 Panama
Environment Summary
Bordering both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Panama boasts nearly 3,000 kilometers of coastline and is home to the famous Panama Canal which connects the two oceans. As a result of its growing population and increasing economic activity in the Panama Canal region, the region's natural resources are vulnerable.
USAID activities in Panama aim to reform policy and build active community participation in watershed and protected area management primarily in and around the Panama Canal. In FY 2005, USAID activities focused on the development of participatory methodologies, strategic partnerships and alliances, best practices, and appropriate policies and regulations for assuring optimal stewardship of the natural resources within the Panama Canal Watershed in particular, and the Darien Province bordering with Colombia and the Amistad Bi-National Park on the Costa Rican border.
USAID's environmental activities are summarized below in
the following areas:
Biodiversity & Conservation
USAID/Panama is working with the National Environment Authority (Autoridad Nacional
del Ambiente) (ANAM for its acronym in Spanish), the Panamanian Tourism Institute (IPAT for its
acronym in Spanish), research institutions, the private sector
and communities to help improve management of protected areas.
ANAM's limited budget for protected area management constrains
current efforts to protect these critical areas. This led
USAID to support efforts to develop public/private models
for managing protected areas.
In the Soberania National Park, for example, USAID is helping
the park achieve international sustainable tourism standards.
Eco-tourism in public use areas of the park serves as another
important source of income to help cover the park’s operations
and maintenance. The park is serving as a model for public-private
partnerships with the participation of surrounding communities
to improve infrastructure and management and develop a broader
constituency for protected areas. USAID is also working
with NGOs and the commercial private sector in the buffer
areas of the park to develop and promote ecotourism and train
community residents to benefit from the greater influx of
visitors.
USAID also supported the development of a regulation for
Administrative and Service Concessions in Protected Areas;
a national ecotourism strategy; a Conservation Action Plan
for Chagres National Park; and, training for ANAM personnel
on sustainable tourism in protected areas.
In the Province of Darien, USAID fostered the integration
of a circuit known as Paradise Trail in the National Tourism
Plan. Seven indigenous communities are now poised to benefit
from this new circuit which has been endorsed by the Panamanian
Tourism Institute. USAID also helped form a new tourism cluster
to develop a tourism circuit called the “Ecological Route
between Two Oceans” that was actively promoted outside Panama.
In addition, USAID formed an alliance with the National Tourism
Institute and the National Geographic Society to develop a
Travelers Guide and Adventure Map for Panama. A major portion
of the book and map will be dedicated to protected areas within
the country and should increase the caliber of visitors who
visit Panama and its National Parks.
The Parks in Peril program, USAID’s flagship biodiversity
conservation program in the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau,
is also active in Panama. Through Parks in Peril,
an alliance formed by the Panama
Ministry of Economy and Finance, USAID, ANAM, and The
Nature Conservancy resulted in a $10 million debt-for-nature
swap under the Tropical
Forest Conservation Act (TFCA). As a result, a new management
model for protected areas is being developed, a Conservation Area
Plan in Chagres National Park was developed and a new
Foundation is being formed that will co-manage this park through
an agreement with ANAM. This critical park is the major source
of water for canal operations and drinking water for Panama
City. The fund created under this arrangement in 2003 will
help the long-term financial and environmental viability of
this protected area and will serve as a viable co-management
model for other protected areas in Panama that includes a
mix of public and private lands. Proceeds from the Fund supported
the hiring of new park personnel and implementation of activities
in management and conservation, including boundary delineation
of a section of the Park, a land tenure study, environmental
education, and a study to assess the impact of urbanization
in the Park.
In 2005, proceeds from a second debt-for-nature swap for
$11 million under the TFCA helped create the Darien National
Park Fund which is functioning with the same oversight committee
and procedures as the Chagres Fund. The fund has financed
park protection, increased patrolling, the hiring of additional
park guards, purchasing of equipment and the building of new
infrastructure.
To learn more about Parks in Peril activities in Panama,
visit The
Nature Conservancy’s Parks in Peril website.
USAID also works to improve environmental management in the
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, which spans from Mexico
to Panama. The project has four main goals: a) to improve
protected area management in the Corridor; b) expand market
access for environmentally sound products and services; c)
harmonize environmental regulations; and d) increase the use
of clean technologies. In Panama, a project to improve protected
area management is underway in the Reserva de la Amistad on
the border of Panama and Costa Rica.
 USAID
also partnered with The Peregrine Fund to protect the Harpy
Eagle, the national bird of Panama through a captive breeding
and educational program in Darien, Chagres and Bocas del Toro.
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Water
Water Sanitation
 USAID/Panama,
is funding activities to improve access to clean water and
sanitation in rural areas of the Panama Canal Watershed. These
projects aim to prevent contamination of soil and water resources
that enter the Canal and impact the biodiversity of these
ecosystems while at the same time improve the health conditions
in the communities. The projects benefit approximately 50
communities and 7,000 residents and serve as a catalyst for
active participation by all stakeholders in the community
and region given the priority of water and sanitation to residents.
Watershed Management
The Panama Canal Watershed’s increasing population
migration and economic activity pose a continuing threat to
the region’s natural resources. The watershed ecosystems
are vulnerable to agricultural, domestic, and industrial pollution,
as well as sedimentation that reduces the storage capacity
of the lakes that are the water source for Canal operations.
The lack of sustained, adequate funding for watershed management
and protection also inhibits protection of the watershed.
The environmental management of the Panama Canal Watershed
is a high priority for USAID. Preserving the watershed biodiversity
requires an integrated approach that relies on local communities
managing protected areas; improving agricultural, forestry,
and cattle ranching practices; adopting clean production practices;
and developing environmentally friendly activities such as
sustainable tourism. The Government of Panama (GOP) has placed
the responsibility for improving watershed management and
protection of the Panama Canal Watershed (PCW) on the Panama
Canal Authority. The Authority and the Inter-Institutional
Commission for the PCW provide the foundation for the coordination
of GOP investments and activities in the Watershed.
 In
2005, USAID/Panama undertook twenty-one conservation and income-generating
demonstration activities in critical sub-watersheds within
the Panama Canal Watershed. As a result, the long-term benefits
of environmentally rational land use planning, farming practices,
and sound policies are gaining acceptance and encouraging
the active participation of all watershed stakeholders, including
the primary resource user, communities and local government,
and commercial private sector. A new policy for promoting
sustainable intensive ranching that was adopted with USAID
support is now transforming vulnerable hillside lands in the
Panama Canal Watershed to secondary forests. USAID also helped
to develop and implement a comprehensive monitoring system
to assess the environmental health of the watershed with the
participation of several key Ministries and in collaboration
with the Inter-institutional Commission for the Canal Watershed.
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Forestry
In 2003, USAID/Panama initiated a three year pilot program to support stability, grassroots democracy, and economic prosperity in the Province of Darien and parts of the Provinces of Panama and the Kuna Yala Indigenous Reserve. The projects in this region, which borders Colombia, focus on community strengthening and more active involvement in improved use of natural resources and combating deforestation, which is one of the primary sources of potential conflict in the region. Activities include the construction of several community tree nurseries, development of water systems, promotion of community forestry activities with indigenous communities, studies on legal and illegal logging practices, and examination of perverse incentives that promote the clear cutting of forests. USAID also works to improve environmental governance at the local level in these areas.
In 2005, USAID/Panama helped put in place sustainable community-based
forestry planning and management with the participation of
indigenous leaders, forest-based industries, and the National
Environmental Authority. The Plan covers 26,720 hectares situated
within the indigenous reservation of Cemaco along the Tupisa
River, and is under the management of five communities. USAID
is also supporting efforts by the National Environmental Authority,
the private sector, and several Government of Panama administrative
entities to revise the existing national Forestry Law. Changes
to the law will permit communities with demonstrated forestry
experience to manage more than the 1,000 hectare per community
limit currently permitted. USAID is also partnering with Rainforest
Alliance to promote the production and export of value added
certified wood in two forest regions in Panama (Donoso and
Wargandi) and with teak plantations helping them meet environmental
and social standards.
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Clean Production
 USAID/Pamama
served as a catalyst to promote an alliance with the National
Council of Private Business (CONEP) and ANAM to establish
the country’s first National Clean Production
Center. The Center, inaugurated in March, 2005, works
with the private and public sectors, focusing on small and
medium enterprises, to promote the adoption of best management
practices. Some of the sectors the Center will work with include
auto-repair shops, cattle, poultry, and swine. The Center
also serves as a liaison between the private and public sectors
to develop environmental regulations that are compatible with
the principles of sustainable development whereby industry
is better able to comply with environmental standards while
increasing profitability.
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Environmental Policy
USAID/Panama is involved in a number of environmental policy reform and institutional strengthening initiatives:
- Environmental Enforcement. USAID helped to develop a manual and
provided training for justice system operators on existing environmental
laws and regulations and enforcement procedures.
- Forestry Law. USAID is supporting efforts by the National Environmental
Authority, the private sector, and several Government of Panama
administrative entities to revise the existing national Forestry
Law. Changes to the law will permit communities with demonstrated
forestry experience to manage more than the 1,000 hectare per
community limit currently permitted
- Protected Area Concessions Regulation. The National Environmental
Authority approved, a regulation developed with USAID assistance,
to assign concessions to the private sector within the public
use areas of protected areas. As a result of this new policy,
private sector resources can now be leveraged for investments
in sustainable tourism inside Soberania National Park, the protected
area being used to develop a model of private/public partnerships
for improved biodiversity conservation and management.
- Indicators for monitoring the health of the PCW. USAID helped the
Inter-institutional Commission for the Panama Canal Watershed
adopt a set of 22 biophysical indicators and their respective
protocols for environmental monitoring of the watershed. Approval
of these protocols constitutes a precedent for Inter-institutional
coordination, transparency and trust between the Panama Canal
Authority and other government institutions, and emphasizes
the importance of monitoring of program performance and progress.
- Sustainable Livestock Policy. USAID assisted
The Ministry of Agriculture in developing and adopting a new
Sustainable Livestock Policy, that highlights the economic and
financial benefits of practices that improve production by conserving
natural resources and biodiversity. USAID also helped the Agricultural
Development Bank incorporate this policy into its criteria for
new loans for cattle ranching enterprises. USAID also provided
training to loan officers and extension service providers who
are now actively promoting sustainable ranching in the Panama
Canal Watershed and other parts of the country.
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Climate Change
Due to capacity building and technical
assistance, USAID and its partners in Panama
continue to increase their knowledge as well as enhance natural
resource management. These activities aid in increasing carbon
sequestration, which is essential to mitigating the effects
of climate change. Furthermore, USAID’s contribution to protecting
the Panama Canal Watershed is proving invaluable for not only
Panama but for the rest of the world as well.
For more information see USAID/EGAT's Panama Climate
Change Country Program web page.
Panama Global Climate Change Country Profile:
www.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/climate/country_nar/panama.pdf
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