Ecobreves – PANAMA: National Park Law Postponed

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

PANAMA CITY, Jul 14 2003 (IPS) - Conservationists and scientists alike bemoan the Panama Legislative Assembly's decision to omit from its agenda a bill to create the Coiba National Park, which would protect the country's biological wealth along the Pacific coast. During the ordinary period of sessions, which ended Jun. 30, the lawmakers did not vote on the bill that includes a plan for protecting the biodiverse Coiba area, covering 270,000 hectares.

“The issue was also excluded from the agenda of the extraordinary period of sessions, and will have to wait to be reintroduced to the next legislature,” says Ariel Rodríguez, an expert with the University of Panama's biological resources research cente