Panama and Panthera establish historic jaguar protection agreement
Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
Panama and Panthera establish historic jaguar protection agreement
Panama-Panthera agreement launches nation's first officially recognized jaguar conservation strategy
Panama City, Panama – A significant victory was achieved for the future of jaguars this week with the establishment of an historic conservation agreement by the government of Panama and Panthera, a global big cat conservation organization.
Gathering in Panama City at the prominent Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Office of Panama's National Environmental Authority (ANAM) General Administrator, Mr. Silvano Vergara, presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Panthera, the National Environmental Authority, and the Mastozoological Society of Panama (SOMASPA). Through this agreement, Panthera and the government of Panama pledged to collaboratively implement conservation initiatives on behalf of the country's jaguars and their habitats within Panama's Protected Areas System, strategically balance economic development and jaguar habitat preservation throughout Panama, mitigate rancher-jaguar conflict, and initiate jaguar conservation education for the people of Panama.
As Panthera's fifth jaguar conservation agreement with a Latin American government, and two more agreements under review with the governments of Belize and Brazil, this MOU represents a giant step forward for the conservation of the jaguar.
Upon signing the agreement today, Panthera's CEO and renowned jaguar scientist, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, stated, "The significance, location and timing of the Panama-Panthera conservation agreement for the jaguar are truly historic. Panama represents the birth place of the Jaguar Corridor Initiative, and after just seven years, we have come full circle in establishing the partnerships and projects required to successfully conserve the jaguar and its habitats long into the future."
More:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/p-pp062813.php
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