Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Panamanian beaches and dozens of birds, including several eagle species and the military
and scarlet macaws.
Laws meant to curb illegal hunting are widely ignored due to the lack of enforcement.
For example, keeping a parrot, toucan or macaw in a cage is a fineable offense in
Panama. Nonetheless, it's common to see them in cages, even in some public venues.
You can help reduce the threat to Panama's endangered species. If you see caged an-
imals at a hotel, complain to the manager, take your business elsewhere and report the
crime to
APPC
(Asociación Panamericana Para la Conservación; 317-0298;
www.panamericancon.org
)
, a conservation nonprofit organization with experience in
wild-animal rescue.
Find out about upcoming seminars and recent publications about tropical ecology and
biodiversity topics on the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (
www.stri.org
)
web-
site.
Plants
Humid, tropical rainforest is the dominant vegetation in the canal area, along the Carib-
bean coast and in most of the eastern half of the country - Parque Nacional Darién pro-
tects much of Panama's largest tropical rainforest. Other vegetation zones include dry
tropical rainforest and grassland on the Pacific coast, cloud forest in the highlands, alpine
vegetation on the highest peaks and mangrove forest on both coasts and around many is-
lands. Among the flora, Panama has over 10,000 species of plant including approxim-
ately 1200 orchid species, 675 fern species and 1500 species of tree.
National Parks
Today, Panama has around 40 national parks and officially protected areas , and about
33% of the country's total land is set aside for conservation. In many of the national
parks and protected areas there are mestizo and indigenous villages. In some scenarios
these communities help protect and maintain the park.
To enter a national park, travelers must pay US$5 (US$20 if it's a national marine
park) at ANAM (Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente; Panama's national environmental
authority;
www.anam.gob.pa
)
headquarters in Panama City, at a regional ANAM office
or at an ANAM ranger station inside the park being visited. Permits to camp or stay at an
ANAM ranger station can be obtained in these places as well.
In Panama City, the 265-hectare Parque Natural Metropolitano protects vast expanses
of tropical semideciduous forest within the city limits.
