Nicaragua military join the fight against illegal loggers!!!

[hellheaven1987]

Deep inside the verdant and sweltering vegetation of Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast, a specially trained army unit is waging a new kind of war against a new type of enemy.

Operation Green Gold is the inaugural mission of Nicaragua's newly formed Ecological Battalion.

It is Central America's first concerted effort to seek a military-backed solution to the threats of climate change.

The green guard, a unit of 580 environmental soldiers, recently won its first "battlefield victory" by netting 111,800 cubic feet (3,165 cubic metres) of illegal lumber felled by loggers.

The trees were chopped down in Cerro Wawashang, a nature reserve that is being plundered to supply the black market for construction materials.

The eco-battalion, working in conjunction with state prosecutors and forestry officials, discovered the lumber contraband hidden under netting and brush to avoid detection from the air.

The troops are now reportedly on the trail of the criminal organisation that was extracting the wood from the jungle on riverboats.

"There are unscrupulous people who are taking advantage of the economic limitations of the people in this region.

"And in the end, it's the outsiders who benefit while the local communities are left with the indiscriminate deforestation," says Col Nestor Lopez, the army's chief of civil operations.

In a country with 71 nature reserves and other large areas of thick, primary forest, Nicaragua's precious hardwoods are tempting booty for timber traffickers.

Since 1983, Nicaragua's forest cover has dropped from 63% to some 40%, according to government data.

Not all Nicaragua's deforestation is caused by the lumber mafia - farmers and cattle ranchers are also doing their fair share of careless chopping.

But whoever is responsible, at the current rate of clearance only 25% of the country is likely to remain forested by 2030.

Reserves such as Cerro Wawashang will be reduced to scrub brush and grass, according to the military's projections.

Source

Where do I sign up for this sacred band protecting Mother Earth?

[Farnan]

Bolivia and India also have ecological units as does the US Coast Guard.

Ecological Battalions
1.127 Infantry Battalion (TA) Garhwal Rifles Eco - Dehradun

2.128 Infantry Battalion (TA) Rajputana Rifles Eco - Bikaner

3.129 Infantry Battalion (TA) JAK LI Eco - Samba

4.130 Infantry Battalion (TA) Kumaon Eco - Pithoragarh

5.131 Infantry Battalion (TA) Rajput Eco - Gwalior

6.132 Infantry Battalion (TA) Eco - Bhatti Mines, Delhi

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-F...er/209-TA.html

Army organized has ten divisions controlling the following units:





Snipers carrying Dragunov SVD rifles. eight cavalry regiments, included two mechanized regiments
twenty-tree infantry regiments included two airborne and two mountain
one recce.mechanized regiments and one armored regiments
two ranger regiments and one special forces regiments
six artillery regiments and plus three in reserve
one artillery and anti-air group
one artillery and anti-air Regiment
three military police battalion
three ecological battalion
two army aviation company
six engineer battalions
Plus logistical and instructional support commands
Presidential Guard (Bolivian Colorados Regiment) infantry regiment under direct control of the army headquarters in La Paz's Miraflores district

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Army

[Phier]

Logging isn't exactly something thats easy to hide. Especially because you need to transport the wood. The issue is that these countries are so poor that its easy to bribe the ones that are suppose to stop it.

I also love how they tie in that its the local people getting screwed in this. They are the ones doing the logging because it pays so much better than subsistence living.

Unless they are paying the 'eco-units' wages above the bribery threshold, they will be more likely to stop competition for the people that bribe them than stop any real logging.

[NotYetRegistered]

I love the smell of flowers in the morning

Anyway, didn't know such things existed.

[DimeBagHo]

The OP provides insufficient basis for discussion. PM me if you want to improve this. Closed in the meantime.