Providencia is located in the “Man and the Biosphere” (MaB) program, as the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve, owing to its special characteristics as an ecosystem. Subsequently, in 2005, the Colombian Government created a Protected Marine Area within the Biosphere Reserve under domestic law (Decision 107 of 2005 of the Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Territorial Development). Moreover, since 2012, this Protected Marine Area of the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve has been included under the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW), which is extremely important to ensure its protection. 24 This is also in keeping with the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region. B. Potential negative impacts in the Wider Caribbean region as a result of the construction and operation of major new permanent infrastructure projects 38. The construction, maintenance and operation of major infrastructure projects could have a severe impact on the environment and, therefore, on the populations that inhabit areas that could be affected either directly or indirectly as a result of such projects. This has been recognized by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights as follows: “Mega infrastructure or development projects, such as highways, canals, dams, ports and similar, as well as concessions for the exploration for, or exploitation of, natural resources in ancestral territories may have particularly serious consequences for the indigenous peoples, because such projects jeopardize their territories and the respective ecosystems, and thus represent a mortal danger for their survival as peoples, especially when the ecological fragility of their territories coincides with their low population density.” 25 39. In addition, it should be considered that the potential negative impacts on the Caribbean marine environment of the new infrastructure projects could, obviously, have serious consequences for other coastal States of the Wider Caribbean Region as well as for the people who live on its coasts and islands. This is because the pollutants (i.e. the water, sediments, impurities, waste materials), are easily able to cross the borders between States. 40. As regards Colombia, the projects developed in the Caribbean and, therefore, the acts and/or omissions of the States in whose jurisdiction they are implemented, could affect not only the populations that inhabit the continental coast, but also the islands of Albuquerque, San Andres, Providencia, Santa Catalina, Serrana, Quitasueño and Roncador. The Seaflower Biosphere Reserve could also be affected. 24 See Articles 3 and 4 of the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider Caribbean Region, Kingston, January 10, 1991. 25 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Third report on the situation of human rights in Colombia. Doc. OEA/Ser.L/V/11.102, Doc. 9 rev. 1, February 26, 1999, Chapter X, paras. 33-35. 60