Feature Article

Protecting the Rainforest in Panamá: Crossroads of the World—Part I

© 2004 By Charlotte Meares
Photography © 2004 Lorran Meares, All Rights Reserved

Panamá, sometimes referred to as a barrier between oceans and bridge between two continents, forms the very southern extremity of North America. Like a branding iron “S” fallen on its back, it curves from west to east. Colombia flanks its eastern border; Costa Rica lies to the west.

At its widest point north to south, Panamá stretches just 130 miles. At its most narrow point, it is a mere 30. The importance of this small piece of ocean-front real estate centered on the long-ago discovery that it was not at all a barrier between two oceans—the Atlantic and Pacific.

In fact, its fortuitous isthmus would earn Panamá the title, “Crossroads of the World.” Today, people of all nationalities as well as 12,000 ships annually pass through its famous canal, a costly venture begun by the French and completed by the Americans.

In 1501, long before the canal’s water-filled locks lifted ocean liners a notch at a time up, up and away—sea to shining sea—enterprising explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas pressed his boot in Panamá’s Atlantic coast sands and claimed her in the name of Spain.

A dozen years later, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, acting as governor of Spain’s now new lush colony, led the first expedition eastward, across the isthmus to that massive, glistening body of water that appeared so “pacific.”

What happened next formed the tapestry of Latin American history. Vanquishing the indigenous people during the 1500s opened wide the doors to further conquest and, from these successes, sprang the realization that Central and South America were treasure-troves for the taking.

During the 1530s, Francisco Pizarro, having relieved the Incans of their gold, built a stone road across Panamá to transport their unfathomable riches to ships poised to set sail for Spain.

Booty out. Blacks in. The new trade system went both ways. Trafficking able-bodied Africans transformed Panamá into a New World distribution center for slaves.

After three centuries, cutting ties with Spain only changed who pulled Panamá’s strings. The Crossroads of the World was now tethered to Colombia as its province. The relationship strained, Panamá revolted against Colombia again and again.

Finally, in 1903, it declared its independence. The new Constitution of the Republic of Panamá granted its citizens freedom of speech and religion, but not freedom from exploitation of its natural resources.

Panamá’s greatest economic resource was no doubt the Panamá Canal. Bisecting Panamá into eastern and western regions, the canal was opened on August 15, 1914. In 1977 Panamá and the United States signed a treaty designed to transfer the Canal Zone to Panamá. Two years later U.S. President Carter promised that on December 31, 1999, the U.S. would (and did) place the canal in Panamanian hands.

Even though most of the Americans are gone, about 98% of Panamá’s population still lives near or west of the canal.

As a crossroads, Panamá became a gene pool for myriad races. Mestizos, people of mixed American Indian and white ancestry, and mulattoes, people of black and white ancestry, make up about 70% of the current population.

By law, children between the ages of 7 and 15 are required to attend school. Schools emerged even in remote villages. Compared to many Latin countries, Panamá’s economy thrived. Today it is service-based, heavily weighted in banking, commerce and tourism. Agriculture employs about a fourth of Panamá’s workers—more people than does any other single economic activity.

Panamá is divided into nine provinces, each headed by a governor appointed by the president. To environmentalists, perhaps the most well-known of these provinces is Darién. One of the most biologically diverse regions in Central America, the Darién is a lush convergence site for thousands of species from North and South America. Comprising 16,671 square kilometers on the eastern flank of Panamá, bordering both oceans and Colombia, this fragile, already exploited rainforest ecosystem needed additional protection.

Panamá took a step toward preservation in 1980 and set aside 5,790 square kilometers of the Darién as a National Park. In 1981 UNESCO recognized the Park as a World Heritage Site. And it was designated as a Biosphere Reserve two years later.

But these efforts didn’t stop the assault on this ecosystem. Special government-issued permits enabled foreign industries to operate within park boundaries. Outside park boundaries mining, farming, ranching and logging persisted. And indigenous peoples of the Darién felt the effects of the squeeze.