speeches 2007

January 26, 2007

Ambassador Eaton at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Board of Directors Meeting in Panama

First, I’d like to thank Ira Rubinoff for the chance to join you all here tonight. I’m delighted to have this opportunity to welcome all of you to Panama. You are here at an exciting time for Panama and at a time when our partnership with Panama is growing even stronger.

STRI has long been a significant part of the close ties that Americans and Panamanians have enjoyed for nearly a century. In many respects, the Smithsonian’s history in Panama is linked with the history of Panama. The Smithsonian was in Panama before there was a canal. The Smithsonian was an important partner during the construction of the canal. And it remains so today.

As Panama has grown to become a regional leader and hub for transportation, logistics, banking, and trade, so, too has STRI grown to become a regional leader and center for tropical biodiversity research, environmental education, and conservation efforts.

With its location at one of the world’s pivotal crossroads for the movement of people, commerce, and, of course, migratory wildlife, STRI also plays an increasingly important role in international efforts to better understand, detect, and deal with emerging threats such as Avian Flu and invasive species.

In recent years, Panama has posted some of the region’s highest rates of economic growth, driven in large part by a remarkable boom in real estate development. As the country prepares to expand and modernize the Panama Canal, and as we work to ratify and implement a new Trade Promotion Agreement, Panama will face greater pressures on natural resources.

National and local authorities will continue to wrestle with the imperatives of balancing economic and social development with the need to conserve Panama’s tremendous natural heritage.

Given STRI’s solid credibility and its long history in Panama, it is no wonder that Panamanian authorities look increasingly to STRI for help in many different areas. Whether working through the National Assembly to help create the Isla del Rey hydrological reserve in the Pearl Islands, working together with Panama’s National Maritime Authority and the National Park Service to help preserve Coiba, or working with SENACYT and the City of Knowledge in various educational programs such as the new university consortium with McGill University, Laval University and the University of Quebec in Montreal, STRI’s research and educational programs are vital to Panama’s quest for sustainable development.

While cutting edge and top flight scientific research is the hallmark of STRI, equally important is the role STRI plays in educating panamanians and foreign visitors alike about the country’s incredible biodiversity and the importance of protecting it. Whether it is school trips to the Culebra Marine Education Center, the JASON project, bringing the Barro Colorado research to school children around the world and Panama, the new STRI Kids Website, or its work to better train Panamanian teachers through the “Un libro con vida” project with Metropolitan Nature Park, SENACYT and the Education Ministry, STRI is fulfilling its fundamental mission to “increase understanding of the past, present, and future of tropical biodiversity and it’s relevance to human welfare.”

You all can be justly proud of STRI’s work to help educate the future leaders of Panama and the region. Whatever else is done, the education you provide helps to cement the foundation for a free, prosperous, and sustainable society.

STRI’s reach throughout Panama and elsewhere is so extensive that it would take volumes to describe.

Ira, who has been here for over 40 years, can tell you a lot more than I about the amazing work STRI is doing.

As much as the Smithsonian and STRI are part of the fabric of Panama, Ira has also become part of the fabric of STRI’s and Panama’s history. So much so that perhaps some Panamanians think that Ira and STRI are Panamanian!

In closing, let me leave you with this thought. When we talk about STRI and Panama, we are not really talking about a government-to-government program or even an institution-to-institution program. Instead, we are talking about the power of what individuals can accomplish when they work together as partners to advance our shared interests and values.

STRI represents the best that we Americans have to offer to Panama and the region: our friendship and our commitment to leveraging the collective talents of thousands of individuals increase our knowledge of the natural world and to find better ways of living in greater harmony with our fragile planet.

Again, thank you for inviting me this evening.

And thank you to each of the members of the Advisory Board for all your time and effort in helping to make STRI the premier scientific research institution of its type, not only in the region, but in the world.

Thank you and good night.