Archiving the history of land-use, land-use planning, and territorial conflict in the. Upper Bayano Basin of Panama

Transcripción

1 1 Archiving the history of land-use, land-use planning, and territorial conflict in the Upper Bayano Basin of Panama Archivo de la historia del uso del suelo, su planificacion, y el conflicto territorial en la cuenca Alta del Rio Bayano de Panamá Environmental Research in Panama - ENVR Camila Gordillo and Coralie Thomas Supervisors: Javier Mateo-Vega and Dr. Catherine Potvin Internship Report Presented to Dr. Roberto Ibáñez April 30, 2013

2 2 Acknowledgements: We would like to thank our supervisor, Javier Mateo-Vega of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and McGill University for all of his help and guidance with this project. We appreciated his positive energy and desire to always be available for us throughout the process. We would also like to thank Dr. Francisco Herrera of the University of Panama for all of the time he took to meet with us and the ideas he gave us. Other people who provided marvelous help to us include the librarians at ANAM, Daviken Studniki-Gizbert, Bonarge Pacheco, Omaira Casama, Laura s family en Ipetí-Emberá, Cassiano Cano and Dionis Cano de APAP, Carlos Melgarejo de ANAM. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Ibanez and Victor Frankel for their help supervising this course. Host Institution: Our project was done in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute located in Panama City, Panama. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) was founded in 1923 in order to study and understand biological diversity in the Neotropics. STRI currently has four main research stations throughout Panama and hosts 900 visiting researchers and students per year. Our project was done under the supervision of Javier Mateo-Vega, PhD Candidate in the Neotropical Environment Option at McGill University and Dr. Catherine Potvin, McGill University professor and Staff Scientist at STRI. The two researchers are working on a land-use planning project in the Upper Bayano Basin in Eastern Panama, which was the area of study for our research project.

3 3 Address: Javier Mateo-Vega Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Roosevelt Avenue Tupper Building Balboa, Ancón Panamá, República de Panamá Local Mailing Address: Apartado Postal Panamá, República de Panamá Time Allocation (1 day = 8 hours): Number of days spent conducting research in field = 5 Number of days spent collecting documents and conducting interviews in Panama City = 12 Additional days spent working on project = 26 Total number of days = 43

4 4 Table of Contents 1. Acknowledgements 2. Host Institution 3. Project Summary Executive Summary 1.2 Resumen Ejecutivo 4. Introduction 5. Objective 6. Methodology 6.1 Part I - Collection of information Exploratory Interviews Literature Review Library and Public Office Visits Community Visits Semi-structured interviews 6.2 Part II - Archiving of information Creation of Archive Product for Host Institution 7. Temporal Analysis of Land-use Planning 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Eastern Panama under the spotlight, but not yet a star: 1962 to Dilemma between national ideas of progress and responsibility towards all sectors of society: 1968 to Opportunism under Noriega: changes in land use from 1982 to 1989

5 5 7.5 The invasion of land use planning in 1989 to Neoliberal multiculturalism and environmentalism from 1995 to Conclusion 9. Appendices 8.1 Appendix A - Annotated Bibliography 8.2 Appendix B - Interview Consent Form Executive Summary: The Upper Bayano Basin is located in Eastern Panama and encompasses two Emberá tierra colectivas, one Kuna comarca, and a multitude of campesino cattle ranches and farms. The region has a complex history significantly influenced by the construction of the Bayano Hydroelectic Dam in the 1970s, the migration of campesinos from Los Santos to the Bayano in the 1970s and 1980s, and the large amount of economic development and land-use planning projects undertaken in the region. There has been a history of conflict between the two indigenous groups and the campesinos as the campesinos have been known to invade indigenous land to deforest areas and begin cattle ranches. In 2013, Catherine Potvin and Javier Mateo-Vega of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and McGill University in collaboration with the three groups of people in the region, began a project to create a land-use management plan for the entire region in order to effectively use the land and resolve the conflicts between the three groups. Our objective at the outset of this project was to find, digitize, summarize, and categorize all documents pertaining to land-use, land-use planning and conflict in the Upper Bayano Region of Panama in order to reconstruct the history of the region and help guide the future of land-use planning in the region. Our research was targeted at helping Dr.

6 6 Potvin and Javier Mateo-Vega gain a better understanding of the history of the land-use planning in the region in order to avoid the mistakes made in the past. In this report we start by discussing our research methodology to help guide others who may conduct similar research in the future. Our methodology included two distinct parts. Part I was the collection of information and it was comprised of informal interviews, a literature review, visits to libraries, public offices, and the representatives of the three communities, and semi-structured interviews with community members. Part II was the systematization of the collected information which included digitizing, summarizing, and classifying collected information. We next discuss the results of our research and the product we created for our host institution. Our product for our host institution includes (1) a database of references, documents, articles, and laws that have all been summarized, categorized, and labeled for relevance to the topic of land-use, land-use planning, or conflicts in the region; (2) an archive organized by type of document and where the documents were found and; (3) an annotated bibliography of all references relevant to the topic (see Annex A). We discuss what type of information is available for future researchers and where there are gaps in information either from lack of research or because documents have been lost over time. Finally, we present a temporal analysis of land-use planning in the region based on the results of our research. We identify the major drivers of land-use planning changes during the five major time periods of: (1) Pre-Bayano Hydroelectic Dam Construction, ; (2) During and immediately following the construction of the Bayano Dam, ; (3) Under the Norriega government, ; (4) During an increase in landuse planning, and (5) The most recent influences of land-use planning, 1995-

7 We conclude that there is the need for a more neutral agent monitoring land use planning in the Bayano region, given its biodiversity and cultural importance. The lessons learned from looking at the history of land use planning in the Upper Bayano Basin is intended to help guide the future of land use planning in the region. Resumen ejecutivo: La cuenca del Alto Bayano se encuentra en Panamá Este y abarca dos TColectivas Emberá tierra, una comarca Kuna, y una multitud de campesinos ranchos y granjas ganaderas. La región tiene una historia compleja influenciada significativamente por la construcción de la Presa Hidroeléctrica Bayano en la década de 1970, la migración de los campesinos de Los Santos de la Bayano en los años 1970 y 1980, y la gran cantidad de proyectos de ordenación del territorio y el desarrollo económico emprendido en la región a través del tiempo. Ha habido una historia de conflicto entre los dos grupos indígenas y los campesinos. Este ultimo grupo como ha sido conocido por invadir tierras indígenas para deforestar áreas y comenzar haciendas ganaderas. En 2013, Catherine Potvin y Javier Mateo-Vega, del Instituto Smithsonian de Investigaciones Tropicales (STRI) y de la Universidad McGill, en colaboración con los tres grupos de personas en la región, iniciaron un proyecto de creación de un plan de ordenamiento territorial para toda la región con el fin de utilizar eficazmente la tierra y resolver los conflictos entre los tres grupos. Nuestro objetivo con este proyecto era encontrar, digitalizar, resumir y clasificar todos los documentos relacionados con el uso del suelo, la ordenación del territorio y el conflicto en la región del Alto Bayano de Panamá con el fin de reconstruir la historia de la región y ayudar a orientar el futuro de la planificación del uso del suelo en la región. Nuestra investigación se dirige a ayudar a Dr. Potvin y Javier Mateo-Vega a obtener una

8 8 mejor comprensión de la historia de la planificación del uso del suelo en la región con el fin de evitar los errores cometidos en el pasado. En este informe, empezamos por discutir la metodología de la investigación para ayudar a guiar a otras personas que puedan llevar a cabo investigaciones similares en el futuro. Nuestra metodología incluye dos partes bien diferenciadas. Parte I fue la recopilación de información y que estaba compuesta por entrevistas informales, una revisión de la literatura, visitas a bibliotecas, oficinas públicas, y los representantes de las tres comunidades, y entrevistas semi-estructuradas con miembros de la comunidad. Parte II fue la sistematización de la información recopilada, que incluye la digitalización, resumir y clasificar la información recogida. A continuación analizaremos los resultados de nuestra investigación y el producto que hemos creado para nuestra institución anfitriona. Nuestro producto de nuestra institución anfitriona incluye (1) una base de datos de referencias, documentos, artículos y leyes, que han sido resumidos, categorizados y etiquetado para su relevancia con el tema del uso de la tierra, la planificación del uso de la tierra, o los conflictos en el región, (2) un archivo organizado por tipo de documento y donde se encontraron los documentos, y (3) una bibliografía anotada de todas las referencias pertinentes al tema (véase el Anexo A). Se discute qué tipo de información está disponible para los futuros investigadores y las lagunas en la información ya sea por la falta de investigación o porque los documentos se han perdido con el tiempo. Por último, se presenta un análisis temporal de la planificación del uso del suelo en la región sobre la base de los resultados de nuestra investigación. Identificamos los principales impulsores de los cambios en la planificacion del uso del suelo durante los cinco grandes períodos de tiempo de: (1) Pre-Hidroeléctrica Bayano construcción de presas,

9 , (2) Durante e inmediatamente después de la construcción de la represa de Bayano, , (3) Bajo el gobierno Norriega, , (4) Durante un aumento en la planificación del uso del suelo, y (5) Las influencias más recientes de uso de la tierra planning Llegamos a la conclusión de que con areas importantes en biodiversidad y diversidad cultural como el Bayano, es importante tener un monitoreo neutro sobre el uso del suelo. Las lecciones aprendidas al ver la historia de la planificación del uso del suelo en la cuenca del Alto Bayano está diseñado para ayudar a guiar el futuro de la planificación del uso del suelo en la región. Introduction: The Upper Bayano Basin is located in the eastern edge of the province of Panama beginning at the Bayano Lake to past the town of Tortí and falling between the two cordilleras (see Figure 1). It is home to three main groups of people; the Kuna, who have occupied the area since before the arrival of the Spanish, the Emberá, who migrated there initially from further East in the Darien during the 1950s but also had two later waves of migration (Wali 1989); and the campesino farmers, some of whom occupied the area before the 1970s but the majority of whom migrated to the area from Los Santos in Western Panama during the 1970s and 1980s (Partridge 1984) ). The region has a unique and complex history shaped by various waves of migrations, the construction of the Bayano

10 10 Hydroelectric Dam during the 1970s, the influence of national and international development programs, and conflicts between the three groups over issues of territory. Figure 1: The Upper Bayano Basin demarcated in yellow From 1972 to 1976, the Bayano Hydroelectric Dam was built under the Torrijos regime with the hope of decreasing Panama s reliance on external sources of energy and increasing Panama s economic sovereignty versus the United State s control over the Canal Zone (Wali 1989) (Heckadon-Moreno 2013). The construction of the dam flooded a large amount of area and caused the displacement in some form of all three groups of people. Initially, all three groups were going to be resettled outside of the region, however, the actual resettlement ended quite differently. Both of the indigenous groups were permitted to remain within the area because of their alleged ecologically-minded agriculture practices that posed no threat to the integrity of the Bayano Lake and Hydroelectric Dam. The Kuna resettled along the coast of the Bayano Lake and the Emberá further down along the Pan- American Highway. The campesinos, however, were all resettled outside of the region because their cattle ranching practices were though to pose a threat to the lake and the dam.

11 11 The resettlement was tied to issues of land demarcation and compensation promises for the indigenous groups that have still not been solved to this day (Wali 1989). Despite the renegotiations of the resettlement, the resettlement and the plans for the management of the region following the construction of the dam were originally thought to be quite acceptable. A team of social scientists that had social and ecological concerns in mind created the resettlement and management plans for the region. However, following the completion of the dam the political climate of Panama changed, placing new pressures on General Torrijos and resulting in significant consequences for the Bayano region. The economic exploitation of the area became under control of the Bayano Corporation, a regional semi-autonomous authority that permitted the migration of the campesinos both implicitly initially by not penalizing the migrations and later explicitly by granting derechos possesorios, or land rights granted because of occupation of the land (Wali 1989). The Bayano Corporation encouraged the cattle ranching practices of the campesinos and the logging of timber extraction companies because both promised economic development for Panama (Wali 1989). However, both of these actions threatened the lands of indigenous peoples. As campesinos moved into the area they often invaded the lands of indigenous peoples, deforesting their land and creating cattle ranches, thus creating an area of conflict between the two groups. These invasions and conflicts have continued since the 1970s amidst efforts to solve them, continued timber extraction, reforestation efforts, and various other development programs for the region. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s the region experienced increased economic activity and as well as the involvement of various international and national development projects. During this time there was an effort to settle the differences between the three groups in a program called The Mesas de Concertacion the reconstruction of which was the subject of a

12 12 previous Panama Field Study Semester Report by Megan Smeaton and Jessie Rivera-Fagan in The region has also been the subject of development projects including the Darien Sustainable Development Project (1998) and considered as a testing ground for various REDD+ projects (Potvin 2007) (COONAPIP 2009). In 1998 the Louis Berger Study, funded by ANAM, University of Panama, Delca Consultores, and Louis Berger International, undertook a comprehensive study of the region and proposed a land-use management plan that was never carried out. Recently, Dr. Catherine Potvin and Javier Mateo-Vega of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and McGill University began a three-year project to create a land-use management plan for the entire region. The project follows extensive work in the region by both researchers. The initial three-year plan includes capacity building and participatory mapping in the first year, the development of land-use plans for each group in the second year, and the collaboration between all three groups to create a land-use plan for the entire region in the third year. Throughout the project the three groups will be engaging in intercultural programs to attempt to promote understanding and collaboration between the three groups. Following the initial three years, it is hoped that the project will continue for another seven during which the land-use plan will be implemented, monitored, and adapted (personal correspondence with Catherine Potvin and Javier Mateo-Vega). The current status of relationships between the three groups, the economic activities in the region, and the development plans being undertaken in the area are all immersed in this complex history and cannot be understood fully without looking into the past. As STRI, McGill University, and the three groups in the region attempt to create a land-use management plan for the region, they must be conscious of the region s past. Thus, our project was to help reconstruct the history of land-use, land-use planning, and conflict in

13 13 the region by creating an archive of documents, articles, plans, maps, and oral histories in order to assist with the future of land-use planning in the Bayano. Objective: Our objective at the outset of this project was to find, digitize, summarize, and categorize all documents pertaining to land-use, land-use planning and conflict in the Upper Bayano Region of Panama in order to reconstruct the history of the region and help guide the future of land-use planning in the region. Our research was targeted at helping Dr. Catherine Potvin and Javier Mateo-Vega of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and McGill University who are helping to create a land use plan for the entire region of the Upper Bayano Basin. Methodology: Our methodology was designed to accumulate as many sources as possible on the topics of land use, land use planning, and territorial conflicts in the Bayano Region of Panama and to systematize them into a user-friendly database and archive so that future researchers would be able to easily access them. We created our methodology by reading previous Panama Field Study Semester reports that had attempted to undertake similar research projects as our own (Smeaton and Rivera-Fagan 2010), discussing our methodology with our supervisor, Javier Mateo-Vega and receiving feedback on archiving techniques from Professor Daviken Studiniki-Gizbert of McGill University. From our background research and discussions we identified how to begin finding information on the theme, the

14 14 importance of digitizing any information we found, and correctly classifying documents and sources with detailed information about where documents were found, who gave us documents, and how a future researcher may be able to locate these documents. Thus, our methodology can be divided into two parts. Part I includes our methodology for finding information and Part II includes our methodology for digitizing and systematizing our information. Part I is divided into the five following steps: (1) Conduct exploratory interviews with key informants; (2) Undertake literature review of journal articles, books, and land-use plans in the region; (3) Visit libraries and archives to collect available information and fill in the gaps present in the literature review; (4) Visit representatives and groups from all three communities in the region to see what information they had in their archives and; (5) Conduct semi-structured interviews with community members about the history of and current status of land use, land use planning, and conflict to create an initial oral history targeted at filling in the gaps present in the literature review. Part II is divided into the following three steps: (1) Digitize documents of which there existed no known digital copy, (2) Summarize all documents, articles, and plans and; (3) Classify sources by theme and place into Bayano Database and Archive. We next discuss how we undertook each parts of our methodology in the field during the course of our internship. As this project taught us the importance of documentation throughout history, we realize the importance of documenting our own work so that others may be able to follow it in the future. Part I: Collection of information Step 1: Conduct exploratory interviews with key informants. We began our research by interviewing people we knew to be experts in the field or people who had done work in the region. These people included Stanley Heckadon-Moreno of the

15 15 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Francisco Herrera of the University of Panama, Carlos Melgarejo of ANAM REDD+, and Omaira Cassaima, the first female cassique of Ipetí-Embera. Each of these key informants provided us with a different background and perspective on the history of the Bayano region. Furthermore, they were each able to guide is in the direction of different themes to pursue further and documents we should try to find. In other words, this step helped us create an initial map of where to visit and people with whom to speak. The content of these exploratory interviews were as follows: Dr. Stanley Heckadon-Moreno of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute As an anthropologist and a member of the team that planned the resettlement of people in the Bayano following the construction of the Bayano Hydroelectric Dam, Stanley Heckadon-Moreno of STRI was able to provide us with an important interview on the background of the topic and point us in the direction of documents and topics of which to research the history. Content of informal interview: He spoke of the government s rationale for the construction of the dam and the geopolitics of the selection of the contractors for the construction of the dam. General Torrijos wanted to build the dam to decrease Panama s dependence on foreign sources for energy. Furthermore, the selection of the company to build the dam was intended to gain strength in the non-aligned movement and increase Panama s sovereignty vis-à-vis the United States. Dr. Heckadon-Moreno also spoke of his experience as a young college graduate working on the team that implemented the relocation. He visited the Kuna villages to tell them that their home was going to be flooded and the water was going to be higher than the tallest tree in their village. Heckadon-Moreno felt torn about the moral implications of the dam. He said that while he can t imagine what it would have been like for Panama during the oil shocks in the late

16 s had the Bayano Hydroelectric dam not been built, he also still can barely look when he drives through the Bayano because of all the changes that have taken place in the region and the moral implications of his role in the process. Recommendations for documents to pursue: Heckadon-Moreno directed us towards Professor Francisco Herrera of the University of Panama who was also a member of the resettlement team and had written many articles on the region. Dr. Heckadon-Moreno also recommended finding the history of and plans for the construction of the Pan-American Highway and the establishment of the Pan-American Electric grid. The plans of each of these affect the Bayano area as they would necessarily need to pass through the region. Professor Francisco Herrera of the University of Panama Professor Herrera was part of the group of social scientists who facilitated the relocation of the indigenous groups following the construction of the Bayano Dam. He has also written many journal articles about the Bayano region (see Annex A) and supervised University students who have written theses about the Bayano. Recommendations for documents to pursue: Professor Herrera suggested we weep tracking the Louis Berger Study and its lack of implementation. Moreover, he recommended visiting the Ministerio de Desarollo Agropecuario in Chepo in order to look for compensation documents that were supposedly lost. However, there might be a copy left. Many efforts were carried through in order to find such documents without success. A neutral body needs to seek for that information. Carlos Melgarejo of ANAM REDD+ Content of informal interview: No informal interview was conducted. Recommendations for documents to pursue: Melgarejo provided us with documents about the companies involved in timber extraction in the Bayano and directed us to the ANAM

17 17 Documents Library to find historical documents pertaining to land-use planning in the region. Omaira Casama, First Female Cacique of Ipetí-Emberá Recommendations for documents to pursue: Sra. Casama directed us to Bornage Pacheco and Ultiminio Cabrera of Ipetí-Emberá who she said would be able to help us with locating any documents. Limitations Limitations in this step included being unfamiliar with the region and not knowing who were the best people with whom to talk or where to begin our research. The informants we spoke with to conduct exploratory interviews were necessarily dictated by the contacts of our supervisor, Javier Mateo-Vega. Step 2: Undertake literature review of journal articles, books, and land-use plans in the region We next reviewed the available literature on the topic. We identified all relevant articles, books, and plans in order construct the history of the region and to see what type of research had been done on the region and where there were gaps in the history or in the research. By identifying what was available about the history of the region and what type of research had been done we were able to identify what gaps we needed to fill in by later conducting semi-structured interviews to create an oral history. The results of the literature review were compiled with the results of the documents and interviews we were able to obtain and will be discussed later in the report. Summaries of the sources reviewed in this step can be found in the annotated bibliography in Annex A. Step 3: Visit libraries and archives to collect available information

18 18 After identifying places to visit in Step 1 and then identifying what gaps in information there were in the available literature in Step 2, we visited libraries and archives to find information to fill in the gaps in history and research. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Library At the STRI library we were able to find copies of studies done by the Instituto Recursos Hydroelectrico (IRHE) done in 1978 and 1983 assessing the health of the area surrounding the Bayano Lake and the status of the populations in the region. Although the Bayano Corporation supported the increased cattle ranching and timber extraction occurring in the region, the IRHE supported the Kuna and the Emberá s struggle to receive demarcation of their lands and thus reduce the invasions into their land by the campesinos because the horticultural practices of the indigenous peoples posed less of a threat to the lake ecosystem and dam (Wali 1989). The STRI library also contains the seminal work Cuanda se Acaban los Montes, edited by Stanley Heckadon-Moreno and Albert McKay (1984) that posits the push migration factors causing the campesinos to migrate from the Azuero peninsula east to the Darien. Finally, STRI holds the Informe Finale Manejo Integral de la Cuenca Alta Bayano published in 2001 after the completion of the Louis Berger Study. ANAM Documents Library In the ANAM Documents Library we found documents about the involvement of the Bayano Commision and IRENARE in the region. We also found the only copy of the Louis Berger Study available in print. ANAM Office From the ANAM Office we obtained the ArcGIS files for the Louis Berger Study undertaken in the region in the late 1990s and published in We desired a digital copy

19 19 of the entire study, but were only able to obtain the ArcGIS files for the region by contacting Carmen Prieto of ANAM. University of Panama At the University of Panama we identified relevant theses on the topic. These theses were important to obtain because they often included primary research including interviews, data collection, etc that could be useful to a researcher trying to do historical analyses of land uses or the populations living in the an area. These theses are also important because the bulk of them were carried out during the 1990s, when there is a dearth of information from journal articles or primary source documents. CATHALAC Jose Guardia of CATHALAC provided us with the ArcGIS information for land cover, land cover change, and socioeconomic data for the region for the years of 1992, 2000 and While we were unable to analyze this data, it is included in the database for future researchers to use. Step 4: Visiting representatives/groups from all three communities to acquire documents We next began meeting with representatives from all three communities to discuss the possibility of viewing any documents they possessed and the possibility of digitizing them. We met with representatives from each of the communities at least one time before acquiring documents in order to establish relationships with community members and to discuss whether or not they wanted us to digitize their documents for the archive and if so, what procedure we should take to carry out the task. Following the initial meetings, we then re-visited each of the two of the three communities to digitize, summarize, and categorize the documents they possessed. Congreso General in Ipetí-Emberá

20 20 Ipetí-Emberá is an Emberá tierra colectiva located East of Panama City along the Pan- American Highway. We met with Bornage Pacheco in the USAID office once in March, 2013 to discuss the possibility of digitizing documents and a second time in April, 2013 to carry out the process. Bornage Pacheco and Manuel Ruiz selected the documents pertaining to land-use, land-use planning, and territorial conflicts that they wanted us to digitize and include in the archive. During the process of digitizing, Bornage Pacheco would tell us the background and significance of the document. The summary of the documents obtained during this meeting can be found in Annex A Section Congreso General. Digital copies of the documents obtained are included in the EndNote Bayano Database. Assosacion Productores y Agropecuaries de Plantanilla (APAP) APAP is a campesino organization located in Plantanilla, Panama and it was founded in 2007 by Cassiano Cano in an effort to organize the campesinos in the region and change the nature of agricultural production. We met with Dionis Cano in March, 2013 to discuss the possibility of obtaining documents from APAP and he invited us to a monthly meeting of APAP members in April, 2013 in order to meet community members and also digitize documents. In April, 2013 we digitized two APAP documents about agriculture and land use projects that had been carried out in the community. Copies of these reports can be found in the EndNote Database. Congreso General Guna de Madungandi Madungandi is a Kuna Comarca located around the Bayano Lake in Eastern Panama. The Congreso General Office is located at the Puente Bayano. We met with Olvidio Espinosa in March, 2013 to discuss obtaining and digitizing any documents located in the Congreso General Office. We planned to meet again in April 2013, however, we were unable to meet in April due to engagements held by all the congreso general s members. While we were