Talamanca-La Amistad (Costa Rica/Panama)
The Committee was pleased to note that in accordance with its request the authorities of Costa Rica and Panama had agreed to a single listing of this site. The Committee was satisfied that the Costa Rican authorities had agreed to the IUCN recommendation to delete three Indian reserves and add one forest and wildlife refuge. In accordance with another IUCN recommendation, the Committee urged the Costa Rican authorities to delete four additional Indian reserves in the north-eastern Atlantic sector and provide to the Secretariat a map showing the new boundaries of the Talamanca-La Amistad Reserves of Costa Rica.
The Committee was deeply concerned that 59,000 ha of the La Amistad National Park of Panama has been given to Texaco for oil exploitation without consulting the Panamanian conservation authorities and in contravention to the law creating the Park. The Committee instructed the Secretariat to contact the Panamanian authorities and express its concern over the prospect of oil exploration inside the Park and suggest that they nominate the site for inclusion in the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee also suggested that a high-level mission to Panama be undertaken on the occasion of the World Park's Congress, to be held in Caracas, Venezuela, during February 1992, in order to call the attention of the relevant authorities to Panama's obligations under the World Heritage Convention.