Hidden by the shadows of night, a caravan of some 30 trucks loaded with felled trees, some of which were standing before the European discovery of America, made its way past Torti en route to sawmills in the capital.

PRD deputy Sergio Tócamo, an Embera who represents the Darien’s second circuit and a member of the Legislative Assembly’s Indigenous Affairs Committee, said that the logging "is an indiscriminate business. It’s a multi-million-dollar caravan of logs that’s doing away with the flora and fauna of the Darien, without anybody being able to do anything about it."

"Right now they’re felling trees that are up to 700 years old, that were standing when the Spanish conquerors and colonizers came to America," Tócamo lamented. He said that the National Environmental Authority (ANAM) must exercise greater control in the area, and alleged that in the indigenous communities of Maje, Embera Puru and Guargandi the big logging concessionaires are not complying with the terms of the logging permits that the local authorities have granted.

Levis Mon, one of those concessionaires, disputed the charge of permit non-compliance. "It’s totally false that this activity has been carried out illegally --- the indigenous people are very strict and jealously protective of their laws," he said. Mon said that he couldn’t speak for other concessionaires and added that for his part he has occasionally volunteered his resources the help indigenous communities build roads.

Rosa Pérez, another of the country’s big logging concessionaires, maintained that she has never had problems with indigenous communities because she complies with the laws that regulate the industry. "I’ve stopped logging in the indigenous reserves because now I have my own farms," she said.

There are those who oppose forest concessions. Mireya Quiel, representative of Empresa de Servicios Agropecuarios (ESA) and an environmental specialist, said she’s worried agout indiscriminate logging, especially in the Darien and Bocas del Toro. In the Darien, she said, sedimentation from logging operations is affecting mangroves, coral reefs and marine species.

"It’s necessary to restrict or suspend the concessions for a time to avoid the erosion that’s destroying our forests," she said. "This will permit better control of the ecological potential that we have." Quiel noted that there are various proposals to suspend logging on a national level, as was done in 1987.

Deforestation carries with it various threats to the country, such as the loss of agricultural lands, which could endanger the food supply. More immediate concerns include the loss of biological diversity, which would increase shortages of forest products like lumber, firewood, medicinal plants and fruits. Moreover, it can cause the deterioration of important watersheds, which could significantly reduce the useful lives of the Panama Canal, hydroelectric dams and other public and private investments, Quiel pointed out.

The statistics speak for themselves. According to the experts, 200 hectares of forest are cut down every day in the Darien. In 2000, only 39 percent of a country that was about two-thirds covered with forests a generation ago retained its trees, and the projections are that only 32 percent of the land will have forests by 2010. Between 1986 and 1992, according to conservative estimates, the country lost about 315,000 hectares of forests.

And for what? Despite the profits made and jobs created by the logging business, the industry only accounts for about one percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

However, ANAM director Ricardo Anguizola defended the industry. "The controls are working well. Indiscriminate logging is a thing of the past," he said. "It’s not like that now."

Anguizola said that that businesses have to get a permit every time they cut, and must have transportation guidelines that establish volume and cargo controls. "There can be a reasonable margin of error, but when the volume doesn’t coincide, the excess is confiscated," he pointed out.

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