Declaration of the Man and Biosphere Reserve of the Platano River as a Zone of Special Interest

This decree declares the Río Plátano Man and Biosphere Reserve as a Special Interest Zone to give it maximum protection. It orders the creation of a permanent committee with various state institutions to coordinate conservation actions, obtain resources, and implement a joint action plan that protects this world heritage site, home to indigenous peoples and great biodiversity.

That the Man and Biosphere Reserve of the Río Plátano constitutes the principal and most extensive protected area of the country, with coverage of seven percent (7%) of the national territory, declared as a protected area in 1980, by Decree Law No. 977-80, and its limits expanded by Legislative Decree No. 170-93, encompassing said marine and coastal areas, mangroves, associations of pine and tigue forests in savanna as wetlands, lagoons, coral reefs and cays, home to the greatest biodiversity of the Reserve, likewise it welcomes cultural diversity being found in it Native Latinos and Indigenous Peoples: Miskitu, Tawahka, Pech and Afro-Hondurans.

That the Man and Biosphere Reserve of the Río Plátano constitutes part of the Natural World Heritage, status granted by the United Nations Organization for Education and Culture (UNESCO) in 1982, with identification No. 196, which obliges the State of Honduras to incorporate all those mechanisms that promote comprehensive management of natural resources in the area.

That the latest evaluations conducted by UNESCO on the administration of the Reserve demonstrated the need to implement special, immediate and permanent actions in addressing the problem, intervention that requires concentrating efforts and channeling these through programming that incorporates the different institutional actors in order to strengthen environmental governance in the Reserve.

That the State of Honduras has developed actions through its Institutions in order to achieve sustainable management of the Man and Biosphere Reserve of the Río Plátano, however this world reserve is currently threatened by different anthropogenic factors, which warrant direct and immediate intervention in its administration.

That the State of Honduras is obliged to harmonize policies and coordinate the efforts and resources of its different Institutions, in order to comply with technical and legal commitments, such as international ones, to protect the Natural Resources, riches of the Reserve and its inhabitants, this through the planning and execution of joint and multidisciplinary actions of all those involved.

That the Constitution of the Republic establishes that the State has the obligation to protect children. Consequently, it must adopt the necessary measures against economic exploitation and the performance of any child labor that may be dangerous to their life, personal integrity for their health, for their physical, mental, moral or social development or may hinder their right to education.

That the State of Honduras is a signatory to International Instruments that protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of children, among which stand out: the American Convention on Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Convention 138 on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child among others.

That the Code of Children and Adolescence has as its general objective the comprehensive protection of children, being a duty of the State to formulate policies, develop, promote and execute programs aimed at preventing child labor and its worst forms and for the gradual abolition of the work of Honduran boys and girls. CONSIDERING: That the Law for the Establishment of a Country Vision and the Adoption of a National Plan for Honduras, approved by Legislative Decree No. 286-2009 dated January 13, 2010 contains principles, objectives and goals of national priority that in turn have a direct impact on addressing the problem of child labor in our country.

That the Government Plan marks the starting point of a new approach to comprehensive development of Honduras with strategic planning and with the participation of the different sectors of civil society in which the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of children is a priority.

That Child Labor is that activity carried out by a boy or girl who is less than the