It’s Not Easy Being Green

Costa Rica and Panama joined forces to set up a collection center for empty chemical containers used on the field crops in the border area between the two countries. Jorge Esquivel Ferrero, who manages the Clean Our Fields Foundation program, said this is the fifth collection center in Costa Rica, set up to address...
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Although sea turtles have survived since the time of the dinosaurs, fewer are arriving to lay their eggs on Panamanian shores because the people on those shores like to dig them up and eat them. “Turtles spawn large quantities of eggs, but this has declined due to excessive harvesting of eggs and hunting for...
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Although violent protests have dominated the news out of Bocas del Toro as of late, wire services are now reporting that the Changuinola I hydro plant is set to begin commercial operations in the first half of next year. The $536 million plant, developed by AES Panama, will use water from the Changuinola and...
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A U.S. company denounced the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) on Monday for allegedly requesting $100,000 to approve an environmental impact study for an all inclusive residential community on Lake Gatun. Armando Silvestre, Manager of the La Reserva community, said that Francisco Garzon, advisor to ANAM’S Deputy Administrator, proposed streamlining the approval at a March meeting....
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Among the coastal dunes of the district of Pocri in the Los Santos Province, thousands of crabs were seen agonizing and foaming before dying. Panama’s National Environmental Authority arrived on the scene today to begin investigating and find those responsible. So far officials  have found insecticides in the area which they suspect to be...
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There may be plans in the works to build a road along Panama’s Atlantic coastline, but opponents wonder about the consequences on biological diversity. The 143-mile coastal highway, denominated the Gran Carretera, would link the town of Miguel de la Borda in the province of Colon and Bocas del Toro’s Chiriqui Grande. At present,...
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Delegates from the Central American Integration System (SICA) countries are busy this week in Bonn, Germany pushing for a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by 2012. Leslie Marin, Director of Climate Change for Panama’s National Environmental Authority presented the documented request at the May 31 to June 9 United Nations Framework...
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President Martinelli fired Simon Becker, now former governor of the Bocas del Toro province, for what some speculate was a failure in carrying out orders. Becker began his gubernatorial term on July 1, 2009.  On November 19, Minister of Government and Justice Jose Raul Mulino ordered the evictio of the Naso indians occupying the...
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Clayton residents who denounced the burning of brush areas within the Camino de Cruces Park yesterday were surprised to discover that the National Environmental Authority had sparked the fires. The controlled fires were set to prepare for a day of reforestation in honor of Natural Resources Month which began June 1 and World Environment...
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Some 8,026 square kilometers, or 27 percent, of Panama’s 28,157 square-mile national territory is degraded. There are four critical zones:  Cerro Punta in Chiriqui where agrochemicals are used, the Veraguas savannah, the Arco Seco on the Azuero Peninsula and the Ngöbe Bugle shire. More than a half a million people live in these zones, many...
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