Honduras and Nicaragua signed an agreement on Tuesday, in the Honduran border town Las Manos, to protect the environment for the benefit of the indigenous peoples of the two nations.

The natural resources ministers of Nicaragua and Honduras, Cristobal Sequeira Gonzalez and Mayra Mejia, signed an agreement on the protection of an area called The Mezo-American Biological Corridor, which lies on the two country's joint border.

The presidents of Nicaragua and Honduras, Enrique Bolanos and Manuel Zelaya were present at the signing ceremony.

Zelaya said that Tuesday's arrangement, which followed a recent agreement allowing citizens of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua to travel freely across the borders of the four nations, was also part of a broader Central American integration process.

Zelaya said that Central Americans had to come together to combat poverty, violence and environmental deterioration.

Bolanos called on Central Americans to work towards the rational exploitation of their natural resources, which are seen as an important pillar of their wealth.

"The only medicine that will cure poverty is wealth ... and Central Americans' wealth can be seen in their natural resources which have to be exploited in a rational way," he said.

Source: Xinhua