Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

• Water infrastructure - Construction of hydroelectric dams near the property in Panama and associated effects (greater human presence near the property, interruption of aquatic species migratory corridor) - Approval of a new hydropower project (Changuinola II or CHAN 140) without prior finalization of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the entire property
• Lack of a long-term biological monitoring program to implement mitigation measures that minimize the negative impacts on the property caused by hydroelectric projects
• Land conversion (Encroachment) and Livestock farming / grazing of domesticated animals (settlements, cattle ranching)
• Planned road construction, which would traverse the property on the side of Panama (issue resolved)
• Illegal activities
• Management systems / management plan

Total amount granted: USD 30 000 from the Rapid Response Facility

On 30 November 2018, the States Parties of Costa Rica and Panama submitted a joint report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/205/documents/ and notes the following progress:

• Efforts towards combating illegal activities within the property are ongoing through extensive patrolling, including aerial surveillance and binational patrols in places with high incidence of illicit activities. By mid-2018, no complaints had been lodged for infringement of the environmental legislation or for environmental damage;
• Bilateral collaboration and management have been strengthened through joint meetings of the Binational Executing Technical Unit for the Management of the property (UTEB-PILA), which underwent recent regulation changes to improve its operations. Both States Parties are currently working towards updating the La Amistad International Park (PILA) Management Plan, including on cooperation and management of the property;
• The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Panamanian side of the property has been completed and approved, whilst the process remains ongoing for the Costa Rican side. Given the limited experience of both States Parties with developing SEAs, technical support was requested from the IUCN Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (ORMACC). A training session held in September 2018 led to Costa Rica developing Terms of Reference for the preparation of the transboundary SEA and readjusting the bidding guidelines for the process. The overall SEA for the entire property will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre once the process in Costa Rica is completed and approved;
• To date, there is no report of the re-activation of the Changuinola II (CHAN II) dam project, however the State Party of Panama reiterates that this type of project is allowed in the zone where the project was to be located (Intensive Use zone of the Palo Seco Protected Forest) and is based on the national planning for the energy sector in Panama, developed in the 1970s (i.e. pre-inscription);
• Several monitoring activities related to the Chan 75 (or CHAN I) and Bonyic dams were carried out in 2017-2018, including monitoring of mammal species and forest structure. In the area of CHAN I dam, information has been collected, which can be used for the maintenance of fish and shrimp species richness and composition upstream of the dam through repopulation activities.

The States Parties’ continued efforts to combat illegal activities within the property and strengthen institutional arrangements towards better bilateral cooperation and management are appreciated.

Whilst it is noted that the project for the Changuinola II dam (CHAN II) has not been re-activated to date, there is no confirmation from the State Party of Panama that the decision to cancel the contract has officially entered into force, nor whether this cancellation means that the project has been abandoned, as requested by the World Heritage Committee.

Progress towards finalizing the integrated transboundary SEA requested by the Committee is noted, namely that the process has been completed and approved for the Panamanian side of the property and remains in progress for the Costa Rican part, including through cooperation with the IUCN ORMACC Office to build capacity of the relevant actors in the field of SEA. While the commitment of the States Parties to ensure the SEA is properly developed is welcomed, it is of concern that the SEA for the entire property was not finalized by 2018, as requested by the Committee. It is recommended that the Committee request the States Parties to finalize the overall SEA for the entire property in 2019 for submission at the earliest possible date.

It is recommended that the Committee reiterate its position, in line with its Decision 40 COM 7 (Paragraph 17), that any development of new hydropower projects prior to the finalization and adequate review of the SEA for the entire property would represent a danger to the OUV of the property, in line with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines and would lead to its inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Regarding monitoring activities related to the Bonyic and CHAN I dams, it is noted that the Hidroecológica del Teribe S.A. (Bonyic) and AES Changuinola (CHAN I) have been requested to present a detailed report of the Biological-Ecological Program required as part of the concession contract commitments. A number of studies were carried out for the 2017-2018 period, generating important information on the specific composition of fish and shrimp upstream of the CHAN I dam, which would, as reported, constitute an important basis for planning future potential repopulation activities as part of measures aimed at mitigating impacts. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party of Panama to continue these efforts, to establish long-term monitoring programmes for the two projects so as to evaluate the effectiveness of the mitigation measures, and to ensure that the results of this monitoring are taken into account when finalizing the overall SEA for the entire property.