A/HRC/44/43/Add.2 resources in the Montaña de Botaderos National Park is a case in point (see paras. 41–42 below). 36. The Working Group received alarming information regarding the systematic lack of access to information by all stakeholders in environmental decision-making, including the status of licencing and concession processes, and companies and investors involved. 37. The transparency of granting licences processes and concessions may be further compromised by the adoption of Legislative Decree No. 418-2013 (Ley para la Clasificación de Documentos Públicos relacionados con la Defensa y Seguridad Nacional) and subsequent Ministerial Decree No. 1402-2018. It was reported that critical elements of the licence and concession processes, including information on environmental impact studies, and location of exploratory permits may be classified as “secret information”. 38. On 9 February 2020, the Working Group was informed by OHCHR Honduras that the Constitutional Chamber had ruled (by three in favour and two against) that the parts of the law placing restrictions on access to information pertaining to environmental impact studies were unconstitutional.The Supreme Court is expected to make a final decision thereon. 39. The Working Group urges governmental agencies, particularly the Ministry of the Environment to remove all legislative and administrative obstacles to the exercise of right of access to information at all stages of environmental licences and the issuing of concessions, in accordance with relevant international human rights standards. It also urges Honduras to sign the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement). 40. The Working Group is alarmed to note that Congress does not exercise oversight over decisions regarding protected areas to ensure that the impact on people and the environment is transparently assessed and mitigated, with the inclusive participation of affected communities. For example, the Working Group expresses its concern at the case of the Montaña de Botaderos National Park, on the border between the Departments of Yoro, Colón and Olancho, which was declared a national park by legislative decree No. 127-2012 but not registered in the Catalogue of Inalienable Public Forestry Heritage by the Institute for the Conservation of Forests, Protected Areas and Wildlife in contravention of article 8 of the same decree. 41. Noting that article 48 of the mining law prohibits the granting of mining licences in areas inscribed in the catalogue of protected areas, the Working Group was troubled by the decision of Congress to pass a legislative decree to reduce the core zone of the Montaña de Botaderos National Park from 24,224 hectares to 23,900. Of the area removed from the core zone, concessions were issued for extractive activities on 200 hectares. Such a change in zoning coincided with the territory for which two applications for mining concessions had been submitted, raising the question of whether the purpose of the decree was to accommodate these concessions so that they would no longer be located in the core zone. C. Land rights 42. Agriculture continues to be a driving force behind economic growth. Many small farmers engage in small-scale and subsistence farming. Indigenous communities often hold collective ancestral titles on land. Approximately 80 per cent of privately held land is, however, either untitled or improperly titled.12 43. Access to, use of and control over land are issues at the root of many social conflicts, where business enterprises are – either directly or indirectly – involved. 44. The Government informed the Working Group about several measures taken to register and adjudicate land, including for the benefit of small-scale farmers and indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples. This includes the titling of some 1,114,976 hectares benefiting around 25,000 families from 12 Miskito territorial councils, and the plan for the Alliance for 12 8 www.land-links.org/country-profile/honduras/#1528466934567-fd17cef6-5782.