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Panamanian environmentalists warn:
Governmental City must not affect protected areas or forests
by the Civil Society Initiative for the Environment (ISCA)
The Civil Society Initiative for the Environment (ISCA), a coalition of 10 civic organizations, warns that lands within the national parks in the canal watershed must not be used for the construction of the Governmental City.
ISCA recalls that one of the options that was debated last year was taking a piece of land from the Las Cruces Trail National Park for this project, and that thanks to pressure from an organized citizenry we avoided this bad decision, which would have caused a great loss of grasslands and pastures adjacent to the old Fort Clayton, which not only perform an important erosion control function for canal watershed, but are also used every year by thousands of migratory birds as a resting site on their long flights between North and South America.
Adding to the high costs of providing access, public services and infrastructure to these "vacant lots," the location of the Governmental City in the Clayton Antenna Field would have also meant the loss of biological continuity among the Sovereignty and Las Cruces Trail National Parks and the Metropolitan Nature Park.
ISCA knows the concerns expressed by business owners, professional groups and users about the possible new transfer of Marcos A. Gelabert Airport from its present location. However, if the Governmental City project is not to be built at the present airport location, environmentalists warn that options that minimize the environmental effects and economic costs to the Panamanian people must be sought. ISCA proposes that the Governmental City be located in one of the numerous canal-area bases that reverted to Panama, many of which are underused.
ISCA:
- Asociaciones Cívicas Unidas para la Reforestación de Panamá (ACU)
- Asociación Oceánica de Panamá (AOP)
- Asociación Verde de Panamá (ASVEPA)
- Centro de Asistencia Legal Popular (CEALP)
- Centro de Estudios y Acción Social Panameño (CEASPA)
- Asociación Derecho y Ecología (DEECO)
- Defensa Ambiental
- Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Libertad Ciudadana
- Sociedad Audubon de Panamá (SAP)
- Unión de Ciudadanas de Panamá (UCP)
- Observador: Comisión de Justicia y Paz
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