Last gasp draft law an environmental crime

A DRAFT LAW seeking to reduce the boundaries of the Bay of Panama protected area is among the 23 items on the list that the government wants to push through the Assembly in special session and environmentalists are outraged

The National Conservation agency (Ancon) denounced the move on Wednesday May 21 saying that approval of the law presented by Minister of Economy and Finance Frank De Lima, would be an environmental crime.

Ancon Director Rita Spadafora said that the "extraordinary session is illegal because it should not be used to handle projects of social interest, since the reduction of the limits of the area undermines the principle of collective interest."
She added that approval of the law would lead to flooding in areas around the bay, such as Juan Diaz and Tocumen.
According to the legislative initiative, the protected area would have some 75,332 hectares, or about 10,000 less than its current size.
The government has tried before to reduce the boundaries of the protected area, created in 2009. but a Supreme Court decision in April 2012 blocked it.
The area is protected under the Ramsar Convention, of which Panama is a signee, due to its importance to migratory birds.
Between 1 and 2 million shorebirds of more than 30 species use the bay during their annual southward migration. Many migratory shorebird species that breed in the Canadian Arctic, Subarctic or Boreal forest.