The Supreme Court of Panama rejected the appeal that sought to annul resolutions protecting the Protected Landscape of Isla Escudo de Veraguas Degó. The ruling leaves in force the measures dictated by the Ministry of Environment (MiAMBIENTE). The appeal was against Resolution DM-0417-2025, of October 6, 2025, which assigns the administrative and territorial competence over the island to the Regional Directorate of MiAMBIENTE in Bocas del Toro. It also targeted Resolution DM-0489-2025, of October 29, 2025, which ordered the temporary closure of the protected area for environmental conservation and protection of endemic species and fragile ecosystems. The decision was formalized in the Resolution of January 7, 2026. For this reason, it did not even pass the first filter. With this, the measures that keep Isla Escudo de Veraguas Degó under protection remain in effect. The protected area continues with the provisions adopted by MiAMBIENTE, while environmental protection in that area of the Panamanian Caribbean is maintained. There, the Third Chamber made it clear that the appeal did not meet the essential admissibility requirements required by Law No. 135 of 1943. The Third Chamber of Administrative and Labor Litigation of the Supreme Court of Justice said no.
