Nicaragua's proposed $50 billion canal that will connect the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean has the potential to disconnect Nicaraguan wildlife. Backed by Hong Kong Nicaragua Development (HKND), earlier research showed that the project jeopardized the habitat of 22 endangered species, including the endangered Baird's Tapir and the near threatened jaguar. Some of the world's last "untouched surviving mangroves, coral reefs, dry forests, rainforests and lakeside habitats" could be destroyed in the canal's wake, says Scientific American.
Fortunately, researchers from Michigan State University (MSU), the Global Wildlife Conservation and Panthera have developed a conservation plan to minimize the canal's impact on wildlife. The researchers have identified a strip of forest from the eastern edge of what will be known as Lake Atlanta that needs to stay protected from canal construction. Without this important thin strip of forest, "the animals would be cut off from the larger habitat south of the canal and would struggle to find others for breeding," explains MSU Today. The team has also offered five simple solutions that will help Nicaraguan wildlife, including: to move or adjust Lake Atlanta (it's a man-made body of water) to reduce flooding; and to create forested islands that would act as wildlife refuges.
Sign and share this petition urging the canal's developers and Nicaraguan leadership to listen to these expert suggestions meant to protect wildlife. The true cost of this interoceanic canal isn't $50 billion -- it's the wildlife already hanging by a thread that the world could lose.
Photo Credit: Rustom Seegopaul
