Environmentalists call for Martinelli to live up to promises

Environmental advocacy groups in Panama are tired of the presidential talk and are calling for the walk.

On the eve of the Copenhagen world conference on Global warming, they have challenged President Ricardo Martinelli to follow through on his election promises and want concrete actions after 150 days in office.
In a letter to the president they cite his words during the General Assembly of the UN when he called for "implementing new ways, changing our behavior and valuing our relationship with nature."
According to conservationists, the reality is different. The areas of land for metallic mining concessions has grown exponentially.
In March of 2009 there were 127,036 hectares under concession, for exploration and exploitation. By October the figure rose to 157, 229 hectares.
The groups also questioned the continuing policy of development in coastal areas. "The disorderly real estate and tourism development is saturating these areas ….", says the letter. Among the signatories were the National Association for the Conservation of Nature (ANCON), Environmental Advocacy Center (CIAM), the Marviva Foundation The Albatros, Foundation, Panama Audubon Society, Conservation International.
The groups also drew attention to lack of action in the energy area, and land use planning and said that the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) has been weakened and is ineffective, which affects the country’s environmental institutions.
Alida Spadafora, director of Ancona, and Raisa Banfield, director of CIAM, called for a moratorium on mining.