Islands of Panama

Coiba: Ecotourism Jewel in the Pacific
Story by Luis Miguel Blanco / The Panama Post
The Island receives visitors in its paradisiacal beaches (Photo courtesy of STRI)
The Management Plan of Coiba contemplates an investment of $ 11.5 million over the next 5 years to improve attention and surveillance

Coiba's National Park of 270,125 hectares in the Panamanian Pacific Ocean, now has a plan that will allow gradual and scientific exploitation for the benefit of all mankind, thanks to the efforts of multiple entities, including the U.S. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), with a site in Panama and the National Environmental Authority (ANAM).
Research to update the knowledge about the potential of Coiba was launched in May 2006 and it was determined that it´s necessary to use only 2% of the area where the camps of a former criminal penitentiary were located, for infrastructure, according to Juan Maté, Director of the plan, which will require an investment of $ 11.5 million in five years.

Maté explained to The Panama Post that the plan will be developed gradually and that the Island now receives one daily visit, of around 120 visitors, mostly seniors, residents of the Granito de Oro Island.

He said that the Island has an airstrip in good condition and that the project includes the transformation of the former criminal penitentiary( which had 4.000 prisoners even though its capacity was for 1,000), into a museum landscape.

Maté, a marine biologist, explained that the main threat to the conservation of Coiba, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005, are not the visitors, but the 2,500 heads of cattle that roam in the island, a legacy of its former operation as a prison, and that´s why there is a plan to remove them.


A trip by plane to Coiba from the capital of Panama takes about 45 minutes and the experience is worth it because the place has hot springs, paradisiacal beaches, endemic species of flora and fauna, terrestrial and aquatic, freshwater, the largest white coral reef in the Eastern Pacific and archaeological remains of ancient pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Island and its neighboring islets. A permit from ANAM is required for visiting.

Of its total land area, 75% is covered by primary forest, without the intervention of man, which is going to be kept that way.

In terms of marine exploitation, Maté explained that 35 sites have been established for sports and craft marine fishing, all more than a mile away from the shores of the islands.

At the request of ANAM, the Smithsonian led the team in charge of updating the original plan, with funding from the Organization of the United Nations for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), the Foundation of the United Nations and Conservation International.

The team was composed by professionals from various disciplines such as planning of protected areas, geographic information systems, terrestrial biology, marine and fisheries, ecotourism, and legal issues, among others. As defined by Act 44, which created the Coiba National Park, the group worked closely with its Board of Directors, the Scientific Committee and ANAM.

According to Ligia Castro de Doens, outgoing Minister in Issues Related to Environmental Conservation, and General Manager of ANAM, "the Management Plan is the guiding document for the management of the Coiba's National Park," for the preservation and sustainable use of a natural World Heritage.

The director of STRI in Panama, Eldredge "Biff" Bermingham said: "The Management Plan is an excellent example of the union between science and planning for resource management for the benefit of the entire world."

Maté said they need about $ 11, 5 million to implement the plan at a rate of about $ 2, 5 million annually, over the next 5 years, in order to provide Coiba of surveillance and preparation as an ecotourism destination in the Pacific waters, not allowing new buildings, although now two cruises arrive during the season.


This protected area is part of the Eastern Pacific Marine Corridor, along with the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador), Coco's Island (Costa Rica) and Gorgona and Malpelo Islands (Colombia), all but Gorgona declared Natural World Heritage Sites of the Humanity by UNESCO.