The Tropical East Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) announced the inclusion of five new marine protected areas (AMPs), including a Coiba sector in Panama, a decision that was taken during the last meeting of the Ministerial Committee made up of representatives of Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama.

These areas are: Cordillera de Coiba Managed Resources Area of Panama: the Brotherhood Marine Reserve of Ecuador; Bicentennial Marine Management Area of Costa Rica; Yuruparí-Malpelo National Integrated Management District, of Colombia; National Integrated Management District Hills and Submarine Hills of the North Pacific Basin, of Colombia

With the addition of these five new protected areas, the CMAR increases the total number of core areas that make up it to ten, and expands its marine conservation area of 254,388 square kilometers (Km2), to a total of 643,586 km2, thus forming contiguous and transnational marine protected areas.

This addition also demonstrates the strong commitment of member countries to combat biodiversity loss and address the challenges of climate change in a global context.