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Panama Bay, Panama

Photo courtesy of Panama Audubon Society

Situated along 40 miles of Panama’s Pacific coast, the wetlands of the Panama Bay support over 80% of all migratory shorebirds that pass through this crucial isthmus connecting North and South America during their annual flights. Twenty US Neotropical migrants that National Audubon has identified as birds of conservation concern, including the Red Knot, Long-billed Curlew, and Buff-breasted Sandpiper, utilize the mangroves and their rich habitats during their annual stopover. IAP, in partnership with Panama Audubon Society and Rare, recently completed a public awareness-raising campaign in communities neighboring the Bay and is now working with Panama Audubon Society to build capacity and develop a plan for long-term conservation of the Bay. This critical site is not only an important site for Neotropical birds, but also for such globally threatened species as the Jaguar, Tapir, Spider Monkey, American Crocodile, and Loggerhead Sea Turtle.

Panama Bay is recognized as a Globally Important Bird Area, a Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, and a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site. Few places in the world host as many shorebirds as the Bay of Panama, which provides stopover and wintering habitat for between one and two million shorebirds each year. Panama Bay’s coastal resources—tidelands, mangrove shorelines, wetlands, estuaries and the Bay’s water—face increasing pressure from a host of threats. Panama City’s exponential population growth, with its attendant industrial and residential building boom, paired with minimal government regulation, are seriously impacting the Bay’s ecological integrity. Meanwhile, pollution from agricultural runoff, untreated sewage, garbage, and perhaps most significantly, industrial chemical waste, are all disrupting the natural, functioning systems of the Bay’s shoreline, tidelands, fisheries and waters.

Photos courtesy of Panama Audubon Society

IAP partnered with Panama Audubon Society, one of the nation’s leading conservation organizations, and Rare, a conservation organization specializing in social marketing, to develop and conduct a public awareness-raising campaign in Panama City’s eastside suburbs—ground zero for both the Bay’s most sensitive coastal resources for birds and scene of rampant urban sprawl and water pollution. The campaign educated citizens and government officials about the overall importance of coastal tidelands, wetlands, mangrove ecosystems and estuaries and the negative effects that solid waste pollution has on them. Through this education, the campaign has begun to change the attitudes and behaviors of key players whose actions will determine the fate of the Bay’s health. A snapshot of some of the campaign’s successes reflects the advances we’ve made in just two years:

• Expanded federal protection of Panama Bay’s coastal wetlands, rivers, estuaries, and mangrove ecosystems in key areas to the east of Panama City
• Increased by 40% the targeted community’s knowledge about the ecological benefits of wetlands and clean water, to human health and livelihoods, as well as for the welfare of the millions of migratory shorebirds, fish, and other biodiversity
• Increased by over 20% awareness by the targeted community about the mismanagement of solid waste, its impact on coastal resources, and techniques and practices that reduce environmental degradation
• Established a citizen’s support group that will continue to work towards community education and further conservation of the target area
• Raised seed funding that will enable IAP and Panama Audubon to build on the campaign as we now aim to transform citizen awareness into conservation actions

Building on the heightened public knowledge and concern for the health of the Bay, IAP and Panama Audubon have initiated an ambitious conservation action plan for Panama Bay that will identify long-term solutions to the area’s current challenges, brought on by the realities posed by a large metropolitan center located in an area of uniquely high value for birds and biodiversity. Given this setting, our aim is to create a plan that balances the necessary urban development and human livelihoods with that of a healthy, naturally functioning Bay. IAP is also strengthening the overall capacity of Panama Audubon in the areas of education, science, and policy. Specifically, IAP is advising Panama Audubon on their fundraising skills, the development a long-range organizational business plan, and the creation of a National Audubon-style nature center.