United States, Nature Conservancy, Sign Tropical Forest Conservation Act Program with the Republic of Panama

U.S. Ambassador to Panama Linda Watt on behalf of the United States, Finance Minister Norberto Delgado on behalf of the Republic of Panama, and Robert De Jhong, Director of the Central American Division of  the Nature Conservancy, signed agreements made possible by the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) that reduce Panama's debt payments to the United States by $10 million over the next 14 years. In return, the Government of Panama has committed to funding local conservation projects that will amount to $10 million over the next 14 years for the protection and conservation of the Chagres River Basin.

The Chagres National Park is a 318,000-acre national protected area covering the Chagres River Basin that provides over 50 percent of the water necessary for the operation of the Panama Canal, as well as drinking water for the two largest cities in the country -- Panama City and Colon. In addition, as the United States is one of the largest users of the canal, and the canal itself moves more than 5 percent of world trade, preserving the watershed is of material economic importance to the United States.

The Chagres National Park is also home to endangered species such as jaguars, mantled howler monkeys and anteaters. It is also a bird sanctuary for more than 560 species, including the harpy eagle -- the largest eagle in the world and Panama's national bird. For these reasons, the permanent conservation of this area is of critical importance to the economy, health and natural resources of Panama.

The funds resulting from this agreement will be channeled to two sources: funding conservation activities in the Chagres National Park over the next 14 years, and creating a permanent endowment to provide sustainable funding to the park.

This agreement complements ongoing environmental programs being provided to Panama by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and will be managed by a group including the government of Panama, local non-governmental organizations including Fundación Natura, the USAID mission to Panama, the American Embassy and The Nature Conservancy.

Today's agreements mark the third debt-for-nature swap by the United States under the TFCA, and was made possible through a grant of $5.6 million from the United States government in combination with a financial contribution of almost $1.2 million from the Nature Conservancy. For every dollar in U.S. budget funds, the U.S. government was able to leverage almost two dollars in funds for tropical forest conservation in Panama.

Panama is the sixth country to benefit from programs under the TFCA. Bangladesh, Belize, El Salvador, Peru, and the Philippines are the others. The TFCA was enacted in 1998 to provide eligible developing countries the opportunity to reduce their concessional debts owed to the United States while at the same time generating funds for activities to conserve tropical forests.