Posted by: efeverde
June 2, 2021
Panama supports climate diplomacy strategies aimed at protecting and restoring the oceans, and in that framework, in exactly one week, it will reach the goal of 30% protection of its underwater areas, the Panamanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Erika Mouynes said this Tuesday at the UN.
On June 8, World Oceans Day , Panama will achieve this goal in advance compliance with international agreements against climate change, said Mouynes during his intervention in the “High-Level Thematic Debate: Underwater life, towards a pollution-free ocean, protected and resistant to the weather.”
Panama will thus join the “select” group of countries with at least 30% of the marine space protected with the country’s decision to expand the limits of the Managed Resources Area of the underwater Cordillera de Coiba, in Panamanian territorial waters of the Eastern Tropical Pacific, said the Panamanian Foreign Ministry.
This decision, Mouynes stressed, “will benefit the ecological connectivity between the marine areas of Costa Rica, Colombia and the Galapagos Islands, in Ecuador, facilitating the migration of highly threatened marine species and benefiting the conservation of an area of recognized world value for its biodiversity. and endemism.”
Coiba Island
Coiba [National Park], located in the south of the province of Veraguas, occupies a total of 270,125 hectares; 216,000 of these hectares are marine areas, and due to its wealth of biodiversity, was declared a National Park in 1991 and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005.
The protected territory is made up of the island of Coiba, the largest in the Central American Pacific, and eight smaller islands and 30 islets, which make it one of the most extensive and diverse marine parks in the world.
The Coiba National Park is part of the Marine Corridor of the Eastern Tropical Pacific, which also includes the Galapagos National Park and Marine Reserve (Ecuador), the Isla del Coco National Park (Costa Rica), the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary (Colombia) and the Gorgona National Natural Park (Colombia).
Mouynes invited the countries of the Eastern Tropical Pacific to strengthen and expand their own protected areas to consolidate a natural marine corridor, which is considered a transnational “biogeographic province” due to the common and complementary characteristics that require comprehensive management.
Green agenda
The Panamanian Foreign Minister pointed out that as part of its “green agenda,” Panama promotes other initiatives for the care of the oceans, such as the National Policy on Wetlands and Oceans, the National Action Plan for Marine Litter and participation in global efforts such as the 30×30 initiative and the GloLitter project together with FAO and IMO to reduce the presence of waste in the seas.
He also announced that the isthmus will host the eighth edition of the international conference “Our Oceans”, a meeting that in its latest prepandemic version held in Oslo (2019), which brought together more than 500 world leaders from nearly one hundred different nations.
Mounes participated in the high-level forum on underwater life and ocean at the United Nations, which is dedicated to promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). EFEverde
Read the original coverage from EFE Verde at https://www.efeverde.com/noticias/panama-proteccion-areas-submarinas/
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