Panama Rainforests

One of the Most Bio-diverse Places in Central America

Panama rainforest is one of the most researched tropical rainforests in the world. Currently, the forest covers around 58% of the total land area of Panama (Ref: UN Food and Agriculture Organization).

Rainforest is found not only on the mainland but also on Panamanian islands. One of them, Barro Colorado Island, was formed after its nearby area had been flooded for the construction of the canal. The island is almost completely forested and is probably the most famous part of Panama rainforest.

Currently, Barro Colorado Island, together with the five neighboring mainland peninsulas, forms the Barro Colorado Nature Monument.

Another Panamanian island worth mentioning is Coiba. It is located in the Pacific Ocean and is the biggest island in Central America. Around 75% of Coiba’s territory is covered by the rainforest a large tract of which is still in pristine condition.

Biodiversity

Panama is an extremely bio-diverse country. It hosts more than 9,915 known species of plants, 218 species of mammals, 302 species of birds, 242 species of reptiles and 182 species of amphibians. Really quite impressive!

Typical tropical animals such as sloths, jaguars , iguanas, poison dart frogs , armadillos, tapirs, harpy eagle (Panama’s national bird), to name just a few, call Panama rainforest their home.

Panama is also home to many endangered animals such as the Panamanian golden frog and the pygmy three-toed sloth which are now listed as critically endangered.

Deforestation of the Rainforest in Panama

 

At the beginning of the 20th century, Panama rainforest had lost much of its cover as well as biodiversity during the Panama Canal construction . We will probably never find out just how many plant and animal species disappeared as a result of it.

Like many other rainforests around the world, Panama rainforest is under constant pressure exerted by a whole host of agents, for the purposes of economic and social development. And this obviously leads to the country’s rainforest destruction.

Alongside the clearance of the rainforest for cash crops (such as bananas and coffee), timber logging operations and subsistence farming, the most important cause of deforestation in Panama since the 1960s has been cattle ranching that requires conversion of the forest into pasture lands.

There are also pressures of deforestation from very large development projects promoted by governments and companies which stand to significantly benefit from them. Among such projects is a plan to build a road connecting Panama and Colombia via the Darien rainforest, as well as a so called Plan Puebla Panama whose aim is to create a “development corridor” between Mexico and Panama with a host of roads, airports, dams as well as factories based on cheap labour. In order to protect its rainforests and their biodiversity from the ever present danger of destruction, the Panamanian government established a number of national parks in the country. Some of the most famous of them are Darien National Park, La Amistad National Park (which Panama shares with Costa Rica) and the Coiba National Park.

Panama’s National Rainforest Parks

 

Darien National Park is the largest park in Panama covering an area of 597,000 ha.

It is home to a wide array of plant and animal species: 2,490 species of plants, 169 species of mammals, 533 species of birds, 99 species of reptiles and 78 species of amphibians. Many of these species are endemic. Apart from that, the Darien Park also houses Choco and Cuna Indians.

La Amistad International Park is a transboundary protected area that is administered jointly by Costa Rica and Panama. The Panamanian part of the park covers an area of 207,000 ha. It was created to remove physical borders between the two countries to preserve the traditional migration of animals and humans (specifically, indigenous people).

La Amistad Park is home to one of the largest untouched tracts of rainforest in Central America. It contains numerous species of plants and animals, many of which are also endemic.

Coiba National Park is located on an island in the Pacific ocean covering an area of around 270,000 ha in total (terrestrial area – around 53,000 ha; marine area – around 217,000 ha.

The island contains 858 known species of plants and is rich in marine diversity (specifically, coral diversity. Thanks to their conservation value, these parks attract a lot of attention from international conservation organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy.

Ecotourism in Panama

Panama’s tropical rainforest is important for humanity both as a store of biodiversity and a regulator of global climate patterns. Ecotourism has been put forward as one of the most promising business propositions that can create employment and secure a financially sustainable future for the people living in and around Panama rainforest.