Cobre Panama continues to contribute to the environmental education of university students

Students from Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP) and Universidad Latina visited Cobre Panamá’s Micropropagation and In Vitro Conservation Laboratory.

Penonomé, October 9, 2023 – As part of its commitment to the education and training of young Panamanians, Cobre Panama received 16 students studying Environmental Impact Management at the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP) and 5 students of Agricultural Administration at the Universidad Latina, at its Micropropagation and In Vitro Conservation Laboratory.

During this academic tour, the students visited the first in vitro cultivation laboratory for species of interest of flora without commercial purposes, where the micropropagation technique is used to ensure their conservation, which was inaugurated by Cobre Panama at the headquarters of the Universidad Latina in Penonomé during 2022.

Species of interest are all those species of wild flora or fauna whose morphology or other characteristics make them special, unique, endemic to a given region and that require relevant actions for their preservation.

“We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the training of young university professionals, this time by introducing them to our Micropropagation and In Vitro Conservation Laboratory, which is an initiative that supports the use of biotechnology as a tool for the conservation of endemic flora and, therefore, biodiversity in Panamaˮ, said Alejandro Chambi, Environmental Manager of Cobre Panama.

Francisco Castro, biologist at Cobre Panama’s Micropropagation and In Vitro Conservation Laboratory, commented, “The work we do is part of Cobre Panama’s Restoration Program. We use native plants and multiply them with laboratory techniques, with the objective of returning them to the mine’s restoration area.”

Ricardo Jaén, a UTP student, said that this tour “was an enriching experience. I was very interested in learning about the stages of the micropropagation process, which is a new, non-traditional method for reproducing certain types of plants. I was also interested in the technology they have in the laboratory and the opportunity to interact with the professionals who work there. I think it is an excellent experience that Cobre Panama is interested in the environmental issue and, above all, in the educational part so that students from different universities can learn more about the subject”.

During this visit, the young people were able to see the exhibition that is open to the public as a component of knowledge dissemination where, in a graphic way, it is explained what in vitro micropropagation is and which are its stages, as well as its contribution to environmental sustainability.

Cobre Panama’s Category III Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), approved in 2011, has 371 commitments, of which 265 are environmental and of these, 73 are focused on the conservation and protection of biodiversity.