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Pacific Corridor Soon More Than Just Words |
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By José Eduardo Mora*
Two
years after being announced, an initiative is being finalized to
protect five Latin American archipelagos in the Pacific.
SAN JOSE - Representatives from Colombia, Costa
Rica, Ecuador and Panama are to meet in the Costa Rican capital
next month to put into operation the Pacific Biological Corridor,
an initiative that has been talked about since 2002, but whose action
guidelines have yet to be established.
The joint program, first presented during the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, in Johannesburg, seeks to facilitate administrative
policies for the Galápagos (Ecuador), Coco (Costa Rica), Malpelo
and Gorgona (Colombia) and Coiba (Panama) islands of the Pacific.
The purpose of the Mar. 31-Apr. 2 meeting is to specify what actions
are to be taken, "In other words, bring the project to earth so
that the Pacific Biological Corridor begins to function," said biologist
Jorge Rodríguez, coordinator of the Coco Island Conservation Area
and one of the meeting's organizers.
"The idea of the Biological Corridor is a beautiful and interesting
vision, but real goals must be established for the short, medium
and long term," said Mario Piú, head of marine conservation at the
Galápagos National Park.
Colombia's deputy environment minister Juan Pablo Bonilla said the
functioning of the Corridor would require the participation of public
entities, non-governmental organizations and the scientific community.
A biological corridor is a natural space, interconnected by ecosystems
that benefit the movement and migration of species from one habitat
to another, and which possesses great wealth in terms of biodiversity,
explained Rodríguez.
In the Pacific Marine Biological Corridor there is a high degree
of ecological interconnectivity and complex oceanographic conditions,
such as the convergence of major ocean currents, like the Humboldt
Current, say experts.
Sea birds, whales, turtles, sharks, tuna and other manifestations
of rich biodiversity are part of the treasure that would be cared
for under the auspices of the corridor, which initially involved
just Costa Rica and Ecuador, but later was expanded due to the interest
expressed by Colombia and Panama.
The corridor also encompasses the coastal lakes, marshes and reefs,
many of which are threatened today by the indiscriminate exploitation
of natural resources.
This marine corridor is the first of its kinds in the world, and
has awakened international interest among politicians and scientists.
Participating in the meeting in Costa Rica will be experts, representatives
of environmental and scientific organizations, like the Charles
Darwin Foundation and Conservation International, Mar Viva and the
International Oceanographic Institute, as well as the environment
ministers form the four countries involved in the initiative
"So far, the focus has been on financing, but concrete lines of
action have not been established, and that is the purpose of the
meeting," said Rodríguez.
Another is the creation of two regional commissions, one that is
institutional-political in nature, and one that is technical, to
help establish the guidelines to be followed.
The executive agency of the corridor is the regional office for
Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP), entrusted with managing its financial resources.
Preliminary calculations are that the first 18 months of work on
the corridor's various projects would cost at least 900,000 dollars.
Currently, the corridor has the backing of three million dollars
from financing by Conservation International and UNEP, Rodríguez
said.
The initiative will help consolidate sustainable development efforts
on the islands, the preservation of their biological diversity,
rational use of marine resources, and coordinated action among the
different entities, he said.
"The purpose is to create alliances to protect and study the marine
resources. Many of the species in the corridor are migratory, so
we don't really intend to define territories, but rather expand
them based on a concept of sustainable development," explained the
Coco Island reserve coordinator.
Piú underscored that joint coordination of the corridor would facilitate
the exchange of experiences, and said it would be best to draft
shared regulations for managing the protected marine areas.
"The experience of managing the Galápagos can be extended to other
islands, and at the same time it is possible to establish common
strategies for management, policy, rules and regulations," he said.
According to Piú, the Galápagos possess a high level of endemic
species, great biodiversity and a sustainable development model
that could serve as an example for the rest of the world.
The archipelago, made up of 13 big islands, six smaller islands
and 40 islets, "is new in geological terms, so it is an example
of the formation of a new body of land," he said.
Bonilla, meanwhile, stressed that the islands of the Pacific corridor
are "united by a natural heritage enriched by the presence of dynamic
marine, atmospheric and geological currents," but he noted the threat
of pollution.
"There is overexploitation and inadequate management of fishing
resources and a lack of management of tourism activity," said the
Colombian environmental official.
As for Malpelo Island, Bonilla said it is a point of convergence
for several major Pacific Ocean currents.
"It holds the most important coral formations of the Colombian Pacific,
as well as a great number of marine fauna, such as sea stars (two
endemic species), angel fish, moray eels, manta rays and whale sharks,"
and is a nesting site for marine birds," he said.
Coca Island, where studies are underway and which has two million
dollars in financing for the corridor project, is famed for its
natural wealth and for the legend of treasure.
Costa Rican historian Raúl Arias says that some 300 treasure-hunting
expeditions have taken place over the past century and a half, as
there are 24 boxes of gold, weighing 300 lbs each, stolen from the
cathedral of Lima on Oct. 19, 1820.
In 1997, Coco Island was included on the UNESCO list of World Heritage
sites.
* José Eduardo Mora is an IPS contributor.
With reporting from María Isabel García (Colombia) and Diego Torres
(Ecuador).
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