A/HRC/27/52/Add.1 33. There are a number of Emberá, Wounaan, Ngobe and other indigenous communities located outside their comarcas. When the Emberá-Wounaan comarca was set up in 1983, 44 Emberá and Wounaan communities remained outside its boundaries. Since then, the indigenous authorities in these areas have been requesting the titling of their collective lands in the provinces of Darién and Panamá. This continues to be the Wounaan people’s top priority. 34. Indigenous representatives of all these communities have submitted, or are working on, their titling applications under Act No. 72 of 2008 (see para. 16). In November 2011, members of the Emberá and Wounaan peoples blocked the Inter-American Highway for five days to call attention to their territorial demands. The blockade ended with the conclusion of an agreement between the National Land Management Agency and the traditional authorities of the collective lands in question under which the Government committed to grant titles to two Wounaan communities (Rio Hondo/Platanares and Maje Chiman) and to continue the titling processes for other communities. 35. Representatives of the National Land Management Agency have informed the Special Rapporteur that delays in according official recognition to collective lands and in issuing titles to them have chiefly been due to the claims made by landowners and settlers to the lands to be demarcated. Pursuant to Act No. 72, the National Directorate for Agrarian Reform is responsible for settling disputes involving challenges to applications for collective land ownership titles; if an amicable settlement cannot be reached, legal action is taken.32 Act No. 72 does not provide for protection against encroachments that take place while a titling application is being processed. 36. While communities await the titling of their collective lands, settlers and loggers continue to move into them, leading to growing tensions and conflict. The delay in recognizing the Rio Hondo/Platanares collective lands has resulted in heightened conflicts over illegal logging. 37. The fact that two of the country’s indigenous peoples, namely, the Bribri and the Naso, do not have comarcas of their own is a particular concern. Bribri representatives informed the Special Rapporteur that the titling application that they submitted under Act No. 72 for their collective lands, which cover a total area of 28,207 hectares, remains pending. They also reported that 80 per cent of the territory has been demarcated. However, the representatives of the National Land Management Agency with whom the Special Rapporteur met said that they had no knowledge of the application. 38. The Naso people have been fighting for the establishment of a comarca since 1973. They drafted a bill to that end and submitted it to the Legislative Assembly, but the bill has yet to be adopted. The government representatives with whom the Special Rapporteur broached the topic acknowledged the importance of establishing a comarca for the Naso and stated that they remained open to the possibility of doing so. While the Naso people await legal protection for their traditional territory, they are having problems with settlers and other outsiders. In particular, the Naso community of San San Druy has had many disputes with Ganadera Bocas SA, a company operating on the lands that they are claiming. The Bonyic hydroelectric project has also sparked conflict, as is discussed in the next section. 32 10 Art. 8. GE.14-07234