For the second time in just over three years, developers with ties to local politicians on Colombia’s Caribbean coast have tried to build a coal port in or near a national park. The more recent case has drawn unusually intense fire from environmentalists. That’s because the planned site not only borders the 135-square-mile (350-sq-km) Isla de Salamanca National Park, it is designated for protection under the Ramsar Convention. The area also is slated to be one of the targets of conservation funding under a US$10 million debt-for-nature swap that Colombia signed April 23 with the United States and various environmental organizations. (See “Colombia commits to debt-for-nature deal”—EcoAméricas, May ’04.) “This is an attack on a... [Log in to read more]
