A bill is moving through Panama’s congress that would transfer much of the Panamanian part of La Amistad International Park to the indigenous Naso people.
Yet environmentalists and biologists are concerned that the deed to over 60 percent of this massive park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared with Costa Rica in the Talamanca cloud forest — would come with no apparent restrictions on development in this pristine area.
They agree that the Naso, a highly marginalized group, are deserving of their own “comarca” (indigenous territory) — yet they fear that the transfer could include the removal of ecological protections that would open the park up to lumber, hydroelectric and other industries.
Source: La Prensa