Bill 56.

Summary.

The bill establishes a framework for the protection, restoration, and sustainable ecotourism development of Ciénaga de Las Macanas, a wetland in Herrera Province, Republic of Panama. It defines biodiversity, ecosystem services, sustainable management, and ecotourism. It reaffirms the wetland’s protected-area designation as a Multiple-Use Wetland Reserve of International Importance under the General Environmental Law (Ley General del Ambiente). The Ministry of Environment (Ministerio de Ambiente) would update the area’s boundaries through a technical and scientific study coordinated with local communities.

The bill creates a Management Committee (Comité de Gestión) comprising representatives of the Ministry of Environment, local communities, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, academia, and other stakeholders. Its duties include advising on the Management Plan, encouraging community participation, overseeing compliance, promoting research and monitoring, and supporting ecotourism. It also creates the Advisory Council for the Ciénaga de Las Macanas Protected Area (Consejo Asesor del Área Protegida de la Ciénaga de Las Macanas), whose specialists would provide technical and scientific advice. The Ministry of Environment would prepare, implement, and periodically update the Management Plan with both bodies. The plan would describe the area and its cultural values, assess threats, set conservation, restoration, and ecotourism strategies, and provide for monitoring, evaluation, and financing.

Within the protected area, the bill prohibits tree cutting and destruction of natural vegetation; extraction of minerals and construction materials; infrastructure that harms the ecosystem; introduction of invasive alien species; water and soil pollution; and other activities that endanger the wetland. It provides for restoring degraded areas, controlling erosion and sedimentation, removing pollution, renewing habitats, and reintroducing native species. Ecotourism would follow principles of conservation, responsible tourism, community participation, and local economic benefit. A dedicated plan would identify zones, products, services, promotion strategies, community training, and impact monitoring.

The bill proposes a visitor center, trails, lookouts, observation platforms, regeneration areas using seed bombs, and environmental monitoring stations. Signs would explain access, species, conduct rules, and sensitive areas. It recognizes community-based rural tourism as an activity managed by local communities; the Ministry of Environment, also identified as MiAMBIENTE, the Panama Tourism Authority (Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá), and communities would identify routes that do not adversely affect the wetland. Implementation would be financed through national budget allocations, contributions and donations, ecotourism fees and charges, and other compatible sources. The Ministry of Environment would grant permits and authorizations, coordinate management, and promote research and environmental education. Public consultations, open community meetings, participation in decisions, and community training are also provided for.

The bill recognizes family farming as a means of supporting local livelihoods, linked to sustainable practices and skills development. It promotes agroecological tourism, farm visits, and agricultural experiences whose revenue would benefit farming families and communities. Research and monitoring programs would cover biodiversity, water, soil, ecosystem services, threats, and ecotourism impacts. The Ministry of Environment, Management Committee, and Advisory Council would periodically assess conservation and the Management Plan to update the strategies. The bill provides for workshops, school materials, campaigns, and volunteering; the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación) would add wetland conservation to the regional school curriculum. The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo) would issue implementing regulations within no more than six months after promulgation, and the proposed law would take effect the following day. Its provisions concern the named public bodies, local communities, and the tourism, agricultural, academic, and environmental sectors.