INTERNATIONAL PARKS IN CENTRAL AMERICA KEY TO SAVING
SHARED ENVIRONMENTS, SOOTHING CONTRASTING POLITICS
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, January 29, 1992 -- Two Latin American
governmental ministers sat side by side last fall and announced an
important agreement. It was a memorable moment, because high-level
government officials in Costa Rica and Panama don't often discuss
their common interests, in spite of their proximity.
But these particular officials were Hernan Bravo and Luis Narv ez,
who head the natural resource ministries of Costa Rica and Panama,
respectively. And their agreement was to jointly manage a 2.5
million-acre biosphere reserve that spans their borders. The
international reserve is called "La Amistad," the Spanish word for
friendship.
"In a way, this eliminates the borders that separate our
countries," said Narvaez, as he signed the document. Bravo added,
"La Amistad, with its richness of biodiversity, has an enormous
importance not only to Costa Rica and Panama, but also to the
world."
If the politicians ruling the countries that make up the skinny
isthmus bridging North and South America can agree on anything, it
will likely be on the importance of their shared environments.
Last year, Bravo signed a similar compact with another natural
resources minister from a country with which Costa Rica has seldom
found much common ground. Jaime Incer is Bravo's counterpart in
Nicaragua, Costa Rica's sometimes contentious northern neighbor.
Incer and Bravo agreed to manage a park that extends 120 miles
along the San Juan River, which borders the two countries. The
bi-national park is called "Si-A-Paz," or "Yes-to-Peace," a name
with underlying insinuations. The area was the site of skirmishes
between rebel Nicaraguans and Sandinista troops that occasionally
spilled over the Costa Rican frontier.
The "Friendship" and "Yes-to-Peace" parks are two in a string of
protected areas created in recent years with ownership and
management responsibilities shared among two or more Central
American countries. Others include:
o "El Trifinio," a 3.2 million-acre mountainous and mostly
forested area that stretches across the borders of Guatemala, El
Salvador and Honduras and includes Montecristo park, El Salvador's
last remaining cloud forest.
o The Maya Mountains Reserve, a cloud forest that stretches
across Guatemala and Belize.
o The 3.9 million-acre Maya Biosphere Reserve on Guatemala's
frontier with Mexico.
"Nothing seems to soothe regional tensions better than creating
international reserves," says Manuel Ramirez, Costa Rica in-country
program director for Conservation International (CI), which has
provided millions of dollars in technical and direct assistance to
both La Amistad and the Maya Biosphere Reserves. "Central American
leaders recognize the importance of their dangerously dwindling,
shared natural resources."
But Ramirez adds that the ability of each country to allocate
resources to its international parks varies enormously and that, so
far, the reserves are still mostly "paper parks."
CI has worked with the commission that manages La Amistad in Costa
Rica since 1988. Meticulously designed management plans take into
consideration those living outside the reserve and the indigenous
peoples whose tribal lands lie within La Amistad's borders; the
integrity of the area's watershed, which provides more than half of
the country's fresh water; and La Amistad's astounding diversity of
plants and wildlife. Management of La Amistad in Panama is still
in its planning stages.
In Nicaragua, Minister Incer's ambitious plans to develop a peace
park with Costa Rica are seriously hampered by the country's
faltering economy, but he remains hopeful. "Si-A-Paz can prove to
the world that Nicaragua is not a warrior nation," he says.
The linking of international parks is a cornerstone of a $3.2
million Central American conservation plan developed by the
Caribbean Conservation Corporation and Wildlife Conservation
International. The two U.S. groups see linking protected areas
that would then draw tourists as integral in saving the region's
remaining forests. Jim Barborak, a project advisor, notes that
"Central America probably has more forested land on shared borders
than anywhere else in the world."
The ambitious plan is called "Paseo Pantera," or "path of the
panther," after the majestic cat that roams for miles through
remote forest, ignoring frontiers and visa requirements.
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Readers: This article may be used as is or altered, with or
without credit to the Tropical Conservation Newsbureau. Contacts:
In the U.S., Lilliana Madrigal, Conservation International
(202/429-5660); David Carr, Caribbean Conservation Corporation
(904/373-6441); Archie Carr III, Wildlife Conservation
International (904/371-1713). In Costa Rica, Manuel Ramirez
(506/25-2649). In Nicaragua, Jaime Incer (505/23-1273). In
Panama, Luis Narvaez, (507/32-4870).