ABSTRACT
Honduras and Nicaragua qualify as heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) and are among the poorest in the Western hemisphere. Both countries have extensive natural forest cover,2 and economic and livelihood dependence upon forests is significant. In 1997, the forest sector in Honduras contributed some 9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 7 per cent of national foreign currency earnings (Lazo, 2001), while in Nicaragua it contributed 3.2 per cent of GDP (Friends of the Earth, 1999). However, levels of deforestation are also high.3 In remoter areas, where dependence upon forests is highest, deforestation is partly the result of widespread illegal logging. Yet, the links between illegal logging and rural livelihoods, and, in particular, poverty, remain poorly understood.
