Panamas tree cutting record hits new low

Panama’s environmental performance ranking has fallen 15 points with  record low ratings on forest protection and health of the oceans.

The document, drafted this year by the Universities of Yale and Columbus,I n the United States, indicated that Panama fell 15 points to 39 compared to the last survey in 2010, when it was ranked 24.
It also recorded the worst performance in the protection of forests. In protecting forest cover it sirs at 96 and the loss of forests at 82.
The analysis evaluated 132 countries in 10 categories, such as biodiversity and habitat, water resources, air pollution, sanitation, among others.
In the meantime The Reverted Areas Federation announced a request to the full Supreme Court to reconsider the decision of the Fourth Chamber which last week agreed to resume construction of a building of parking lots on the slopes of Ancon Hill.
The project tendered by the Supreme Court was awarded to the company Corcione & Associates.
The work establishes the construction of a building that will have 356 parking spaces and the subsequent cutting of 34 trees, among which are royal palms, a species protected by the National Environmental Authority.
The move prompted widespread protests with local residents chaining the selves to trees marked for cutting.