Making Waves for a Cleaner Marine Environment: Coastal and Marine Cleanup Campaign and Restoration Project in the Caribbean Sea, Panama
Photogallery
Video clip "Haciendo olas, limpiando el Caribe"
CATHALAC is pleased to announce the initiation of the Ocean Fund partnership project: “Making Waves for a Cleaner Marine Environment: Coastal and Marine Cleanup and Restoration Project in the Caribbean Sea, Panama”. This project will be launched on March 31, 2005 at 9:00 AM in the district of Donoso, Province of Colon, Panama with the participation of the Administrator General of the National Environmental Authority (ANAM), Mrs. Ligia Castro de Doens and the Governor of the Province of Colon, Mrs. Olgalina de Quijada. During this event, the Water and Environmental Management Volunteer Group of “Costa Abajo” (Chagres and Donoso Districts) -- with 150 members -- will be officially established.
The project is carried out in the Districts of Chagres, Donoso, Santa Isabel and Portobelo, Caribbean coastal communities of Panama, characterized by extraordinary natural resources, and cultural and historical heritage. The region is composed of 26 townships and has a 3,386 km. The combined population of the districts is
This project is an effort to trace pollution to its source and to find ways to end improper management of debris by promoting awareness, responsibility and change in behavior. The participatory model proposed by the project, will make it possible for local governments to answer the population’s need for integrated coastal and marine management by training and organizing the communities to solve the continuous negative impacts on the coastal and marine environments resulting from human activities and setting the basis for promoting a sustainable coastal and marine culture in the region.
This project is also expected to contribute to the strengthening of local environmental governance and democracy. It will give a prominent role to protecting the coastal and marine environments, improving health, promoting tourism, achieving local and regional sustainable economic development and empowering the people as stakeholders of their own marine environment.
Current project partners include: ANAM, the local governments of four coastal Districts, CATHALAC, the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and the Ocean Fund, as part of a comprehensive environmental protection program of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises
The mission of the Ocean Fund is to support efforts to restore and maintain a healthy marine environment, minimize the impact of human activity on this environment, and promote awareness of ocean and coastal issues and respect for marine life. This partnership resulted from the White Water to Blue Water (WW2BW) Conference in Miami, March, 2004.
