The Globe and Mail November 11, 1998 DEFORESTATION WORSENED MITCH'S EFFECT: EXPERTS Widespread deforestation in Central America has contributed to the devastation triggered by hurricane Mitch, particularly in Honduras and Nicaragua, experts said yesterday. With an average of 48 hectares of forest lost every hour in the region, experts say many mountainsides no longer have trees to hold back landslides or stop the rain from sweeping away topsoil and dumping it into rivers. "The rain that fell in deforested regions could not be absorbed. Instead it carried the soil into rivers, depositing sediments in river beds. This diminished the rivers' capacities and worsened the floods," said Juan Blas of the Central American Council on Forests and Protected Zones. Torrential rains drenched the region for a week, flooding rivers that swept away hundreds of kilometres of railway tracks and roads, entire villages and thousands of hectares of crops. They also triggered massive landslides, including one on the south flank of the Casitas volcano in northeastern Nicaragua that buried five villages and killed more than 2,200 people. The total death toll has been estimated at 11,100, with 15,300 still missing across Central America. British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown yesterday proposed that a World Bank trust fund be set up to aid Mitch's victims as well as "a moratorium on official bilateral debts." France said it would scrap debt owed to it by the Central American states devastated by the storm and, with Britain, would cover those countries' repayments to the International Monetary Fund. Canada has pledged $9-million in aid, and Canadian troops are in place for relief work in northern Honduras. Disaster specialists including doctors, nurses, engineers and security troops have set up camp nearby in the small village of Sonneguera. The full 181-member Canadian team should be in place by Monday. Troops spent yesterday setting up a water-purifying system and a mini-hospital and establishing communications links, said Captain Yvonne Cooper, a Canadian Forces spokeswoman. The United States yesterday pledged long-term support to rebuild Honduras. Tipper Gore, wife of Vice-President Al Gore, arrived in Tegucigalpa with medical supplies and the promise of an additional $10-million (U.S.) in aid, on top of $70-million already announced. Honduras and Nicaragua lost most of their crops and much of their forests in the storm. At the best of times, between 80,000 and 108,000 hectares of tropical forests disappear every year in Honduras. In neighbouring Nicaragua the figure is between 100,000 and 120,000 hectares, according to environmental organizations. AgenceFrance-Presse, Tegucigalpa Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
