environment

Perlas projects defended

Government officials say critics made “reckless” statements about Perlas developments.

Authorities also contend that the islands are being developed responsibly.

CARLOS LEMOS/LA PRENSA

at odds:Environmentalists and the government have differnt views of tourism-related development projects in the Islas Perlas.1062732

A moratorium on development in the Islas Perlas must be thoroughly researched in order to determine the legal implications, the viceministro de Vivienda, José Batista, said yesterday.

Batista was responding to claims made by officials at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and other environmentalists that the islands' delicate ecosystem, and in particular coral reefs, was being threatened by overdevelopment.

Batista described the statements as “reckless,” and defended the environmental review that each proposed project must go through before it is approved.

The environmentalists said that too many of these projects are getting through “loopholes” in the law, and that practices such as sand mining are putting the area at risk. The report also criticized the lack of a land-use plan for the area.

Batista, however, countered that each project is evaluated separately, and that it would be difficult to establish a land-use policy for the entire archipelago, since each island is different.

Yet biologist Héctor Guzmán, one of the chief critics of further development of the islands, said that the government is making a mistake because development of one island affects the areas around it.

The viceministro de Comercio e Industrias, Manuel José Paredes also responded to the article, saying that the four contracts for sand mining cited in the report were awarded by the previous administration. He added that the current development projects are taking place outside protected areas.

Paredes said four applications for sand mining are pending with the ministry, but they will not necessarily be approved.

The government established the Las Perlas Marine Special Management Zone, which added the archipelago to an internationally recognized marine conservation corridor.

Yet, it has also allowed development to take place in the area as long as it is related to tourism. This includes allowing the clearing of mangroves, considered an essential part of preserving shoreline ecosystems.

Guzman has classified the development taking place in the area as “ecological suicide.”

In the last two years, eight tourism-related projects have been approved for the Las Perlas. These projects include the construction of marinas and golf courses, both of which have large-scale environmental impacts.