Press Releases 2003

November 25-26, 2003

PDAS Rock visits Panama

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Environment and Science Anthony Rock visited Panama November 25-26. While here, he met with local and international leaders to discuss the White Water to Blue Water Initiative (WW2BW). The WW2BW campaign was first announced on September 2nd, 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, is underway in the wider Caribbean.

This partnership initiative is intended to promote healthy, well-managed and productive marine and coastal ecosystems that support stable and secure economies and livelihoods in coastal areas such as Panama. It is designed to be accomplished through the practice of integrated watershed and marine ecosystem-based management in support of sustainable development. Click here for more information on this project: http://www.international.noaa.gov/ww2bw/index.html

To bring attention to this initiative, Mr. Rock attended the Central American Environment Ministerial and delivered a presentation on WW2BW. He also met with representatives from the Panama Canal Authority, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Harpy Eagle Project.