Extracting Environmental Benefits from a New Canal in Nicaragua: Lessons from Panama

2015/07/27 by Richard Condit · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Banana Cultivation and Research #Biology #Botany and Geology in Latin America and Caribbean #Business #Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management #Ecology #Economics #Environmental ethics #Environmental planning #Environmental protection #Environmental resource management #Geography #International trade #Natural resource economics #Panama #Panama canal

paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002208

openalex publication_date 2015/07/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Biologists have raised objections to a new canal in Nicaragua, but in this Essay I argue that dire predictions of environmental catastrophe are exaggerated. I present an alternative view based on my research experience in Panama, where Canal operations foster forest conservation. Currently in Nicaragua, the rate of forest loss is so rapid that the canal cannot make it worse. Rather, I contend, adoption of international standards in canal construction could lead to net environmental and social benefits for the country.

Citations

• High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change
• Conservation: Nicaragua Canal could wreak environmental ruin

Cited by

• Nicaraguan Canal and Development Project [wikipedia]

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