Three types of land tenure for forest property are recognised:

• Public land, which may be nationally or municipally-owned property
• Private land, which can be owned privately, communally, tribally or collectively
• Government (fiscal), whereby the government assigns tenure rights to a public party.

Commercial harvesting is subject to a management plan, which is in effect for a minimum period equal to the rotation period, and an Annual operating plan.

Reportedly, Honduras is experiencing high levels of illegality throughout its forest sector, including both at the forest level and in the supply chain. This can undermine efforts to obtain robust information on the harvest-origin of wood products.

Several legality risks are present in Honduaran timber supply chains. The risks are wide-ranging and appear across all categories of law. If you are sourcing timber from Honduras you should take care to ensure the extensive risks identified are not present in your supply chains, or have been sufficiently mitigated. VIEW LESS