Panama to Protect San Lorenzo Forest
10/1/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: PANAMA to Protect San Lorenzo Forest
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: October 1, 1999
Byline: Diane Jukofsky
EL DORADO, Panama, October 1, 1999 (ENS) - It will all be over by
noon on December 31, 1999. All Panama Canal lands and buildings once
managed by the United States, some 265,000 acres, will have reverted
to Panama in fulfillment of a 1977 treaty signed by U.S. President
Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos.
One of the choicest pieces is the San Lorenzo protected area, about
30,000 acres of forest at the mouth of the Caribbean entrance to the
canal. San Lorenzo reverted to Panama in June.
To ensure that the mostly forested area remains intact and its
protection benefits local residents, the Panamanian Center for
Research and Social Action (CEASPA in its Spanish acronym) is working
with the national environmental agency, the tourism institute, and
the Interoceanic Regional Authority, the agency charged with
coordinating how the reverted lands will be used.
With $725,000 over four years from the Global Environmental Facility,
a fund managed by the United Nations and World Bank, CEASPA has the
delicate task of trying to unify the many people with different ideas
about what to do with the San Lorenzo lands.
The main way the nonprofit group will achieve that goal, says project
coordinator Charlotte Elton, is through information sharing. CEASPA
has held numerous community meetings and plans many more, so San
Lorenzo's neighbors feel they have a say in the area's future. "Many
feel that if San Lorenzo is a protected area, they won't enjoy the
benefits of development," Elton explains. "That's a valid concern."
CEASPA must also counteract a prevalent attitude that after nearly a
century of U.S. presence in San Lorenzo, the land is available to
whoever can move in first with a chainsaw. CEASPA is helping to train
forest rangers who will patrol the area and work with residents and
local governments so everyone understands what is permitted and what
is not in San Lorenzo.
Bolvar Zambrano, the regional administrator of the natural resources
authority, ANAM, believes that illegal logging could be a problem in
the area, since the forests hold magnificent and valuable hardwoods.
He says that ANAM is committed to protecting the rainforest. "The
area has an abundance of natural wealth important to all of Panama,"
he points out. "It is particularly valuable for migratory birds,
which fly back and forth from North and South America."
The Panama Audubon Society counted 357 species of birds in San
Lorenzo during one 24 hour period, a record among Audubon Society
bird counts in the Western Hemisphere. The forests also protect such
endangered species as tapirs and jaguars.
Elton has a vision for San Lorenzo. "In 10 years, we hope to see
local people committed to the idea of protection, with training and
job opportunities for them," she says.