San José, Costa Rica. The ministers of security of Costa Rica and Panama and the ministers of environment of Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama signed the “Declaration for Cooperation on Security and Environmental Protection of Seas under the Jurisdiction of Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama”, a document that demonstrates the political will to advance toward a Joint Strategy for the Control and Monitoring of the Seas.
The signing of the document was the result of the first meeting of the ministers of environment and security that was held to share experiences and assess in a more integrated way the possible solutions to major issues related to the seas.
Costa Rica hosted the meeting after its minister of security, Gustavo Mata, initiated earlier bilateral negotiations to address the threats to the environment and security posed by organized crime.
Relevant facts
Area covered by the Tropical Eastern Central Pacific region: 22 million km2
Species: 6,714 (1,894 de polychaetes, 1,212 fish, 863 crustaceans and 875 mollusks)
Endemic species: 122
Threatened species: sharks, sea turtles, manta rays, whales
Source: Pacífico Foundation, MINAE, Ministry of Security
“The agreements between countries enable us to strengthen the fight against everything that affects security and the environment. The agreement we have made today reaffirms that united, we are more powerful in the region and that we will ensure safer environments, a comprehensive security,” said Minister Mata.
The use of sovereign spaces by transnational organized crime, represented by the illicit traffic in drugs, weapons, human beings, endangered species and money, is the principal conflict that the countries participating in this meeting have in common.
“To unite the defense and security sectors with the environment is fundamental. We cannot carry out environmental work if we do not have the security to do so; for that reason, we believe in the coordination of efforts,” said Tarsicio Granizo, the Ecuadorean minister of environment.
Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Colombia (it was agreed to invite this country to participate in this process) share 2.2 million km2 of marine areas in a region known as the Tropical Eastern Central Pacific, including 78 protected marine-coastal areas and 92% of all Pacific coral reefs. In addition, four of the area’s islands were declared by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.
The Costa Rican minister of environment and energy, Edgar Gutiérrez, said that the declaration ratifies the commitment of the governments to “seek the necessary solutions to clean our seas of such evils that strike at all of us.”
The document also provides for the creation of an Interministerial Maritime Commission for Security and Environment charged with developing the regional strategy; the ministers of each country will designate a delegate to the commission.
“Thanks to the political will shown in this meeting, it is possible to define the basis of a regional strategy that will address the threats to proper governance of the seas. From this moment, efforts will focus on an integrated management of marine and coastal ecosystems, which know no borders,” affirmed Zdenka Piskulich, president of the Pacífico Foundation.
The Pacífico Foundation is a coordination platform made up of four environmental funds from Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama, whose objective is to develop regional strategies that improve conservation actions in the Tropical Eastern Central Pacific in order to ensure reasonable use of its resources and the well-being of the people. It facilitated the meeting.
The declaration was signed by the representatives of the participating nations:
- Edgar Gutiérrez, minister of the environment in Costa Rica
- Gustavo Mata, minister of security in Costa Rica
- Tarsicio Granizo, minister of the environment in Ecuador
- Yamil Sánchez, vice minister of the environment in Panama
- Jonattan del Rosario, vice minister of security in Panama
The second meeting of the Ministers of Environment and Security is scheduled for 2018 in order to follow up on agreements reached at the meeting.
For more information:
Esteban Alfaro – ealfaro@costaricaporsiempre.org
* 2220-4270 ext.110