Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

a) Construction of hydroelectric dams near the property in Panama and associated effects (greater human presence near the property, interruption of aquatic species migratory corridor);

b) Encroachment (settlements, cattle ranching).

The State Party of Panama report was received by the World Heritage Centre on 20 February 2008. It consisted of a response to the 2007 Danger listing petition by the International Environmental Law Project received by the World Heritage Centre and was written as a point by point rebuttal of the statements presented in the petition. The State Party of Costa Rica also submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property to the mission team members, addressing issues raised in the previous decision of the World Heritage Committee and reporting on progress made against the recommendations of the 2004 bi-national report on the management of the property. Both reports were in Spanish, restricting their accessibility to the Convention stakeholders.

The States Parties invited a joint UNESCO World Heritage Centre / IUCN mission to the property, which took place in February 2008. The full mission report can be consulted on-line at the following address: https://whc.unesco.org/archive/2008. The following issues and recommendations are noted from the mission and from the analysis of the State Party reports:

a) Hydrolelectric dams and infrastructure

Two hydrolectric dam projects located in Panama have been approved – a large one on the Changuinola river, which is already under construction and a smaller one on the Bonyic river, which is still in the planning phase. No part of these dams, their respective reservoirs nor construction infrastructure will be located within the property boundaries.  

The two dams in question will create insurmountable barriers to the migration of seven non-endemic migratory aquatic species (including an eel, gobies and shrimp species) leading to their local disappearance from a significant number of waterways that originate within the property, with possible effects on the food supply of species within the property that prey upon this aquatic life.

The dams will lead to the displacement of five indigenous communities (total population up to 1,000) of the Ngobe and Naso. Efforts are underway to provide new settlements (outside the property) for these people, though active resistance to the move was observed among an unspecified proportion of community members and has been the source of several publicized demonstrations at the construction site. Concerns were voiced that some members could decide to resettle nearer to, or within the property.

The mission team observed that the topography and hydrology of the area could likely be suitable for further dam construction. Though mention of this eventuality was made by the authorities in Panama, no firm plans in this regard were being considered at this time.

Various other infrastructure and development projects, such as roads and utilites corridors are also taking place, or proposed in the areas located between both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and the property. These may pose a threat to the ecological connectivity of the overall ecosystem, particular in light of climate change effects predicted for the area.

b) Cattle ranching

Cattle ranching is common in parts of the property, particularly in Panama, where ranchers must drive their cattle across the property, over the continental divide, to reach markets. In so doing, ranchers appear to have established increasing numbers of pastures within the property, which are visible via satellite imagery, with the objective of fattening cattle before bringing them to market. Several thousand hectares within the property (Panama and to a lesser extent Costa Rica) already consist of privately owned land used for cattle ranching.

c) Illegal commercial fishing, pollution

The mission received reports of a decline in the abundance of migratory aquatic species in the Changuinola river, and anecdotal reports suggest the reasons for this may include illegal commercial fishing in the lower reaches of the river system, and pollution in the river delta, originating from use of fertilizers and pesticides in the surrounding banana plantations, and also from the lack of wastewater treatment facilities in nearby communities.

d) Encroachment and poaching

Overflight of the property revealed apparent encroachment underway within its boundaries by scattered groups of indigenous people on the Caribbean side (Costa Rica), where some concerns were expressed over low abundance of vertebrate species arising from intensive poaching.

e) Management

The presence and effectiveness of the management authority in both States Parties within the property is low and does not appear to reflect the actual management needs, particularly given the capacities of either State Party to field technical staff and maintain their operations within their protected area networks.

Sentiments were repeatedly expressed by individuals that follow-up of environmental infractions denunciations is poor, reducing the incentive of reporting such events (Panama).

Transboundary coordination structures are in place and have received high level political support, but are limited to the exchange of information between senior government officials and rely largely on financing from external donors. Though the property is the nucleus of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, there is no evidence of a functional Biosphere Reserve Committee, which could act as a framework and mechanism for bi-national multi-stakeholder involvement in management issues. Thanks largely to extrabudgetary sources, notably from the Nature Conservancy and the Global Environment Facility, projects are being prepared with the objective of strengthening transboundary cooperation on the Caribbean side, but there appears to be ample room to improve ground level effectiveness and to incorporate field-level stakeholders.

The State Party of Costa Rica has reported on a series of recent initiatives designed to consolidate and strengthen management of the property located within their national boundaries, with the support of funds from NGOs, foundations and multi-lateral sources.

Management plans are in place and being implemented in both States Parties, though little bi-national coordination in plan development takes place.

As a result of the mission, a series of prioritised recommendations have been made and are noted below in the Draft Decision.