A short time in Panama, say, for the environment (7)
I believe the answer is:
habitat
'the environment' is the definition.
(habitat is a kind of environment)
'a short time in panama say' is the wordplay.
'short time' becomes 'bit' (bit is a kind of short time).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'panama say' becomes 'hat' (panama is a kind of hat).
'a'+'bit'='abit'
'abit' put inside 'hat' is 'HABITAT'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for habitat that I've seen before include "Local environment" , "Animal's natural home" , "place haunted" , "Territory" , "Natural home or haunt" .)